Ceg chapters 1 3

Cognitive English Grammar:

Theory, Practice and Beyond

Günter RaddenHamburg University

[email protected]

10.04.23 Cognitive English Grammar 1

Cognition and its interaction with other human systems (Panther &

Radden 2011)


X and Y alike construction (Panther & Thornburg)

(1) A car-free family resort offering a warm welcome, summer and winter alike.

(2) Doctors and citizens alike are concerned about the consequences of health-care reform.


Cognition and its interaction with other human systems (Panther &

Radden 2011)


Language and cognition

(1) Impact of cognition on language: Motivation in language

(2) Impact of language on cognition: Whorfian effects


Relative

Arbitrariness M o t i v a t i o n Predictability

(1) Motivation in language

20 80

douze

12 14 19 21

quatorze dix-neuf vingt-et-unquatre-vingt vingt


What do we call this thing?


Words for ‘screw-driver’ across languages

SCREW-DRIVE-ER screwdriver English SCREW(S)-PULL-ER Schraubenzieher German

skruetrækker Danish csavarhúzó Hungarian

SCREW-TURN-ER schroevedraaier Dutch nejimawashi Japanese

TURNS-SCREW tournevis French nasadollike Korean

DE/OUT-SCREW-ER destornillador Spanish STICK-IN/TAKE-OUT-SCREW cacciavite Italian KEY OF CUT chave de fenda Portuguese SCREW-KNIFE luósīdāo Chinese SCREW-CHISEL skruvmejsel Swedish

ruuvimeisseli, ruuvitaltta Finnish


Screwdriver ICM

INSTRUMENT

TOOL

‘screwdriver’

ACTION

APPLIED-TO

cut of screw

PURPOSE

drive-in pull-out

MEANS

turn

MATERIAL

METAL

SHAPE

long thin rodwith handle on one and blade at the other end

key

chisel

long shaftwith metal blade

Schrauben-zieh-er csavar-húz-ó schroeve-draai-er

screw-driv-er

skruv-mejsel

tourne-vis

chave de fenda


Screwdriver ICM – ‘screw’

INSTRUMENT

TOOL

‘screwdriver’

ACTION

APPLIED-TO

cut of screw

PURPOSE

drive-in pull-out

MEANS

turn

MATERIAL

METAL

SHAPE


key

chisel


Schrauben-zieh-er csavar-húz-ó

tourne-vis

screw-driv-er

skruv-mejsel

schroeve-draai-er

chave de fenda10.04.23 Cognitive English Grammar 10

Screwdriver ICM – ‘drive’

INSTRUMENT

TOOL

‘screwdriver’

ACTION

APPLIED-TO

cut of screw

PURPOSE

drive-in pull-out

MEANS

turn

MATERIAL

METAL

SHAPE


key

chisel



screw-driv-er

skruv-mejsel

tourne-vis


Screwdriver ICM – ‘pull’

INSTRUMENT

TOOL

‘screwdriver’

ACTION

APPLIED-TO

cut of screw

PURPOSE

drive-in pull-out

MEANS

turn

MATERIAL

METAL

SHAPE


key

chisel



screw-driv-er

skruv-mejsel

tourne-vis


Screwdriver ICM – ‘turn’

INSTRUMENT

TOOL

‘screwdriver’

ACTION

APPLIED-TO

cut of screw

PURPOSE

drive-in pull-out

MEANS

turn

MATERIAL

METAL

SHAPE


key

chisel



screw-driv-er

skruv-mejsel

tourne-vis


Screwdriver ICM - Instrument

INSTRUMENT

TOOL

‘screwdriver’

ACTION

APPLIED-TO

cut of screw

PURPOSE

drive-in pull-out

MEANS

turn

MATERIAL

METAL

SHAPE


key

chisel



screw-driv-er

skruv-mejsel

tourne-vis


Screwdriver ICM

INSTRUMENT

TOOL

‘screwdriver’

ACTION

APPLIED-TO

cut of screw

PURPOSE

drive-in pull-out

MEANS

turn

MATERIAL

METAL

SHAPE


key

chisel


Schrauben-zieh-er csavar-húz-ó

tourne-vis

screw-driv-er

skruv-mejsel

chave de fenda

schroeve-draai-er


Motivation in language (Panther & Radden 2011)

A linguistic sign (target) is motivated to the extent that some of its properties are shaped by a linguistic or non-linguistic source and language-independent factors.


