Trends in Cognitive Linguistics The main problems to be discussed - Cognitive Linguistics and its main problems;
- Cognitive Grammar;
- Cognitive Stylistics.
Cognitive Semantics - Cognitive Semantics deals with the conceptual theory of meaning which presupposes the multilevel interpretation of both linguistic and non-linguistic (encyclopedic) knowledge (Болдырев, 2004).
- It means that meanings correlate with certain cognitive contexts, knowledge structures, which represent these meanings and secure their understanding. In other words, meaning is a manifestation of conceptual structures, and Cognitive Semantics focuses on how language encodes and reflects conceptual structures (Evans, Green, 2006).
Cognitive Semantics - Example: book – “a number of sheets of paper, either printed or blank, fastened together in a cover” (meaning). Conceptual domain: a) science – books in history, politics, economy, etc.; b) literature – novels, poems, collections of stories, etc.; c) personal experience – a favorite book, a book as a present; d) typography – edition, copyright, patent, design, etc.
- The meaning of a particular linguistic unit cannot be understood independently of the cognitive context it is associated with.
- Cognitive contexts are known under various names: cognitive domains (Langacker, 1987), mental spaces (Fauconnier, 1994), frames (Fillmore, 1982).
- Frame a hierarchical structure of linguistic data representing a stereotyped situation. It consists of two levels: the upper level is the name of the frame; the lower level consisting of subframes, terminals, slots and subslots, contains concrete information about the situation in question.
Cognitive Grammar - grammar is viewed as a meaningful system. It focuses attention on the semantic relationships between the parts of a complex structure
- there are close links between grammar and lexicon (lexicon-grammar continuum). Grammatical units are characterized by the schematic meanings
- The fundamental principle of Cognitive grammar is the usage-based thesis
- Cognitive Grammar belongs to a complex composite symbolic structure – constructions which entail constraints upon how the units of grammar can be combined within complex constructions.
Major classes in Cognitive Grammar - Cognitive expressions into two major classes: nominal and relational predications.
- Nominal predications describe entities, relational predications describe relations between entities. R. Langacker divides the category of relational predication into two subcategories: temporal and atemporal relations. Temporal relations are processes encoded by verbs. The category of atemporal relations is a more disparate category and contains prepositions, adjectives, adverbs and non-finite verb forms (infinitives and participles).
- Temporal relations account for finite verb forms which are schematically characterized as PROCESS. Atemporal relations can be schematically characterized in terms of STATES.
- As for grammatical constructions Cognitive Grammar emphasizes not structure building, but the semantic relationships between the component parts of a complex structure.
The areas of investigation - peculiar features of grammatical meaning;
- basis of grammatical categories and functions;
- word classes in terms of categorization;
- cognitive interpretation of tense, mood, aspect, deictic expressions, auxiliary verbs, modal verbs, etc.;
Cognitive Stylistics - Cognitive stylistics is a relatively new and rapidly developing field of language study at the interface between linguistics, literary studies and cognitive science.
- E. Semino defined it as the way in which linguistic analysis is systematically based on theories that relate linguistic choices to cognitive structures and processes (Semino, Culpeper, 2002).
- According to P. Simpson cognitive stylistics makes the main emphasis on mental representation rather than on textual representation and is aimed to shift the focus away from models of text and composition towards models that make explicit the links between the human mind and the process of reading (Simpson, 2004).
- the problems of cognitive style;
- ● the problem of conceptualization and categorization of textual information;
- ● cognitive principles of presenting information in the text;
- ● cognitive grounding of stylistic devices;
- ● the theory of cognitive metaphor in different text types;
- ● implicative aspects of textual communication;
- ● “figure and ground” theory;
- theory of conceptual blending.
Cognitive Style - Cognitive style is the author’s individual way of conveying and presenting information, the peculiarities of its arrangement in the text/discourse related to a specific choice of cognitive operations and their preferable usage in the process of text production (КСКТ, 1996:80). Cognitive style is considered to be associated with the author’s personality, individual world picture, creative process of thinking and subjective modality.
Information - Information is understood as knowledge represented and transferred by language forms in the process of communication (КСКТ, 1996).
- Information can be subdivided into cognitive and contextual (Dijk, 1981). Cognitive information consists of knowledge, convictions, opinions, views, positions. This type of information is of a particular relevance to literary text interpretation.
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