cognitive linguistic model as basis for contrasting
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November 13, 2012
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Cognitive Grammar is a model of
linguistic description which relates
language to our conceptual world and
our human experience.
Q: what are the common experiences
that all humans share (due to our
identical physiological make-up)? These bodily experiences shape our
thinking
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Language is part of our cognitive apparatuswith which we percieve the world aroundus and form concepts (processes ofperception and conceptualization). It is
based on our bodily experiences and itserves to name them. Therefore, one of thebasic tenets of cognitive grammaris thatgrammatical categories and grammaticalconstructions are meaningful. These
meanings are rooted in our conceptualsystem and our basic human experiencesof the world.
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Categorization
Categorization is the process ofcombining a number of experiences intoone conceptual category.
Conceptual categories relate to theculture which we are part of .
Conceptual categories only make senseif they are distinct from other conceptual
categories (night day, villainsheroes, snail-mail e-mail, crosscountry skiing downhill skiing)
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Many (but not all) categories are givenlinguistic labels
It is essential to distinguish between
conceptual categories and linguisticcategories
Linguistic categories allow us to frame andcommunicate our experiences about the
world mostly as words, but grammar of alanguage also plays an important role inour expression of concepts - on a verygeneral, schematic level:
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e.g. entities with clear boundaries such asnugget, car, lake, table, but there are entitiesrelated to them such as gold dust, traffic,water, woodthat have no clear boundaries.
The former can be counted as individualizedentities, but the latter represent noindividualized substance and cannot becounted.
The grammatical expression that reflects such
conceptual distinction between countableobjects(entities) and substance is the one ofplural of nouns: the former can be pluralized,the latter cannot .
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NB: the concepts of nuggets and
dust do not reflect objective reality,
but rather our perception of it, our
experience of it. The case of nuggetsand dust proves it, as there is no
objective (chemical or else) distinction
between the nuggets of gold and dust ofgold, but it is ourexperience of them
that shapes two different concepts.
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The reverse is also possible: owing to
our experience, we lump together as
similar entities that are different in
nature and we put them into oneconceptual category: convertible, van,
pick up, limo, sedan, SUV. They are all
categorized as cars, which then grouptogether with trains, bikes, motorbikes,
as vehicles.
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Our world of conceptual categories is richerthan our inventory of linguistic expressions(e.g. cars + bikes are vehicles thattravel on roads , but there is no word for itin English).
Linguistic categories can be quiteseductive, and dangerous too, when theymake us believe in distinctive features ofsocial groups. They are at the root ofstereotypes :(Gypsies, illegal immigrants ,WASPs, Jews, etc.)
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Conceptual hierarchies Most conceptual categories are
interrelated in a hierarchical fashion , i.e.
vertically, although they may be
interrelated in different ways (causally,temporally etc) . That means that lower
ranking concepts are types ofhigher
ranking concepts (i.e. type oftaxonomies).
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TAXONOMY
vehicle
train car truck bike
limo convertable sports sedan SUV pickup
Level 1 superordinate category
Level 2 - basiclevel categories
Level 3 - subordinate categories
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Each member of the subordinate level
can be further expanded, for instance
sports car
Porsche Carrera Mazda RX5 BMW740i
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Basic level categories are conceptually
more salient than those at superordinate
or subordinate levels Salient = prominent, conspicuous, or
striking
Therefore, more frequent in everydaycommunication
The vehicles are forbidden on the
premises or
Dad, can I take the BMW tonight?
OK, Mums taking the Porsche and Ill
be fine with the Merc!
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PARTONOMY
A different kind of conceptual hierarchy
is established by means of part of
relations between categories : tires
are parts of wheels, wheels,tank, body , chasis are parts of
the car . In partonomies, the higher
ranking categories are more salient than
lower ranking ones. Thus, we say
Fill 'er up!
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instead of
Fill the tank of the car up .
or,
I'm having the car washed
and not
I'm having the body of the car
washed
instead of
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Hierarchies of categories are
characteristic of the lexical systems, but
they are also relevant in grammar.