Motivation of subject-auxiliary inversion

(Langacker 2011)Normal Subject-Verb clause: She will wait for me.

The subject she is the anchor of the clause and the existential core; the auxiliary will is the existential verb. The proposition is not to be negotiated.

Subject-Auxiliary inversion in yes-no questions:

Will she wait for me?

The auxiliary will is the anchor of the clause and the existential core: The speaker directs the hearer’s attention to the reality status of the propositional content, which is to be negotiated.


(2) Whorfian effects

“Language is the formative organ of thought.”(Wilhelm von Humboldt, 1830-

35)

“The limits of my language are the limits of my mind. All I know is what I have words for.”

(Ludwig Wittgenstein)


Whorfian effects: Grammatical gender

(Lera Boroditsky)‘key’

German der Schlüssel evokes “male” attributes:

‘hard’, ‘heavy’, ‘jagged’, ‘metal’, ‘serrated’, ‘useful’

Spanish la llave evokes “female attributes:

‘golden’, ‘intricate’, ‘little’, ‘lovely’, ‘shiny’, ‘tiny’

‘bridge’

German die Brücke evokes “female” attributes:

‘beautiful’, ‘elegant’, ‘fragile’, ‘peaceful’, ‘slender’, ‘pretty’

Spanish el puente evokes “male” attributes:

‘big’, ‘dangerous’, ‘long’, ‘strong’, ‘sturdy’, ‘towering’


die Rialto-Brücke


el puente de la torre de Londres


Vertical time in Chinese

Earlier times (events) are ‘up’, later times (events) are ‘down’

shang-ban-tian upper-half-day ‘morning; forenoon’

xia-ban-tian lower-half-day ‘afternoon’

shàn-yuè up-month ‘last month’

xià-yuè down-month ‘next month’

yue-tou month-head/top ‘the beginning of the month’

yue-di month-bottom ‘the end of the month’


Part I The cognitive framework 1. Categories in thought and language 2. Cognitive operations in thought and language 3. From thought to language: Cognitive Grammar

Part II Things: Nouns and noun phrases 4. Types of things: Nouns 5. Grounding things: Reference 6. Quantifying things: Quantifiers 7. Qualifying things: Modifiers

Part III Situations as temporal units: Aspect, tense and modality 8. Situation types: Aspect 9. Grounding situations in time: Tense 10. Grounding situations in potentiality: Modality

Part IV Situations as relational units: Sentence structure 11. Event schemas: Sentence patterns 12. Space and extensions of space: Complements and adjuncts

Radden & Dirven. 2007. Cognitive English Grammar


From lexical to grammatical specifications of time

Lexical forms (specific notions)

I teach every morning.

I teach from 8am to 12am.

Lexico-grammatical forms (intermediate)

I’ll teach at the university.

I used to teach at the university. /ju:stə/ instead of /ju:zd tə/

Grammatical forms (general notions)

I teach at the university.

I taught at the university.


A rustler lassoed the steers. Specific notions (Talmy 1988)

Lexical elements Meaning

1. rustler cattle thief

2. lasso catch something with a lasso

3. steer castrated bull


A rustler lassoed the steers. Generalised notions (Talmy 1988)

Grammatical elements Meaning1. a no identifiability2. the indentifiability3. rustler, steers = nouns entity character4. (rustler)Ø = singular unitary instance5. (steer)s = plural multiple instance6. lasso = verb event character7. -ed = past tense event time before speech time8. a rustler = subject agent9. the steers = object patient10. subj. verb obj. = active voice agent’s point of view


A rustler lassoed the steers. Lexical vs grammatical

specificationsLexical specifications Gramm.

specificationsFunction: conceptual content structural functionInformation: specific general, schematicNumber: fewer in number more numerous

Lexical specifications provide more and greater intricacy of information. A machine stamped the envelopes. Shift to a new scene; same basic breakup of the scene.

