Gramatyka kognitywna jako przejaw zwrotu pragmatycznego w językoznawstwie

Przemysław Terejko

doi:10.17951/ah.2016.7.33

Abstract

The article investigates the position of pragmatics within the theory of Cognitive Grammar. The author’s aim is to verify the hypothesis that Ronald Langacker’s theory fits into the picture of post-Chomskyian linguistics, which began after the so-called pragmatic turn. To support this idea, different examples of the key role of pragmatics for the framework are provided, including the ones pertaining to the general assumptions of the theory (its usage-based nature) as well as the account of the meaning of individual linguistic units (the encyclopedic approach to meaning).

Highlights

The aim of the present article is to provide arguments in favour of the hypothesis that the theory of Cognitive Grammar as created and developed by Ronald Langacker[1] can be seen as a part of a wider tendency in linguistics branded the pragmatic turn
When we investigate the linguistic structures in close detail, no two identical structures can be found
The evidence provided in the article seems to corroborate the initial hypothesis that CG is a good example of the pragmatic turn in linguistics

Summary

Introduction

The aim of the present article is to provide arguments in favour of the hypothesis that the theory of Cognitive Grammar ( referred to as CG) as created and developed by Ronald Langacker[1] can be seen as a part of a wider tendency in linguistics branded the pragmatic turn. The term appears a number of times in the literature to refer to “a shift from the paradigm of theoretical grammar (in particular syntax) to the paradigm of the language user”[2]. This definition contains two elements that we believe require comment. The direction of the turn was “the paradigm of the language user”, that is, the aspects of language that, according to Chomsky, were outside the scope of linguistics proper but a subject matter of a separate branch of study, namely pragmatics. We shall consider the usage-based nature of CG and discuss the importance of this fact for the issue in question with examples of three linguistic phenomena: language acquisition, grammatical representation and structuring

Semantics and Pragmatics in CG

The pragmatic meanings of individual expressions

Conclusions

Gramatyka kognitywna jako przejaw zwrotu pragmatycznego w językoznawstwie

Summary