Introduction to the Special Issue "Semantic Maps: Methods and Applications"
Michael Cysouw, Martín Haspelmath, Andrej L Malchukov · Linguistic Discovery · 2010
In recent years the semantic map methodology has enjoyed increasing popularity in cross-linguistic studies.Although there are various ways to create semantic maps, they are all attempts to visually represent cross-linguistic regularity in semantic structure.It has become increasingly clear that these attempts to map out linguistic categorization provide an empirically testable tool for the study of semantic variation across languages.Furthermore, the semantic map approach has shown convergence with grammaticalization theory as well as with research using (implicational) hierarchies, as found in functional typology and optimality theory.Early approaches to drawing semantic maps can be found in Hjelmslev (1963: 53, discussed by Haspelmath 2003: 237), Lazard (2001Lazard ( [1981]]: 54), and Anderson (1982).In recent years, semantic maps have been proposed for diverse aspects of linguistic structure, including tense/aspect (e.g., Anderson 1982;