During recent decades, Persian complex predicates have been described by many grammarians and linguists with different approaches to their syntax, morphology, and, in less extent, to their semantics. Despite the extensive literature about the subject, cognitive semantic analysis of these predicates has not yet been the matter of analysis. This paper aims at examining the polysemous feature of the light verb zadan based on cognitive lexical semantics. It seeks to show that this feature of the light verb zadan based on the meanings of its corresponding heavy verb is a systematic phenomenon and cognitive concepts such as categorization, radial category, image schemas and conceptual metaphor play a major role in the formation of different meanings of this linguistic element in the form of a radial category. As well, the meaning of light verb is a determining factor in collocation between light verb and preverbal elements in light verb constructions.

Keywords: Light Verb, polysemy, cognitive lexical semantics, radial category

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