Cognitive linguistics refers to the branch of linguistics that interprets
language in terms of the concepts, sometimes universal, sometimes specific
to a particular tongue, which underlie its forms. It is thus closely associated
with semantics but is distinct from psycholinguistics, which draws upon
empirical findings from cognitive psychology in order to explain the
mental processes that underlie the acquisition, storage, production and
understanding of speech and writing. Cognitive linguistics is characterized
by adherence to three central positions. First, it denies that there is an
autonomous linguistic faculty in the mind; second, it understands grammar in
terms of conceptualization; and third, it claims that knowledge of language
arises out of language use. Finally, cognitive linguistics argues
that language is both embodied and situated in a specific environment. This
can be considered a moderate offshoot of the Sapir–Whorf hypothesis inasmuch as
language and cognition mutually influence one another and are both
embedded in the experiences and environments of its users.
Three central positions Cognitive linguists deny that the mind
has any module for language-acquisition that is unique and autonomous. This
stands in contrast to the stance adopted in the field of generative grammar.
Although cognitive linguists do not necessarily deny that part of the human
linguistic ability is innate, they deny that it is separate from the rest of
cognition. They thus reject a body of opinion in cognitive science suggesting
that there is evidence for the modularity of language. Departing from
the tradition of truth-conditional semantics, cognitive linguists view
meaning in terms of conceptualization. Instead of viewing meaning in terms of
models of the world, they view it in terms of mental spaces.
They argue that knowledge of linguistic phenomena — i.e., phonemes, morphemes,
and syntax — is essentially conceptual in nature. However, they assert that the
storage and retrieval of linguistic data is not significantly different from the
storage and retrieval of other knowledge, and that use of language in
understanding employs similar cognitive abilities to those used in other
non-linguistic tasks. Embodied and situated
Areas of study Cognitive linguistics is divided into
three main areas of study: Cognitive semantics, dealing mainly with
lexical semantics, separating semantics into meaning-construction and knowledge
representation. Cognitive approaches to grammar, dealing
mainly with syntax, morphology and other traditionally more grammar-oriented
areas. Cognitive phonology, dealing with
classification of various correspondences between morphemes and
phonetic sequences. Aspects of cognition that are of
interest to cognitive linguists include: Construction grammar and cognitive
grammar. Conceptual metaphor and conceptual
blending. Image schemas and force dynamics.
Conceptual organization: Categorization, Metonymy, Frame semantics, and
Iconicity. Construal and Subjectivity.
Gesture and sign language. Linguistic relativity.
Cultural linguistics. Related work that interfaces with many
of the above themes: Computational models of metaphor and
language acquisition. Dynamical models of language acquisition
Conceptual semantics, pursued by generative linguist Ray Jackendoff, is
related because of its active psychological realism and the
incorporation of prototype structure and images.
Cognitive linguistics, more than generative linguistics, seeks to mesh
together these findings into a coherent whole. A further complication arises
because the terminology of cognitive linguistics is not entirely stable, both
because it is a relatively new field and because it interfaces with a number of
other disciplines. Insights and developments from cognitive
linguistics are becoming accepted ways of analysing literary texts, too.
Cognitive Poetics, as it has become known, has become an important part of
modern stylistics. Controversy
There is significant peer review and debate within the field of linguistics
regarding cognitive linguistics. Critics of cognitive linguistics have argued
that most of the evidence from the cognitive view comes from the research
in pragmatics and semantics, and research in metaphor and preposition
choice. They suggest that cognitive linguists should provide cognitive
re-analyses of topics in syntax and phonology that are understood in terms
of autonomous knowledge. There is also controversy and debate
within the field concerning the representation and status of idioms in
grammar and the actual mental grammar of speakers. On one hand it is asserted
that idiom variation needs to be explained with regard to general and
autonomous syntactic rules. Another view says such idioms do not constitute
semantic units and can be processed compositionally.
See also Embodied philosophy
Linguistic anthropology References
= Notes = ^ Croft, William and D. Alan Cruse.
Cognitive Linguistics. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. p. 1.
= General references = Evans, Vyvyan & Melanie Green. Cognitive
Linguistics: An Introduction. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press.
Evans, Vyvyan. A Glossary of Cognitive Linguistics. Edinburgh: Edinburgh
University Press. Gibbs in Casad ED. Cognitive Linguistics
in the Redwoods: The Expansion of a New Paradigm in Linguistics Mouton De
Gruyter ISBN 9783110143584. Langlotz, Andreas. 2006. Idiomatic
Creativity: A Cognitive-linguistic Model of Idiom-representation And Idiom
Variation in English. Amsterdam: John Benjamins.
