---
title: "English Verbs of Directional Vision:Compatibility with"
description: "The paper builds a semantic model for English words that denote deliberately directing one's eyes at something, together with… 14 references."
authors: ["N. A. Antonova", "T. S. Ignatyeva"]
year: 2024
venue: "Nauchnyi Dialog 13 (Научный диалог 13)"
source: "https://www.nauka-dialog.ru/jour/article/view/5565"
doi: "10.24224/2227-1295-2024-13-6-26-42"
licence: "CC BY"
licence_url: "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/"
summary_licence: "Elamur Cosmic License"
canonical: "https://research.elamur.ai/free/en/papers/antonova-2024-english-verbs-directional-vision-compatibility/"
---
[Elamur Research](https://md.research.elamur.ai/free/en/) · [this page in HTML](https://research.elamur.ai/free/en/papers/antonova-2024-english-verbs-directional-vision-compatibility/)

[home](https://md.research.elamur.ai/free/en/) / [papers](https://md.research.elamur.ai/free/en/papers/) / [2024](https://md.research.elamur.ai/free/en/papers/2024/page/14/) / English Verbs of Directional Vision:Compatibility with Designations of a Qualitative Attribute

# English Verbs of Directional Vision:Compatibility with Designations of a Qualitative Attribute

**Authors:** N. A. Antonova and T. S. Ignatyeva · **Year:** 2024 · **Venue:** [Nauchnyi Dialog 13 (Научный диалог 13)](https://md.research.elamur.ai/free/en/venues/nauchnyi-dialog/) ([Nauchnyi Dialog 2024](https://md.research.elamur.ai/free/en/venues/nauchnyi-dialog/2024/)) · **Licence:** [CC BY](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/)

**Links:** [Publisher's page](https://doi.org/10.24224/2227-1295-2024-13-6-26-42) · [PDF](https://www.nauka-dialog.ru/jour/article/download/5565/2531) · [DOI 10.24224/2227-1295-2024-13-6-26-42](https://doi.org/10.24224/2227-1295-2024-13-6-26-42) · [OpenAlex](https://openalex.org/W4401975406)

**Citations:** 0 citations (OpenAlex, 2026-10-14)

## Summary
The paper builds a semantic model for English words that denote deliberately directing one's eyes at something, together with a quality of that act. The authors treat each meaning as two layers. The first is a shared core sememe, the directed act of seeing. The second is a subordinate sememe that adds a qualitative attribute. The core can surface alone, as in look. The attribute can be built into the word itself (watch, glance, stare, gaze) or added by a dependent word in the phrase. The authors read 24 English fiction works, about 8,000 pages, and collected 927 collocations. Each has a vision word as head and a modifier naming a feature of the gaze. They sort the collocations into three meaning groups, ordered from most to least frequent:
- negative emotions;
- attention, steadiness and surprise;
- speed, brevity and secrecy of a quick look.

The main finding is that look alone carries the bare invariant, while the other four words already bundle extra meaning. This matters for lexical semantics and for typological comparison across languages.

## Key points
- The lexemes studied are look, watch, glance, stare and gaze, each used as both verb and noun.
- The corpus was a full manual sampling of 24 fiction works by authors such as Maugham, Dickens, Galsworthy, Wilde, Twain, Lawrence and Greene. It covered roughly 8,000 pages and yielded 927 collocations.
- Phrase shape is deliberately ignored. "Look angrily", "look in anger", "angry look" and "look of anger" all count as one meaning unit.
- Group I covers negative emotions such as anger, distrust, fear and contempt. It is the most frequent group. Look is its most common head, followed by glance.
- The Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary definition of glance misses some of the semantic components that the collocations reveal.

