Feeling, emotion and the company they keep: what adjectives reveal about the substantives feeling and emotion

This paper analyzes the adjectives modifying the substantives emotion and feeling in contemporary American and British English. It argues that although the two nouns refer to affects and are treated as synonyms in dictionary definitions, they are not semantic equivalents. The study of their collocat...

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Main Author: Stéphanie Béligon
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Université Jean Moulin - Lyon 3 2020-06-01
Series:Lexis: Journal in English Lexicology
Subjects:
Online Access:https://journals.openedition.org/lexis/4322
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author Stéphanie Béligon
author_facet Stéphanie Béligon
author_sort Stéphanie Béligon
collection DOAJ
description This paper analyzes the adjectives modifying the substantives emotion and feeling in contemporary American and British English. It argues that although the two nouns refer to affects and are treated as synonyms in dictionary definitions, they are not semantic equivalents. The study of their collocations with adjectives shows that emotion refers to pre-semantic experience, whereas feeling designates affects that have been the object of a more elaborate cognitive treatment. This paper also aims to show that the semantic characteristics of the two substantives reflect their morphology and their historical evolution.
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id doaj-art-eba2b3748f534ea78f1fe010249b6385
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spelling doaj-art-eba2b3748f534ea78f1fe010249b63852025-08-20T01:52:29ZengUniversité Jean Moulin - Lyon 3Lexis: Journal in English Lexicology1951-62152020-06-011510.4000/lexis.4322Feeling, emotion and the company they keep: what adjectives reveal about the substantives feeling and emotionStéphanie BéligonThis paper analyzes the adjectives modifying the substantives emotion and feeling in contemporary American and British English. It argues that although the two nouns refer to affects and are treated as synonyms in dictionary definitions, they are not semantic equivalents. The study of their collocations with adjectives shows that emotion refers to pre-semantic experience, whereas feeling designates affects that have been the object of a more elaborate cognitive treatment. This paper also aims to show that the semantic characteristics of the two substantives reflect their morphology and their historical evolution.https://journals.openedition.org/lexis/4322feelingemotionlexical semanticsexpression of affectscollocationsadjectives
spellingShingle Stéphanie Béligon
Feeling, emotion and the company they keep: what adjectives reveal about the substantives feeling and emotion
Lexis: Journal in English Lexicology
feeling
emotion
lexical semantics
expression of affects
collocations
adjectives
title Feeling, emotion and the company they keep: what adjectives reveal about the substantives feeling and emotion
title_full Feeling, emotion and the company they keep: what adjectives reveal about the substantives feeling and emotion
title_fullStr Feeling, emotion and the company they keep: what adjectives reveal about the substantives feeling and emotion
title_full_unstemmed Feeling, emotion and the company they keep: what adjectives reveal about the substantives feeling and emotion
title_short Feeling, emotion and the company they keep: what adjectives reveal about the substantives feeling and emotion
title_sort feeling emotion and the company they keep what adjectives reveal about the substantives feeling and emotion
topic feeling
emotion
lexical semantics
expression of affects
collocations
adjectives
url https://journals.openedition.org/lexis/4322
work_keys_str_mv AT stephaniebeligon feelingemotionandthecompanytheykeepwhatadjectivesrevealaboutthesubstantivesfeelingandemotion