Tactile Verbs and the Expression of Chance Events in Latin and Italian

In studies on the polysemy of tactile verbs, there is a semantic field that has hitherto received scant attention: the expression of “chance events”. In an effort to partially fill this gap and lay the foundations for future research, this paper has two interrelated aims: (a) to clarify what constitutes a chance event when Latin contingo, obtingo, and, in particular, Italian toccare convey this type of meaning; and (b) to identify the semantic motivation and the conceptual mechanisms that underlie such use. To this end, using a corpus-based, largely qualitative analysis, occurrences of the Latin and Italian verbs will be examined, focusing on their constructions and the semantics of their arguments. Data will be collected from dictionaries, other lexicographical sources, and digital corpora. The theoretical approach adopted is that of Cognitive Linguistics. In conclusion, the analysis will evidence that verbs related to the meaning ‘to touch’, when used to express chance events in Latin and Italian, involve similar constructions that are explicable from a cognitive perspective. Ultimately, it will be suggested that the “bipolarity of touch” and other related characteristics help explain why tactile verbs can express chance events. This is consistent with Fernández Jaén’s 2014 classification.