Cognitive Linguistic Model as Basis for Contrasting

7/27/2019 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.

Cognitive Linguistic Model as Basis for Contrasting

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