Grammatical specifications establish the main delineations of the scene organization. Will the rustlers lasso the steer? Change of scene organization, basic content remains intact.


(Some) basic cognitive-linguistic assumptions

1. Language, including its grammar, is part of human cognition and human experience.

2. The function of language, including its grammar, is to communicate meaning.

3. The structures of grammar are meaningful and motivated.


Cognitive English Grammar: Workbook

Günter Radden, Réka Benczes, Catherine Schwerin, Susannah Ewing Bölke

Hamburg, Budapest


Cognitive English Grammar Workbook

“We firmly believe that CL offers ways and means to facilitate foreign language learning because it enables us to point out the motivation behind every aspect of language. Language thus becomes explainable, and once learners see the […] ways a language works, they may start constructing and reconstructing their own hypotheses about the language they are learning.”

Martin Pütz, Susanne Niemeier, René Dirven (eds) (2001). Applied Cognitive Linguistics II: Language Pedagogy. Berlin/New York: Mouton de Gruyter, xv.


Cognitive English Grammar Workbook

Target:

Students of English, linguistics, educational science

Aims for students: Grasp the theoretical concepts Able to explain language phenomena in linguistic terms Enhance own understanding of language Evolve more subtle linguistic discernment Engage in small-scale linguistic research-style activities to train

relevant skills


Chapter 1

Categories in thought and language


Categories

A category is a collection of equivalent experiences that are

meaningful and relevant to us, i.e. categories are formed for

things that “matter” in a community.

Collection: Categories are types

Equivalence: Assessment of similarity of experiences

Experience: “We see things not as they are but as we are.” (Kant)

Meaningfulness and relevance: “Language without meaning is meaningless.” (Jakobson)

Community: Collective experience


Experiential basis of categories: Kids’ thoughts on LOVE

WHY DOES LOVE HAPPEN BETWEEN TWO PARTICULAR PEOPLE?

“One of the people has freckles and so he finds somebody else who has freckles too.” (Andrew, age 6)

“No one is sure why it happens, but I heard it has something to do with how you smell. That’s why perfume and deodorant are so popular.” (Mae, age 9)

“I think you’re supposed to get shot with an arrow or something, but the rest of it isn’t supposed to be so painful.”

(Manuel, age 8)


Experiential basis of categories: Kids’ thoughts on LOVE

WHY DO LOVERS OFTEN HOLD HANDS?

“They want to make sure their rings don’t fall off because they paid good money for them.” (Gavin, age 8)

“They are just practicing for when they might have to walk down the aisle someday and do the holy matchimony thing.”

(John, age 9)


Experiential basis of categories: Misunderstanding

A mother was teaching her 3 year old daughter the Lord’s Prayer. For several evenings at bedtime she repeated it after her mother. One night she said she was ready to solo. The mother listened with pride as she carefully enunciated each word right up to the end.

“And lead us not into temptation,” she prayed, “but deliver us some e-mail. Amen.”


Experiential basis of categories: Ah, it's a new world

I was teaching my 6-year-old daughter how to unbuckle her seat belt.

She asked, "Do I click the square?“

I said, "Yes.“

She asked me, "Single click or double click?"


Ecological motivation

“The ecology of a linguistic unit is to be understood in the sense that it has “pointers” to other units and, to the extent that the unit is related to other units in the language, it is motivated. Since each linguistic unit is related to other units within a system, all units are motivated to some extent.”

(Taylor 2004)

“Cognitive and functional linguists find that virtually everything in language is motivated.” (Langacker 2008: 14)


The Great Vowel Shift: Middle English system of long

vowels

i: u:

e:

housefind

feet

olddeal æ: :с

footo:


The Great Vowel Shift of Middle English long vowels

i: u:

auai

e: housefind

feet

olddeal

æ: :с

foot

o:


The Great Vowel Shift; 1st phase:Raising of mid-vowels

i: u:

e:

housefind

feet

olddealæ: :с

foot o:

i: u:


The Great Vowel Shift; 2nd phase: “push”:

Diphthongization of high vowels

i: u:

auai

e:

housefind feet

olddealæ: :с

foot

o:

i: u:


The Great Vowel Shift; 3rd phase: “pull”:

Raising of low vowels

i: u:

auai

e:

housefind

feet

olddealæ: :с

foot

o:


The Great Vowel Shift: Early Modern English system of

vowels

i: u:

auai

e:

housefind

feet

olddeal

foot

o:


Categorization: Genesis

In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.

