A cognitive semantic analysis of ‘eat’ verb usages in Bangla

Abstract In Bangla, the verb k h aoa ‘to eat’ collocates with a wide variety of entities ranging from edible items to abstract concepts. That is, apart from the habitual process of eating and drinking, other events are expressed equally well with the verb k h aoa ‘to eat’ such that there is a growing tendency towards these verb usages. This calls for a detailed analysis of the prevailing sense distinctions in order to assess the extent of acceptability of these collocations. With this aim in mind, this paper utilizes concepts like polysemy, metaphor, and image-schema to arrive at a holistic understanding of the verb and, in turn, to identify the motivation behind higher productivity of k h aoa ‘to eat’ verb usages in Bangla.