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Prototypes
Conceptual categories are structured verticallyin hierarchies, but they are aslo structuredhorizontally (limo, sedan, hatchback, stationwagon, van, SUV, jeep, pick up truck, sportscar, convertable).
For most people, the best example of a car isthe sedan,so we would say it is aprototype ofa car. Other members of the category aremore or less at a remove from the central or
best example - member. Therefore, we say that categories have a
radial structure (e.g. Mother)
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Buyis a better example of transitive
verb than the other two , which can be
tested by means of passivization:
Lowfat yougurt was bought (by Jenny).
?Lowfat yogurt is loved (by Jenny).
*Lowfat yourt was had (by Jenny).
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Creatingnew concepts from existing ones:
Metaphor and metonymy Conceptual domain :
The basic idea is that one cannot understand the meaning of asingle word without access to all the essential knowledge thatrelates to that word.
Q: Would you be able to understand the word sell withoutunderstanding the situation of commercial transfer? What else
does that situation involve? a seller, a buyer, goods, money, the relation between the money
and the goods, the relations between the seller and the goodsand the money, the relation between the buyer and the goodsand the money and so on.
any coherent organization of human experience: similar to
Fillmores frame : by the term frame I have in mind any system of concepts related insuch a way that to understand any one of them you have to understandthe whole structure in which it fits (Fillmore:1977)
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Conceptual transfer:
our cognitive abilities allow us to extend our repertoire
of concepts by creating new ones on the basis of old,
familiar ones.
e.g. nugget= lump of valuable metal, such as gold,found in nature , but
This book is full of nuggets of useful information.
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In order to understand the sentence, we
mentallytransfer the concept which
belongs to the domain ofgold to the
domain ofinformation: the information that I find in this book is
as valuable as nuggets of gold found in
the earth.
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Domain : no phenomenon is concieved inisolation ; each formed concept is associatedwith some other concepts that belong to thesame conceptual frame:
e.g. printed page, reading, library books,
whereas
tears, low spirits, drooping posture sadness
So, mentioning one member of the domainusually brings to mind the whole domain, or ascene typically associated with it.
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Therefore , in the following:
I am married to a library(metaphor)
Married conceptual domain of
marriage
Library conceptual domain of books
The two domains are incompatible, which
gives rise to metaphorical understanding ofthe sentences, in two possible ways:
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the metaphor may reside in libraryrendering reading: I am married to anextremely well read person. or
the metaphor may reside in married
rendering reading : I spend so much time inthe library as if I were married to it.
The girl was in tears (metonymy: the use ofa word to denote a meaning other than
literal ) To be in tears conceptual domain of
sadness
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The sentence then means 'The girl was verysad' , although we have not mentionedsadness. In this particular case of metonimy,the EFFECT stands for CAUSE (sadness isusually the cause of tears)
Therefore, metaphor and metonymy do notreside in the expressions themselves ; theyarise from conceptual transferwhich, in caseof metaphor, involves two conceptual domains
(the sourcedomain and the target domain)and in the case of metonymy, only one (part ofthe domain is used to refer to the domain as awhole):
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(1)Microprocessors are the brains of acomputer.
2 incompatible domains 2-sided
metaphor source domain ---- target domain
human body-----computers
microprocessor ----- brain
Metaphor: the mapping of a structure ofone conceptual domain onto thestructure of another
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(2)The company wants to hire new brains.
1 domain only : human body
brain --- human
Take a look at the following examples:
The french fries is getting impatient .
They played lots of Mozart.
She heard the piano.
Im in the phone book.
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Food (the person ordered) Person
Composer music (the person
composed)
Object/Instrument music the
instrument produces
Person (owning the phone number)
Phone number Metonymy: mapping of a structure
within one conceptual domain
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Metaphors are a matter of cognition as
opposed to language, and are
fundamental to conceptualizing the
world. Metaphor is mapping across conceptual
domains, from source to target, and
normally from the concrete to the moreabstract.