And the earth was without form, and void, and darkness was upon the face of the deep […]

And God said, “Let there be light”: and there was light.

And God saw the light, and that it was good: and God divided the light from the darkness.

And God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. […]


And God said, “Let there by a firmament in the midst of the waters, and let it

divide the waters from the waters”.

And God made the firmament, and he divided the waters which were under the firmament from the waters which were above the firmament.

And God called the firmament Heaven. […]

And God said, “Let the waters under the heaven be gathered together unto one place, and let dry land appear”: and it was so.

And God called the dry Land; and the gathering together of the waters called he Seas: and God saw that it was good. […]

And God said, “Let there be lights in the firmament of the heaven to divide the day from the night” […]


Birdiness hierarchy (Lakoff)

A robin is a bird. true

A robin is sort of a bird. false (it is a bird)

A chicken is sort of a bird. true, or very close to true

A penguin is sort of a bird. true, or close to true

A bat is sort of a bird. close to false

A cow is sort of a bird. false

A robin is a bird par excellence. true

A chicken is a bird par excellence. false

A robin is a typical bird. true

An eagle is a typical bird. false, or far from true

A chicken is a typical bird. false


Taxonomy: ‘musical instrument’

Superordinate: musical instrument

Basic level: guitar piano drum

Subordinate: folk guitar grand piano kettle drum

classical guitar upright piano bass drum


Taxonomy: ‘furniture’

Superordinate: furniture

Basic level: table chair lamp

Subordinate: kitchen table kitchen chair floor lamp

dining-room table dining-room chair desk lamp


Taxonomy: ‘tool’

Superordinate: tool

Basic level: hammer saw pliers

Subordinate: claw hammer handsaw pincers

sledge hammer chain saw needle-nose pliers


Frames - acoustic illusions

It was found that the [erm] -eel was on the axle.

WHEEL-frame

It was found that the [erm] -eel was on the shoe.

SHOE-frame

It was found that the [erm] -eel was on the orange.

FRUIT-frame

It was found that the [erm] -eel was on the table.

MEAL-frame


Frames - acoustic illusions

Paint the fence and the ?ate.

Check the calendar and the ?ate.

Here's the fishing gear and the ?ate.


Active zones: Source prominence

Can you lubricate the car?[= parts of the car easing smooth motion]

Can you wash the car?[= body of the car]

Can you hoover the car?

[= interior of the car]

Can you lubricate, wash, and hoover the car?


Profiled active zones

Japanese:

o naka ga sukimashita – the stomach is empty = ‘I am hungry’

nodu ga kawaita desu – the throat is dry = ‘I am thirsty’

Cameroon Pidgin English:

Ma skin di slak – my skin (body) is slack = ‘I am tired’

Persian:

How is you health? = ‘How are you?’


Profile/active-zone discrepancy with subjects and objects

(Langacker)a. The boy {blinked / waved / coughed / meditated / ached /

stretched / smiled / urinated}.

b. She hit me (in the {arm / stomach / mouth / back / leg}).

c. She hit me (with {her left hand / her right elbow / the top of her head / a stick / a baseball}).

d. I can {hear a piano / see the elephants in the distance [only a cloud of dust being visible]}.

“One can never be totally precise, and usually we do not even try.”


Metonymy : Target prominence

The commission inspected the school. [= the curriculum]

The commission examined the school.[= the teachers]

The commission praised the school.[= the baseball team]

#The commission inspected, examined, and praised the school.


source

targetmetonymy

reference point

target

targettarget

target

frame

concept-ualizer

Reference-point constructions


Some reference-point constructions

Profile/active-zone discrepancy: She hit me.

Possessive constructions: my foot

Topic constructions: The lottery, I never have any luck.

Compounds: mosquito net


Compounds (Langacker)

- A butterfly net is a net used to catch butterflies.