Further reading Evans, Vyvyan & Melanie Green. Cognitive
Linguistics: An Introduction. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press.
Evans, Vyvyan. A Glossary of Cognitive Linguistics. Edinburgh: Edinburgh
University Press. Evans, Vyvyan; Benjamin Bergen & Joerg
Zinken. The Cognitive Linguistics Reader. London: Equinox.
Evans, Vyvyan, Benjamin K. Bergen and Jörg Zinken. The Cognitive Linguistics
Enterprise: An Overview. In Vyvyan Evans, Benjamin K. Bergen and Jörg
Zinken. The Cognitive Linguistics Reader. Equinox Publishing Co.
Geeraerts, D. & H. Cuyckens, eds.. The Oxford Handbook of Cognitive
Linguistics. New York: Oxford University Press. ISBN 978 0 19 514378 2.
Geeraerts, D., ed.. Cognitive Linguistics: Basic Readings. Berlin /
New York: Mouton de Gruyter. Kristiansen et al., eds.. Cognitive
Linguistics: Current Applications and Future Perspectives. Berlin / New York:
Mouton de Gruyter. Rohrer, T. Embodiment and
Experientialism in Cognitive Linguistics. In the Handbook of
Cognitive Linguistics, Dirk Geeraerts and Herbert Cuyckens, eds., Oxford
University Press, forthcoming. Gilles Fauconnier has written a brief,
manifesto-like introduction to Cognitive linguistics, which compares it to
mainstream, Chomsky-inspired linguistics. See "Introduction to
Methods and Generalizations" in T. Janssen and G. Redeker. Scope and
Foundations of Cognitive Linguistics. The Hague: Mouton De Gruyter. Cognitive
Linguistics Research Series. Grady, Oakley, and Coulson. "Blending
and Metaphor". In Metaphor in cognitive linguistics, Steen and Gibbs.
Philadelphia: John Benjamins. Schmid, H. J. et al.. An Introduction to
Cognitive Linguistics. New York, Longman.
Silverman, Daniel. "Usage-based phonology", in Bert Botma, Nancy C.
Kula, and Kuniya Nasukawa, eds., Continuum Companion to Phonology.
Continuum. Fauconnier, G.. Mappings in Thought and
Language. Taylor, J. R.. Cognitive Grammar.
Oxford, Oxford University Press. Croft, W. & D. A. Cruse Cognitive
Linguistics. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Tomasello, M.. Constructing a Language: A Usage-Based Theory of Language
Acquisition. Harvard University Press. Fauconnier, Gilles and Mark Turner. The
Way We Think. New York: Basic Books. Lakoff, George. Women, Fire, and
Dangerous Things: What Categories Reveal About the Mind. University of Chicago
Press. ISBN 0 226 46804 6. Lakoff, George and Mark Johnson..
Metaphors We Live By. University of Chicago Press.
The Cognitive Linguistics Bibliography, Wolf et al., Mouton De Gruyter, Berlin,
2006. Conceptual semantics and Cognitive
linguistics. Online Version GOOSSENS, LOUIS. Oct. 2009.
Metaphtonymy: the interaction of metaphor and metonymy in expressions for
linguistic action. Cognitive Linguistics. Volume 1, Issue 3, Pages
323–342, ISSN 1613-3641, ISSN 0936-5907, DOI: 10.1515/cogl.1990.1.3.323
Cognitive Linguistics: An Introduction. Lee, D.A. Cognitive Linguistics: An
Introduction 1st ed. Melbourne: Oxford University Press, 2001.
Corpus Approaches to Critical Metaphor Analysis: Charteris-Black, J. Corpus
Approaches to Critical Metaphor Analysis. Palgrave-MacMillan. ISBN
1403932921 The cognitive psychological reality of
image schemas and their transformations. Oct. 2009. Cognitive Linguistics. Volume
6, Issue 4, Pages 347–378, ISSN 1613-3641, ISSN 0936-5907
External links International Cognitive Linguistics
Association UK Cognitive Linguistics Association
Annotated Cognitive Linguistics Reading List
JohnQPublik's Introduction to Cognitive Linguistics is an informal overview of
the field, comparing it to traditional Chomskyan linguistics.
Introduction to Cognitive Linguistics. The Gestalt Theory and Linguistics Page
deals with the relationship between Gestalt theory and cognitive
linguistics. The Center for the Cognitive Science of
Metaphor Online is a collection of numerous formative articles in the
fields of conceptual metaphor and conceptual integration.