cognitive grammar

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Cognitive Grammar Student: Monika Tomac Course: Semantics and Pragmatics Prof: Maja Brala Ac. Year: 2014/2015

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Page 1: Cognitive Grammar

Cognitive Grammar

Student: Monika TomacCourse: Semantics and PragmaticsProf: Maja BralaAc. Year: 2014/2015

Page 2: Cognitive Grammar

INTRODUCTION

GRAMMAR IS MEANINGFUL

the elements of grammar complex expressions have meaning(phrases, clauses, sentences) have meaning

- grammar relies on mental constructions; at the core of grammatical meanings are mental operations

- grammar can tell us a lot about meaning and cognition if properly analyzed

Page 3: Cognitive Grammar

COGNITIVE GRAMMAR

• a theory of grammar, developed by Ronald W. Langacker

• a grammatical approach within the broader field of cognitive linguistics

• how linguistic elements combine into complex expressions?

• language cannot be thought of as a self-contained module

Page 4: Cognitive Grammar

WHY ‘COGNITIVE’?• Language as representation of

human mind, but...• language-independent cognitive

processes:1. association2. automatization3. schematization4. categorization

Page 5: Cognitive Grammar

SYMBOLIC STRUCTURES• foundational functions of language:

semiological and interactive• language consists of assemblies of

symbolic structures i.e. constructions• they are bipolar structures, consisting

of a semantic pole and a phonological pole

• [[CAT]/[cat]]

Page 6: Cognitive Grammar

SYMBOLIC COMPLEXITY

• morpheme – zero symbolic complexity• moon, moonless, moonless nighta)[[MOON]/[moon]]b)[[[MOON]/[moon]] – [[LESS]]/[[less]]]c)[[[[[MOON]/[moon]] – [[LESS]]/[[less]]] –

[[NIGHT]]/[[night]]]

Page 7: Cognitive Grammar

• linguistic expressions can be analyzed along three dimensions:1. symbolic complexity (event < eventful < eventful day < an eventful day < on an eventful day )2. specificity i.e. schematicity (on a X day vs. on an eventful day)3. entrenchment i.e. conventionality (novel expressions vs. fixed expressions)

Page 8: Cognitive Grammar

THE GRAMMAR-LEXICON CONTINUUM

• what are traditionally known as rules are understood as schemas or patterns used to form complex expressions (constructions) in Cognitive Grammar

• partly specific structures such as on a X day cannot be assigned exclusively to either the lexicon or grammar since they are neither fully specific nor fully schematic and thus illustrate the continuous nature of lexicon and grammar

Page 9: Cognitive Grammar

WHERE DOES LEXICON STOP AND GRAMMAR

BEGIN?

Page 10: Cognitive Grammar

MEANING AS CONCEPTUALIZATION

• conceptualization– dynamic (processing) nature– imagistic– interactive– use of imaginative abilities• lexical meanings are encyclopedic in that

they are conventional paths of access to open-ended domains of knowledge

• The beach is safe vs. The child is safe

Page 11: Cognitive Grammar

• linguistic meaning: content and construal

• set of domains i.e. matrix = “any kind of conception or realm of experience”

• construal – our ability to conceive and portray the same situation in alternate ways

• construal involves a variety of dimensions, including scope - “the conceptual content appearing in the subjective viewing frame inherent” in the apprehension of an expression

Page 12: Cognitive Grammar

• any linguistic expression profiles either a thing or a relationship

• parent – child • have a child –

have a parent

• trajector (primary focus) vs. landmark (secondary focus)

Page 13: Cognitive Grammar

SEMANTIC ROLES AND GRAMMATICAL ROLES

• semantic roles: agent, patient, instrument, experiencer, mover, zero (theme)

• it is possible to define subject and object both prototypically and schematically

• direct object – passivization; objects – paths, locations, measurements

• subject – a setting or location rather than participant

• indirect object – object of preposition

Page 14: Cognitive Grammar

CONCLUSION• as pointed out by Broccias and Hollmann

(2007), there is the issue of the apparently dual nature of Cognitive Grammar

• Cognitive Grammar remains, undeniably, one of the most innovative and comprehensive theories of grammar

• we will always and inevitably have to focus our attention on the cognitive foundations of grammar