- A mosquito net is a net used to protect us from mosquitoes while sleeping; it might also be a net used to catch mosquitoes, or a net used by mosquitoes to catch tiny fish.

- A chimney squirrel might be a squirrel that lives in a chimney or a trained squirrel used to clean a chimney by running up and down inside it.

- An airplane diaper might be a diaper carried on an airplane for infant emergencies or a large piece of cloth wrapped around an airplane to soak up leaking fuel.


Some lexical metonymies

Amanda is a blabbermouth.

I’d get my butt on an airplane and get out of Japan.

I am just a student.

Dinner will be served in 30 miles.

After the earthquake and tsunami, they [young people] are rolling up their sleeves.

When you pull a trigger, a gun goes off.

Keep the pedal to the metal.


Different metonymic sources – same target: ‘I have not driven a

car recently’ (Song 1997: 102)konogoro kuruma-ni notte-inai

‘I have not ridden wheels recently’

highlights mobility and has a much wider distribution than:

konogoro handoru-wo nigitte-inai

‘I have not held a steering wheel recently’,

which highlights the controlling aspect of driving


Some grammatical metonymies

INSTANCE FOR TYPE: A lion has a bushy tail.

ENDPOINT OF PATH FOR PATH: The beach is down the street.

EVENT FOR DURATION: I fell asleep during the lecture.

STATE FOR ACTION: You must be in bed by 10 o’clock.

RESULT FOR ACTION: Win two weeks’ vacation in a five-star hotel!


Analogy

solar system > structure of the atom

waves of water > light waves, sound waves

flowing water > electric current

infection > computer virus

highway system > data highway


The same target domain LOVE is understood in terms of different

source domainsLOVE IS PHYSICAL FORCE : I was drawn to her.

They are attracted to each other.

LOVE IS A PATIENT: This is a sick relationship.

It's a tired affair.

LOVE IS MADNESS: I'm crazy about her.

She drives me out of my mind.

LOVE IS MAGIC: I was spellbound.

She is bewitching.

LOVE IS WAR: He is known for his many conquests.

He won her hand in marriage.


Different target domains are understood in terms of the same

source domain SPACE STATES ARE LOCATIONS: She is in love with him.

CHANGE IS MOTION: She fell in love with him.

TIME IS MOTION: The years flew by.

EMOTIONS ARE LOCATIONS: She is in high spirits.

THINKING IS MOTION: My mind is racing.

COMMUNICATION IS TRANSFER: Did you get my point?

KINSHIP IS PROXIMITY: She is a close relative.

SIMILARITY IS PROXIMITY: That’s close to the truth.


SIMILARITY IS CLOSENESS

a. Maroon and crimson are close in color, but they are by no means identical.

b. Buying land on the moon borders on the absurd.

c. Ben is nearly as tall as me.

d. The cotton shirt is approximately the same price as the rayon shirt.


DIFFERENCE IS DISTANCE

a. Red and green are far apart.

b. The difference between red and green is vast.

c. Your idea of friendship and my idea of friendship are worlds apart.

d. Hard work separates the men from the boys.


SIMILARITY IS CLOSENESSDIFFERENCE IS DISTANCE

distancecloseness

Fred’s house is close to Gerald’s house.

Fred’s house is far (away) from Grant’s house.

Fig GrdFig Grd


Fred’ house is similar to Gerald’s house.

Fred’ house is different from Gerald’s house.

Chapter 2

Cognitive operations in thought and language


Construals: Structural alternatives

The bottle is half full.

The bottle is half empty.

Context: drinking from a bottle:

The bottle is (still) half full. ‘more than expected is left’

The bottle is (already) half empty. ‘less than expected is left’

Context: filling a bottle:

The bottle is (already) half full. ‘more than expected is filled’

The bottle is (still) half full. ‘less then expected is filled’


Canonical perspectives


Non-canonical perspectives


Droodles

Egyptian pyramids.


Droodles

A Mexican riding a bicycle.


Droodles

Close-up of pig looking at book titles in a library.


Droodles

Restroom key and keychain at a service station


Viewpoint (Sweetser)

Language is basically, intrinsically viewpointed.

BECAUSE Cognition is basically, intrinsically viewpointed.

