Creation in the semantics of verbs and constructions

Abstract Creation verbs are traditionally divided into at least two classes: verbs of creation of an entity and verbs of image creation. Such classification analyses face two important problems: how to account for the common creation semantics and how to explain the behavior of verbs which can describe either type of creation. Assuming a cognitive-semantic approach and based on Brazilian Portuguese data, this paper proposes that types of creation are different construals of a unified creation event, represented as a frame-based causal chain. Thus, the common creation semantics is defined as a causal chain, which is evoked by creation verbs in general, and the distinct properties of different classes of creation verbs follow from profiling of specific parts of that frame via argument structure constructions. Some creation verbs are lexically constrained as to how they construe the creation event, but others have the potential to construe the event in different ways.