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There are conceptual metaphors that
are not felt as metaphors any longer:
e.g.
a) Lily finally got the message.
b) Wendy was overcome by grief.
received (literal meaning)
Got
understood the contents of
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The metaphorical meaning builds upon
the literal one
It is part of a larger conceptual metaphor
in which communication is seen astransmitting physical objects, known as
CONDUIT metaphor
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In b) the meaning of overcome has
become fully lexicalized in English
The original meaning was to get better
of in a struggle or fight
e.g. We shall overcome!
Clearly, the verb belonged to the domain
of fighting What happens in a physical fight?
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The winner ends on top of the opponent:
thus the use of prefix over as in
overthrow , overpower, overcome,
overwhelm
orthe other way round
the use of prefix sub as in subdue,
surrender
I S h
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Image Schemas The first step in acquiring a category is forming a structural
description of an entity (elementary properties of an entity
include lines, surfaces, weight, vertical or horizontal
extension , toughness or softness, switness or bitterness,
etc);
When these properties occur repeatedly , certain schematic
structures begin to emerge and get represented in the brain.
The structures that emerge are called image schemas. a recurring, dynamic pattern of our perceptual interactions
and motor programs that gives coherence to our experience
(Johnson:1987) .
Image scemas provide an important part of our
understanding of the world Here are some common image schemas:
CONTAINER, BALANCE, COMPULSION, BLOCKAGE,
COUNTERFORCE, PATH, LINK, CENTER-PERIPHERY,
VERTICALITY , PART-WHOLE, ETC...
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The examples show how the language
exploits the scale of verticality to express
the relationship of power
The powerful entity is at the higher end (thetop - UP) and the powerless entity is at the
lower end (the bottom DOWN)
Why is the scale of verticality (UP
DOWN) so exploitable a domain for
metaphorical transfer?
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Force of gravity
Deeply entrenched in our cognitive and
perceptual system
Enable our understanding of
symbols/language, therefore
The vertical axis with its UP and DOWN
ends represents a meaningful conceptual
structure The basic relational configurations (such as
the UP-DOWN schema) are called Image
Schemas
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Most common image schemas:
FRONT BACK: the assymetry of our body; we
communicate and interact with the world via the front
part
CONTACT: among other ways, we percieve the reality
around us by getting into physical contact with it CONTAINER: some objects are hollow and can be
filled by other objects (glass filled with wine);
MOTION: the experience of our motor and locomotive
activities
FORCES COUNTERFORCES: experience of
various forces , like the wind blowing into our face, or
blowing off leaves from the ground, or our parents
sending us to bed
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Image Schemas as exploitable domains
A. The wind was calming down.
B. The Chairman put forward his proposal.
C. Hold on, please. Stick to the topic,
please. D. She was born outside marriage. We are
outsiders to the idea.
E. The TV has gone mute. F. His permanent nagging sent me into
frenzy/ drove me up the wall./ It must be
the postman.
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These image schemas serve as source
domains for understanding more
abstract relations in the target domain:
A. Verticality intensity in A. B. Front-Back action in B.
C. Contact action in C.
D. Container
state in D. E. Motion change of state in E.
F. Forces cause in F.
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Examples from English include:
'Life Is A Journey' Metaphor He got a head start in life.
He's without direction in his life.I'm where I want to be in life.
I'm at a crossroads in my life.He'll go places in life.He's never let anyone get in his way.He's gone through a lot in life.
Hierarchical organization, as mentioned, is a
prominent feature of conceptual metaphors.The higher structurally the metaphor, the morewidespread it tends to be.
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Recommended reading
Lakoff, George and Johnson, Mark.
(1980). Metaphors We Live By. Chicago:
University of Chicago Press.
Lakoff, George. (1987). Women, Fireand Dangerous Things. Chicago:
University of Chicago Press.
Kovecses, Zoltan. (2006). Language ,Mind and Culture. Oxford. Oxford
University Press.