BECAUSE The body is basically, intrinsically viewpointed.


Fictive motion

An ornate wrought-iron gateway leads into the garden, so its colourful beds of flowers and green lawns can be

admired from outside, too.


Fictive motion

The Royal Gorge Railroad tracks follow the Arkansas River.


Fictive motion

Alfred Hitchcock could not have conjured a scarier highway—122 miles of vertigo between Monterey and Morro Bay. Two lanes for nearly its entire length, the road meanders along cliff tops poised high above the Pacific.


Fictive motion

Anasazi Indians built these structures, and lived here, around 1200 AD. You won't be able to walk amongst these ruins. They're located in the wall of a steep cliff, that drops down into Butler Wash.


Figure and ground

Look over there at the bird in the sky.

?Look over there at the sky around the bird.


Figure and Ground (Escher)


The Canadian flag

Two angry men with their foreheads pressed together: Jack and Jacques


Camouflage

Merging of figure and ground: bird perched on log


Figure and Ground in language

(1) a. The cat is under the blanket.

b. The blanket is over the cat.

(2) a. The bike is near the church.

b. The church is near the bike.

c. The bike is near the Empire State Building.

d. ?The Empire State Building is near the bike.

(3) a. The apple fell to the ground. b. ??The ground received the apple.

c. Jennifer resembles her grandmother.

d. ?Grandmother resembles her niece.


Figure and Ground in language

(4) a. The bread got stale.

b. ?Staleness came to the bread.

c. Bill began singing.

d. ??Singing began in Bill.

(5) a. Rosemary dreamt while she slept.

b. ? Rosemary slept while she dreamt.

c. Frank exploded after he touched the button.

d. ?Frank touched the button before he exploded.


Reality and representation spaces

At an exhibition of

Franz Marc’s paintings:

Lady to Marc:

“Horses aren’t blue, are they?”

Marc: “But this is not a horse.

This is a painting.”


René Magritte, The Treachery of Images


René Magritte, The Treachery of Images

The Treachery of Images is one of Magritte's most celebrated and interesting works. He presents a familiar object in the shape of a pipe, and then tells us in lettering beneath it that "this is not a pipe".

This seeming paradox plays on our common sense and perception of reality. What he has created is in fact not a pipe, not something we could smoke - only a representation of one.


Lexical blends

Chunnel

emoticon

earwitness

infomercial

teleshopping

edutainement

politainment

carjacking

alcokey

palmtop


Blends based on idioms

I shop, therefore I am.

To be or not to be – let’s have them both.

Never judge a book by its movie.

Eat now – pay waiter.

A penny saved is not much.

No nukes is good nukes.

Strike while the bug is close.

On the other hand, you have different fingers.

Better late than pregnant.


What is this?

A Trojan Horse


Blending in visual representation


The Buddhist monk

A Buddhist Monk begins at dawn one day walking up a mountain, reaches the top at sunset, meditates at the top for several days until one dawn when he begins to walk back to the foot of the mountain, which he reaches at sunset. Make no assumptions about his starting or stopping or about his pace during the trips.

Riddle: Is there a place on the path that the monk occupies at the same hour of the day on two separate journeys?


The Buddhist monk


The Buddhist monk

Composition: two individualsCompletion: encounter frameElaboration: “running the blend”: compression

d1 d2

d

d1= d2

Input space 1:ascent

Input space 2:descent


Conceptual integration network

Input spaces

Cross-space mapping: connects counterparts in the input mental spaces by means of vital relations. Neurologically, cross-space mappings correspond to coactivation bindings.

Generic space: captures the structures that the input spaces have in common.

Blend: inherits partial structure from the input spaces and has emergent structure of its own.

Emergent structure: is generated in three ways - composition, completion, elaboration.


Blending in grammar

Fictive motion: The cliff drops down 600 feet.

Generic reference: A tiger hunts by night.

Negation: There isn’t anyone living in the house.

Modality: There must be someone living in the house.

Present perfect: The train has left.

Caused motion: Fred sneezed the napkin right off the table.


Conversational implicature

Pauly goes in to see the manager.

“I have to have a raise, boss,” he says. “There are three other companies after me.”