## Interesting ideas
- Each vision word's meaning is split into a shared invariant plus an attribute, and the attribute can live inside the word or in a modifier. This yields one comparable representation for lexical and phrasal expressions.
- Constructions differing only in syntax (adverb, prepositional phrase, adjective on a noun, "look of X") are merged when they share lexemes. This normalizes away surface form before semantic grouping.
- Collocations are classified by the semantic family of the modifier: emotion, attention/surprise, or speed/stealth. This turns scattered adverbs into a small typed attribute inventory for an event class.
- The modifiers a word habitually attracts are used as evidence of meaning components that dictionary glosses leave out. Here this exposed gaps in the definition of glance.

## For Mova

How these ideas could serve Mova, our small open language model — its files, stages and tests:

- **I1** (world): Verb-class knowledge could store glance as roughly "look + brief/quick" and stare as "look + prolonged". Then "glanced" and "looked briefly" would resolve to the same perception event with the same attribute.
- **I2** (frames): The frame builder could map "gave him an angry look" and "looked at him angrily" to one perception frame with a manner/emotion slot, keeping a trace of which surface pattern supplied it.
- **I3** (world): A compact inventory of gaze attributes could type the manner states attached to perception events, so questions like "how did she look at him?" get a categorized, explainable answer.
- **I4** (learn): Silver data could be mined for recurring modifier co-occurrences around each verb, flagging candidate hidden components (e.g., hostility often attached to glance) for an LLM teacher or human to confirm.

*Our summary of the paper, in our own words — not its text. The work belongs to its authors; read it at the links above.*

## Institutions

Also on the byline: [Chuvash State University](https://ror.org/01jmd7f74).

📚 Shelves (2): [🎭 Arts and Humanities](https://md.research.elamur.ai/free/en/shelves/arts-and-humanities/) · 16,039 works · [🗣️ Language and Linguistics](https://md.research.elamur.ai/free/en/shelves/arts-and-humanities/language-and-linguistics/) · 15,891 works

🧭 Topics (1): [English](https://md.research.elamur.ai/free/en/topics/english/) · 2,263 works

## Cite

Cite as: N. A. Antonova and T. S. Ignatyeva. 2024. English Verbs of Directional Vision:Compatibility with Designations of a Qualitative Attribute. Nauchnyi Dialog 13 (Научный диалог 13).

The paper itself, not this page. BibTeX from the library's record of the work.

```bibtex
@inproceedings{antonova2024english,
  title = {{English Verbs of Directional Vision:Compatibility with Designations of a Qualitative Attribute}},
  author = {N. A. Antonova and T. S. Ignatyeva},
  booktitle = {Nauchnyi Dialog 13 (Научный диалог 13)},
  year = {2024},
  doi = {10.24224/2227-1295-2024-13-6-26-42},
  url = {https://doi.org/10.24224/2227-1295-2024-13-6-26-42}
}
```

- [← previous English Prepositions Expressing Temporal Limits: Semantic Features and Functioning](https://md.research.elamur.ai/free/en/papers/shirshikova-2024-english-prepositions-expressing-temporal-limits/)
- [next → Enhancing Medical Support in the Arabic Language Through Personalized ChatGPT Assistance](https://md.research.elamur.ai/free/en/papers/issa-2024-enhancing-medical-support-arabic-language/)
- [↑ back to papers of 2024](https://md.research.elamur.ai/free/en/papers/2024/page/14/)

## References

14 references, 0 of them with a card of ours. ↗ leads to the work, «find» searches for one we have no id for yet.

