Cognitive Linguistics Research Articles

Alternation in the Mandarin disposal constructions: quantifying their evolutionary dynamics across twelve centuries

AbstractDespite extensive research on theba-construction in Chinese, the diachronic change in the alternation between thebaandjiangconstructions has received little attention. The present study takes a multifactorial approach to examine the factors that probabilistically condition the alternation based on diachronic data across twelve centuries. The results suggest two general trends. First, the odds of theba-construction have increased over time at the expense of thejiang-construction. Second, over time, the effect size of the significant preference for thejiang-construction in informal genres has reduced from the 10th to the 19th century, and this preference has disappeared in modern times; accordingly, both informal and formal genres have converged to favor theba-construction in modern times. Regression modeling also shows that there are both stable linguistic constraints (parallelism/syntactic priming, verb type, NP2 animacy, and NP2 length) and fluid constraints (adjunct semantics, and genre). This study advances our knowledge of the two disposal constructions and their evolution, sheds light on the Principle of No Synonymy (Bolinger, Dwight. 1977.Meaning and form. New York: Longman; Goldberg, Adele E. 1995.Constructions: A construction grammar approach to argument structure. Chicago: The University of Chicago Press; Goldberg, Adele E. 2002. Surface generalizations: An alternative to alternations.Cognitive Linguistics13(4). 327–356), and makes a methodological contribution to the empirical testing of hypotheses. It can also provide insight into grammatical alternations in Mandarin.

Pedagogical complementation of functional-cognitive interface

This commentary contributes to the understanding of integrating functional-based teaching and cognitive pedagogy by offering a mutually complementary account. Systemic functional linguistics (SFL) attaches importance to sociological aspects of language and proposes that language as a meaning-making process is simultaneously shaped by context and culture (Thompson et al., 2019). Cognitive linguistics (CL), based on the second generation of cognitive science and experiential philosophy, was born based upon the rejection of transformational-generative grammar, arguing that the creation, learning, and use of language must be explained basically through human cognition as the basis of knowledge constitution (Goldberg, 2011). Surrounded by the dialogue of these two linguistic schools, the paper is guided by two overarching questions: (1) What is the theoretical compatibility between SFL and CL? (2) How can SFL and CL complement each other or produce a synergetic effect that benefits second language (L2) pedagogy? It is demonstrated that SFL and CL are theoretically compatible as they agree upon the embodied experiential and sociocultural nature of language (Littlemore, 2009; Thibault, 2004), the categorial continuum of phonology-lexicogrammar-semantics (Meng, 2009), and corpus-based positivist epistemology (Feng, 2006). To complement one another in L2 pedagogy due to their compatibility, functional pedagogy can optimize cognitive pedagogy by facilitating learners to be aware and recognize communicative intention and socio-contextual cues, especially in the context of acquiring metonymic constructions. Cultural immersion and acculturation are keys to functional pedagogy that fill the gap of CL pedagogy lacking systematic training in cultural literacy and appreciation. Cognitive pedagogy, in turn, can complement functional pedagogy by applying image schemata in teaching to present how to select collocated verbs that can be assigned to diverse types of constructions.

The Inner Form of the Word and Meaning Construction in the Poetic Speech (Based on the Russian and English Languages)

The article deals with the problem of semantic perception of a poetic text, in which the reader’s attention is de-automized by such foregrounding technique as the defamiliarization of the inner form of the word. Relying on the methodological frameworks of creative linguistics and cognitive linguistics, the author of the article aims at describing the inner-form-defamiliarization technique in terms of its functioning in poetic speech. Particular attention is devoted to identifying the factors of verbal and conceptual creativity, which determine the possibility of speech conventions transformations in poetry. The article provides a terminological clarification of the notions of “the inner form of the language” and “the inner form of the word”; emphasis is placed on the importance of studying these phenomena from the non-conventional meaning construction perspective. It is shown that the technique of the inner form defamiliarization has a complex implementation in poetry and contributes to performing a number of interrelated functions of the poetic language — cognitive, expressive, poetic and metalinguistic. Based on the examples of Arkadii Dragomoshchenko’s essays from the book “Phosphorus” and Charles Bernstein’s essay-poem “Artifice of Absorption”, the linguo-creative intentions of the poets are reconstructed. The techniques of the inner form defamiliarization, typical of these poets, are described, including poetic etymologization of the word through its occasional definition; paronomasia; renomination and attribution of occasional formmeaning motivation to the word. The cognitive universality of linguo-creative techniques of the inner form defamiliarization is described in relation to general functional mechanisms for switching and developing verbal associations, which provide for the non-conventional meaning construction.

Expanding Communication Expectations: Examining Audience Understanding of Scripts Through Fold and Swap Strategies

This entry presents cognitive-based strategies, called folds and swaps, communication professionals can use to introduce new concepts to different groups. A novel extension of prototype theory and script theory from cognitive psychology and linguistics, these strategies can help create messages that add, or fold, new ideas, activities, or items into existing processes. Communication professionals can also use these strategies to develop messaging that shifts, or swaps, the location individuals associate with performing different activities. Through an application of folds and swap strategies, communication professionals can help audiences contextualize new approaches to everyday activities.