“Is that so?” The boss says. “What companies are after you?”

“The electric company, the telephone company and the gas company.”


Conventionalised implicatures:Pragmatic strengthening

Volition to future: I’ll go now.

Permission to obligation: You must go now. cf. use of may for ‘obligation:

The next witness may come in.

Lack to need: You need to buy new socks.

Location to possession: There are three opera houses in Berlin. Berlin has three opera houses.


Grammaticalisation: Semantic bleaching and phonetic

erosionAre you gonna eat that?

I have to go now.

I gotta go now.

He went crazy.

I know that [thət] this must be wrong.

It’s a quarter past three.

Given that they don’t speak English they managed very well.

On behalf of all those present I thank you for spending your precious time with us.

Those notions could change in light of recent research.


Chapter 3

From thought to language


Nouns and verbs (Langacker 2008)

A noun is defined schematically as an expression that profiles a thing.

A thing is characterized schematically as a set of interconnected entities, grouped and reified to form a unitary entity for higher-level cognitive processes. (Example recipe)


Spicy Onion Burgers

Directions

1 Mix thoroughly the beef, picante sauce and soup mix. Shape firmly into 6 burgers, 1/2-inch thick each.

2 Lightly oil the grill rack and heat the grill to medium. Grill the burgers for 10 minutes or until desired doneness, turning the burgers over halfway through grilling.

3 Serve on rolls with lettuce, tomato, avocado and additional picante sauce.


Spicy Onion Burgers


The thing ‘recipe’Langacker (2008: 106)

“By our abstract definition, a recipe is a thing whose constitutive entities are the successive steps involved in preparing some dish. These steps are interconnected and established as a group just by virtue of being conceived as occurring in a certain sequence. They are reified by being conceptualized as a single, unified procedure with the overall goal of creating a dish.”


Nouns and verbs (Langacker 2008)

A noun is defined schematically as an expression that profiles a thing.

A thing is characterized schematically as a set of interconnected entities, grouped and reified to form a unitary entity for higher-level cognitive processes. (Example recipe)

A verb is defined schematically as an expression that profiles a process.

A process is a complex relationship that develops through conceived time and is scanned sequentially along this axis.


Processes

“We conceptualize an event as seamlessly unfolding, with each state developing organically out of its predecessor […]. The component states are sequentially accessed through processing time […].

This amounts to mentally tracking an event as it unfolds through [conceived] time, that is, scanning sequentially through it along the temporal axis. Accordingly, it is referred to as sequential scanning.”


Things and relations

Conceptual units: things relationsLinguistic expressions: nouns verbs, adj’s, adv’s, prep’s

Semantic/syntactic status: autonomous dependent

Concept: stable temporary, transitory

Information: rich vague, polysemous

Category: clearly delimited poorly defined

Prototypical members: physical objects actions, processes, states

Acquisition: earlier later

I’m not an alcoholic, I only drink (from time to time). #I don’t drink, I’m only an alcoholic.


Iconicity

Which of these figures is a “takete” and which one a “maluma”?


Kanji characters: Ideograms


Kanji characters for ‘Nihon’


Kanji characters for ‘Tokyo’


Iconicity

Imagic iconicity applies to a simple sign that resembles its conceived referent. Pictograms:

Onomatopoeia (imitative iconicity) Latin cuculus > OFr. coucoul (> cokold > Engl. cuckold) > OFr. coucou > Engl. cuckoo

Cuckoo superseded Old English gēac, which lost its onomatopoeic quality through sound change, and did not undergo the regular sound change of /u/ to /Λ/.


Words for the cuckoo

Afrikaans: koekoek Japanese: kakkou kakkou Albanian: ku ku Italian: cucú, cucú, cucú Catalan: cucut, cucut Korean: ppu-kkook-ppu-kkook Croatian: ku-ku Norwegian: koko Danish: kuk-kuk Portuguese: cucu cucu Dutch: koekoek Russian: ku-ku English: cuckoo Slovene: ku-kuEstonian: kuku kuku Spanish: cúcu cúcu Finnish: kukkuu Swedish: kokoFrench: coucou Turkish: guguk, gugukGerman: kuckuck Ukrainian: ku-ku, ku-kuHebrew: kuku Vietnamese: cuc-cu


Onomatopoeia bang as in Bang goes the

weekend (Taylor)Many monosyllabic words with the vowel /æ/ designate a noisy impact and/or sudden movement:

slam, slap, crack, clap, flap, crash, bash, spank, smack, prang

Several words commencing in /b/ are associated with a sudden event:

boo, beat, bat, batter, bump, binge, bingo

A number of words ending in a nasal are associated with sound or movement:

sing, ring, ping, fling, sling, dong, gong, hum, boom


Iconic principles

1. Principle of proximity/distance:

Susan is not happy but content.

