A catalogue of semantic shifts: Towards a typology of semantic derivation

A formalized catalogue comprising the facts of the similar semantic shift, both synchronic and diachronic, which occurs independently in different languages and epochs, would reveal the most frequent, prominent and significant samples of semantic derivation. It might be used: (1) as a semantic plausibility criterion in linguistic reconstruction ; (2) as a basis for the semantic typology ; (3) as a linguistic evidence for cognitive processes . The paper deals with the formal structure of the lexicographic entry of the Catalogue of semantic shifts (see Zalizniak 2001). Some examples of parallel semantic shifts in several groups of Indo-European languages are discussed in more detail.