*(ex-)tabanus : une matrice sémantique neurocognitive pour des taons prototypes des esprits errants dans les Alpes francoprovençales et occitanes
Géolinguistique February 10, 2026 Fabio Armand
The development of an experiential neurocognitive semantic perspective is used to investigate the processes of metensomatosis of the soul as an insect. The analysis focuses on the forms tavané (derived from Latin tabanus) in Francoprovençal varieties of Aosta Valley, Francoprovençal developments in France and Roman Switzerland, and Occitan verbal series formed by the compound *ex- + tabanus. This reconstructs a lexico-narrative semantic matrix describing the experiential bases of sleep paralysis, including paralysis, sensations of choking and suffocation, and head buzzing. Borrowing terminology from Barner and Scott Baron (2016), the work examines conceptual changes within core semantic components of mind-soul concepts and out-of-body experiences.