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Table 2 Topological classification of different construals of dying and killing

From: ‘On the grammar of death’: the construal of death and killing in Colombian newspapers

 

Middle

Effective

non-ranged

ranged

+Client

creative

event

  

cometer una masacre (commit a massacre); perpetrar un asesinato (perpetrate a murder)

  

transformative

elaborating

state

morir(die); fallecer (pass away)

cegar la vida de x

(blind x’s life);

resultar muerto

(result dead)

causar la muerte a x (cause x’s death);

cegar la vida a x

(blind x’s life)

matar (kill);

rematar (finish off)

manner

  

disparar (shoot)

dar tiro de gracia

(to give a coup de grace)

decapitar (decapitate);

degollar (slit x’s throat); descuartizar (dismember); acribillar (kill by shooting); ahorcar (strangle);

desnucar (twist x’s neck)

scale

   

masacrar (massacre)

volition

   

asesinar (murder)

legality

   

ejecutar, ajusticiar (execute); abatir, dar de baja

(kill in a legal operation)

completion

acabar con la vida de x

(end with x’s life)

terminar la vida de x

(end x’s life)

 

ultimar (end, finish);

aniquilar (annihilate)

Goal

   

sacrificar (slaughter + non human/sacrifice +human)

extending

possession

 

perder la vida

(lose one’s life)

llevarse la vida de x (take x’s life)

cobrar la vida de x (collect x’s life)

dar muerte a x

(give death to x)

segar la vida a x

(reap x’s life);

quitar/arrebatar la vida a x (take/snatch x’s life)

costar la vida a x

(cost x his life)

eliminar (eliminate)

enhancing

location

caer(fall);

desaparecer (disappear)

  

desaparecer (disappear)