#Susan us unhappy but content.

2. Principle of quantity:

#That cari is fast and that cari is comfortable.

That car is fast and it is comfortable.

That car is fast and comfortable.

3. Principle of sequential order:

Harry came in and sat down.

#Harry sat down and came in.


1. Principle of proximity


Proximity principle


Principle of proximity:Grammatical vs natural gender (K.-

M. Köpcke 2005)

Und er liebt Henriette Vogel, das Mädchen, das in derselben Nacht wie er geboren wurde und die mit ihm im Bordell aufwächst.

‘And he loves Henriette Vogel, the girl [neuter] which was born the very night as he and who is growing up with him in the brothel’

With increasing distance between head noun and relative pronoun natural gender wins out.


2. Principle of quantity

Something that carries more weight is given more wording and, conversely, something that carries less weight is given less wording.

1. (a) She talks, talks, talks.

(b) The ball bounced and bounced.

2. (a) #That cari is fast and that cari is comfortable.

(b) That car is fast and it is comfortable.

(c) That car is fast and comfortable.


Principle of quantity: Reduplication

Plurality: Indonesian: kursi ‘chair’ kursikursi ‘chairs

Samoan: mate ‘he dies’ matemate ‘they die’

Collectivity: Malayan: poehon ‘tree’ poehon poehon ‘wood’

Dakota: runa ‘man’ runa runa ‘people’

Distribution: Ewe: ka ‘cut’ kaka ‘cut into pieces’

Iteration: Wolof: sopa ‘love’ sopasopa ‘love forever’

Malayan: pala ‘ask’ palapala ‘ask incessantly’

Intensification: Twi: ká ‘touch’ kíka ‘grab’

Fiji: kere ‘ask’ kerekere ‘beg for money’

Tense: Gothic: haitan ‘be called’ haihait ‘was called’

Latin: pendo ‘I hang up’ pependi ‘I have hung up’


3. Principle of sequential order

now and then

sooner or later

today and tomorrow

from birth to death

shoot and kill

hide and seek

cash and carry

bed and breakfast

law and order

But: back and forth


Principle of sequential order:Chinese word order (Tai 1985)

After I have finished the dinner *Call me

call me. after I have finished the dinner.

He from Chine came. *He came from China.

He yesterday arrived *He yesterday in the United States

in the United States. arrived.

He yesterday *He yesterday left

for the United States left. for the United States.

He fell in the water. *He in the water fell.

He in the kitchen cooked. *He cooked in the kitchen.


From the day of their wedding, Linda has been nagging her husband about his past.

“Come on, tell me,” she asks again, “how many women have you slept with?”

“Honey,” he says, “if I told you, you’d just get angry.”“No, I promise I won’t,” she begs.

“Well, if you insist. Let’s see, one, two, three, four, you, six, seven...”


Complex situations: Complex sentences

Complex situation Complex sentence

no particular conceptual link juxtaposition

loose conceptual link coordination

tight conceptual link subordination

tightest conceptual link complementation

- conception - that-clause

- desire - to-infinitive

- perception - bare infinitive


Motivation of complement clauses

that-clause: indirectly experienced situations: conceived and communicated situations:

I know that I can’t turn back the time.

I wished that I could see you again.

I told you that you can’t turn back the time.

to-infinitive: imagined wished-for situations: desire:I’d like to hear from you. I wish to visit Great Britain to improve my listening skills.

bare infinitive: directly experienced situations:

I saw/heard the man go overboard.


Ceg chapters 1 3

Education

Transcript of Ceg chapters 1 3