Deciphering Novel Expressions: A Proposal for an Integrated Cognitive Meaning Construction Analysis

Rafał Augustyn

doi:10.17951/ff.2017.35.2.192

Abstract

<p>Niniejszy artykuł stanowi głos w dyskusji na temat istoty nowego znaczenia językowego powstającego w procesie konstrukcji znaczenia motywowanego przez warstwę semantyczną języka oraz mentalne reprezentacje przywoływane w trakcie recepcji określonej sceny językowej z uwzględnieniem kontekstu tworzonego i przetwarzanego przez podmiot mówiący i odbiorcę, będących uczestnikami danego dyskursu. Aby wyjaśnić kognitywne mechanizmy konstrukcji znaczenia w umyśle użytkownika języka w artykule zaproponowano odwołanie się do teorii pojęć leksykalnych i modeli kognitywnych autorstwa V. Evansa (2009), teorii amalgamacji konceptualnej G. Fauconniera i M. Turnera (2009) oraz koncepcji bieżącej przestrzeni dyskursu R.W. Langackera (2002). Motywacją stojącą za integracją tych różnych podejść w obrębie semantyki kognitywnej jest próba stworzenia ramowego narzędzia analizy nowych znaczeń z uwzględnieniem trzech poziomów konstrukcji znaczenia: (i) reprezentacji leksykalnej, (ii) przetwarzanie pojęć oraz (iii) interakcji dyskursywnych.</p>

Highlights

This paper is meant to be a humble contribution to the broader discussion on the nature of novel linguistic meaning arising in the process of meaning construal motivated by both the semantic structure of language and mental representations evoked for a particular linguistic scene, driven by the context created and processed by the speaker and hearer participating in a particular discourse.In this paper I argue that the intricacies of the mental operations and discourse-specific interactions taking place while meaning construction process unfolds in the minds of language users may be accounted for using Vyvyan Evans’s (2009) Lexical Concepts and Cognitive Models theory combined with the Conceptual Blending Theory proposed by Gilles Fauconnier and Mark Turner (2002), and Ronald W
In Lexical Concepts and Cognitive Models theory (LCCM) theory only part of the semantic potential activated for a given lexical concept is actively involved in the process of lexical concepts fusion; on the Conceptual Blending Theory (CBT)-approach not all elements from the input spaces are projected onto the blend
CDS Other things being equal, Langacker’s (2005, 2008) notion of Current Discourse Space may be perceived as interacting with the theories of LCCM and CBT in that it provides the frame of reference for the process of linguistic and conceptual integration. As both LCCM theory and CBT claim, meaning is a function of a contextualised language use, the CDS, which comprises the usage events, can be held to supplement both theories with the discourse-specific features including the relationship between the interlocutors and with the aspects of discourse dynamicity

Summary

Introduction

This paper is meant to be a humble contribution to the broader discussion on the nature of novel linguistic meaning arising in the process of meaning construal motivated by both the semantic structure of language and mental representations evoked for a particular linguistic scene, driven by the context created and processed by the speaker and hearer participating in a particular discourse. In this paper I argue that the intricacies of the mental operations and discourse-specific interactions taking place while meaning construction process unfolds in the minds of language users may be accounted for using Vyvyan Evans’s (2009) Lexical Concepts and Cognitive Models theory combined with the Conceptual Blending Theory proposed by Gilles Fauconnier and Mark Turner (2002), and Ronald W. The integration of these distinct, yet, in my view, interfacing cognitive theories shall be seen as an attempt to create a unified and, to some extent, systematised frame of reference for a comprehensive meaning construction analysis of novel expressions involving the three levels of dynamic and context-mediated meaning construal: (i) lexical representation, (ii) conceptual processing, and (iii) speaker-hearer interaction in a particular discourse frame

The intricacy of establishing novel meaning

Towards an integrated analysis of novel meaning construal

Conclusion