1. Apresyan, Yu. D. (2000). The structure of the dictionary entry. In: New explanatory dictionary of synonyms of the Russian language. Moscow-Vienna: Languages of Slavic culture: The Vienna Slavistic Almanac. 1488 p. ISBN 5-94457-159-4. (In Russ.). [find](https://scholar.google.com/scholar?q=Apresyan%2C+Yu%2E+D%2E+%282000%29%2E+The+structure+of+the+dictionary+entry%2E+In%3A+New+explanatory+dictionary+of+synonyms+of+the+Russian+language%2E+Moscow%2DVienna%3A+Languages+of+Slavic+culture%3A+The+Vienna+Slavistic+Alm)
2. Bailey, R. W., Gollach, M. (1982). English as a World Language. Ann Arbour: University of Michigan Press. 496 р. Brutt-Griffer, J. (2002). World English. A Study of its Development. UK: Multilingual Matters Ltd. 215 p. Budagov, R. A. (2004). Comparative semasiological studies. Romance languages. Moscow: Dobrosvet. 416 p. ISBN 5-94119-019-0. (In Russ.). [find](https://scholar.google.com/scholar?q=Bailey%2C+R%2E+W%2E%2C+Gollach%2C+M%2E+%281982%29%2E+English+as+a+World+Language%2E+Ann+Arbour%3A+University+of+Michigan+Press%2E+496+%D1%80%2E+Brutt%2DGriffer%2C+J%2E+%282002%29%2E+World+English%2E+A+Study+of+its+Development%2E+UK%3A+Multilingual+M)
3. Cruse, D. A. (1990). Prototype Theory and Lexical Semantics. In: Meaning and Prototypes: Studies in Linguistic Categorization. Abingdon: Routledge. 382—402. [find](https://scholar.google.com/scholar?q=Cruse%2C+D%2E+A%2E+%281990%29%2E+Prototype+Theory+and+Lexical+Semantics%2E+In%3A+Meaning+and+Prototypes%3A+Studies+in+Linguistic+Categorization%2E+Abingdon%3A+Routledge%2E+382%E2%80%94402%2E)
4. Khudyakov, A. A. (2005). Theoretical grammar of the English language. Moscow: Publishing Center “Academy”. 256 p. ISBN 5769561459. (In Russ.). [find](https://scholar.google.com/scholar?q=Khudyakov%2C+A%2E+A%2E+%282005%29%2E+Theoretical+grammar+of+the+English+language%2E+Moscow%3A+Publishing+Center+%E2%80%9CAcademy%E2%80%9D%2E+256+p%2E+ISBN+5769561459%2E+%28In+Russ%2E%29%2E)
5. Kolchin, S. A., Kopylenko, M. M., Babushkin, A. P. (1998). Types of concepts in lexical and phraseological semantics of language. Philological sciences, 2: 109—114. (In Russ.). [find](https://scholar.google.com/scholar?q=Kolchin%2C+S%2E+A%2E%2C+Kopylenko%2C+M%2E+M%2E%2C+Babushkin%2C+A%2E+P%2E+%281998%29%2E+Types+of+concepts+in+lexical+and+phraseological+semantics+of+language%2E+Philological+sciences%2C+2%3A+109%E2%80%94114%2E+%28In+Russ%2E%29%2E)
6. Kolesov, I. Y. (2004). Visual perception: semantic preferences in English and Russian languages. Bulletin of Novosibirsk State University. Series: Linguistics and Intercultural Communication, 2 (1): 97—102. (In Russ.). [find](https://scholar.google.com/scholar?q=Kolesov%2C+I%2E+Y%2E+%282004%29%2E+Visual+perception%3A+semantic+preferences+in+English+and+Russian+languages%2E+Bulletin+of+Novosibirsk+State+University%2E+Series%3A+Linguistics+and+Intercultural+Communication%2C+2+%281%29%3A+9)
7. [Научный диалог = Nauchnyi dialog = Nauchnyy dialog, 13(6), 2024] [ISSN 2225-756X, eISSN 2227-1295] [find](https://scholar.google.com/scholar?q=%5B%D0%9D%D0%B0%D1%83%D1%87%D0%BD%D1%8B%D0%B9+%D0%B4%D0%B8%D0%B0%D0%BB%D0%BE%D0%B3+%3D+Nauchnyi+dialog+%3D+Nauchnyy+dialog%2C+13%286%29%2C+2024%5D+%5BISSN+2225%2D756X%2C+eISSN+2227%2D1295%5D)
8. Kositsyna, E. F. (2002). Semantic valences of verbs of vision and ways of their expression. PhD Diss. Moscow. 160 p. (In Russ.). Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary of Current English. 7th ed. (2006). Oxford: Oxford University Press. 1780 p. ISBN 9780194316514. [find](https://scholar.google.com/scholar?q=Kositsyna%2C+E%2E+F%2E+%282002%29%2E+Semantic+valences+of+verbs+of+vision+and+ways+of+their+expression%2E+PhD+Diss%2E+Moscow%2E+160+p%2E+%28In+Russ%2E%29%2E+Oxford+Advanced+Learner%E2%80%99s+Dictionary+of+Current+English%2E+7th+ed%2E+%282006%29)
9. Potylitsyna, N. V. (2004). Phenomena of homonymy as one of the functional properties of language (based on the material of modern English). In: Semantics, function and grammatical categories of lexical units: interuniversity collection of scientific tr. Pyatig-orsk: Publishing House of PGLU. 99—103. ISBN 5-89966-418-5. (In Russ.). [find](https://scholar.google.com/scholar?q=Potylitsyna%2C+N%2E+V%2E+%282004%29%2E+Phenomena+of+homonymy+as+one+of+the+functional+properties+of+language+%28based+on+the+material+of+modern+English%29%2E+In%3A+Semantics%2C+function+and+grammatical+categories+of+lexica)
10. Shekhtman, N. A. (2014). From narration to hypertext and narrative: monograph. Orenburg: OGPU. 148 p. ISBN 978-5-85859-570-0. (In Russ.). [find](https://scholar.google.com/scholar?q=Shekhtman%2C+N%2E+A%2E+%282014%29%2E+From+narration+to+hypertext+and+narrative%3A+monograph%2E+Orenburg%3A+OGPU%2E+148+p%2E+ISBN+978%2D5%2D85859%2D570%2D0%2E+%28In+Russ%2E%29%2E)
11. Silnitsky, G. G. (1988). Semantics of the English verb in relation to the signs of various language levels. In: Smolensk State Pedagogical Institute named after Karl Marx. Smolensk: SGPI. 128 p. (In Russ.). The Oxford Dictionary of the English Language — The Oxford Explanatory Dictionary of the English Language. (2001). Moscow: Astrel; AST. 832 p. ISBN 5-17-004550-6. (In Russ.). [find](https://scholar.google.com/scholar?q=Silnitsky%2C+G%2E+G%2E+%281988%29%2E+Semantics+of+the+English+verb+in+relation+to+the+signs+of+various+language+levels%2E+In%3A+Smolensk+State+Pedagogical+Institute+named+after+Karl+Marx%2E+Smolensk%3A+SGPI%2E+128+p%2E+%28In+R)
12. Turner, M. (1994). Design for a theory of meaning. In: The nature and ontogenesis of meaning. Erlbaum: Lawrence Erlbaum. 91—107. [find](https://scholar.google.com/scholar?q=Turner%2C+M%2E+%281994%29%2E+Design+for+a+theory+of+meaning%2E+In%3A+The+nature+and+ontogenesis+of+meaning%2E+Erlbaum%3A+Lawrence+Erlbaum%2E+91%E2%80%94107%2E)
13. Zaliznyak, A. A. (2004). The phenomenon of ambiguity and ways of its description. Questions of linguistics, 2: 20—43. (In Russ.). [find](https://scholar.google.com/scholar?q=Zaliznyak%2C+A%2E+A%2E+%282004%29%2E+The+phenomenon+of+ambiguity+and+ways+of+its+description%2E+Questions+of+linguistics%2C+2%3A+20%E2%80%9443%2E+%28In+Russ%2E%29%2E)
14. The article was submitted 08.06.2024; approved after reviewing 21.07.2024; accepted for publication 30.07.2024. [find](https://scholar.google.com/scholar?q=The+article+was+submitted+08%2E06%2E2024%3B+approved+after+reviewing+21%2E07%2E2024%3B+accepted+for+publication+30%2E07%2E2024%2E)

*Updated 29 October 2026*