Reflections on the study of language

Abstract This article reports an interview with Robert D. Van Valin, Jr., which was held on March 2, 2023, with follow-up e-mail exchanges. Robert Van Valin is the primary developer of Role and Reference Grammar (RRG), a syntactic theory whose principles and commitments intersect with those of Cognitive Linguistics (CL). The article discusses RRG vis-à-vis CL and other approaches to the study of language. It aims to raise awareness about the shared principles of RRG and CL, to enhance cross-fertilization between the two approaches and ultimately inspire new research directions in linguistic theory. The paper is organized into three main parts: (i) background information on the birth and development of RRG, (ii) general principles and commitments of RRG and CL, and (iii) specific issues in the study of language.

Linguistic cognition and worldview

ABSTRACT Herslund’s cognitive-perceptual and communication models, comprising a typological theory of linguistic worldview, are replaced by an integrated cybernetic-semiotic model, where language/text is understood as cognition, as individual linguistic discourse acts and collective discourse interaction. Thus, actual cognitive-linguistic communication is not situational context, but the pragmatic basis. As such, it constructs its further socio-cultural cognitive domain and its universe of discourse, characterizing it with a language-specific worldview inherent in its dynamic competence. Perceptual-actional cognition constructs the human natural Umwelt. Integrated cognition maps triune reality, with its natural, mental, and cultural dimensions. Just as the mental is an aspect of the biological world, society-culture is a construction by individual minds. Linguistic cognition is subjective discourse acts, performed by particular minds, or intersubjective discourse interaction – communication within the historical-general commind of a society-culture. Owing to the diversification of human language into divergent types of linguistic practices and traditions, interlocutors entertain specific linguistic worldviews and construct and live in divergent society-cultures. Furthermore, they have (inter)personal cognitive mappings of themselves, their interlocutors, their in-groups and out-groups, and express these identities in discourse. Since linguistic and non-linguistic cognition is integrated and displayed in consciousness, individuals inhabit diverse bio-cultural worlds-of-living – in-group homeworlds and out-group alienworlds.

Material constraints enabling human cognition

Material constraints enabling human cognition Compared to our closest living relatives, who typically use fewer than 100 words, humans can build vocabularies of tens of hundreds of thousands of words. The ERC-funded Advanced Grant project ‘Material Constraints enabling Human Cognition’, or ‘MatCo’, will find out why. It will use novel insights from human neurobiology. These will be translated into mathematically exact computational models to find new answers to long-standing questions in cognitive science, linguistics and philosophy. The project will also explore how semantic meaning is implemented for gestures and words and, more specifically, for referential and categorical terms. To identify human cognitive capacities, MatCo will develop models replicating structural differences between human and non-human primate brains. The results will shed light on the biologically constrained networks.

The Nominative Field of HAPPINESS Concept in the Middle English and Modern English Periods

Introduction. The article presents the result of the diachronical research of HAPPINESS concept nominative field. The research was conducted on the basis of English explanatory dictionaries and texts of corpus databases, using the methods of corpus linguistics. The relevance of the research is due to the insufficient development of the theoretical foundations for studying the evolution of nominations and components of the concept under study, and the development of corpus linguistics as one of the most relevant ways of studying concepts.Methodology and sources. The theoretical and methodological basis of the research is formed by cognitive linguistics studies by N.N. Boldyrev, Y.S. Stepanov, E.S. Kubryakova, E.A. Nielsen, Z.D. Popova, I.A. Sternin; conceptology studies, in particular, emotional concepts, and emotiology studies by N.A. Krasavsky, V.I. Shakhovsky and O.E. Filimonova. The empirical material of the study is based on the texts of English corpus databases, as well as articles of English explanatory and etymological dictionaries.Results and discussion. Based on the method of constructing the nominative field described by Popova and Sternin and using the material of English explanatory dictionaries for the Middle and Modern English, the core of HAPPINESS concept is revealed. Based on the texts of English corpus databases, using corpus linguistics methods, as well as the collocation search model compiled by the author, the concept’s nominative field’s peripheral components are identified. Based on the analysis, the proposed changes in the composition of the nominative field of the concept in diachrony are revealed.Conclusion. In conclusion, the results of the analysis of the nominative field of HAPPINESS concept are presented, and the provisions on the nature of the development of the concept in diachrony are put forward.

Conceptual Metaphor “Media is Fire”

This study aims to explore the metaphorical concept of "MEDIA AS FIRE" in both Vietnamese and English from the perspective of Cognitive Linguistics. This research utilizes the Metaphor Identification Procedure of the Pragglejaz Group (2007), in conjunction with descriptive approaches, statistical analysis, and classification strategies, to scrutinize the conceptual metaphor "Media is Fire" and its underlying metaphors. A total of 193 metaphorical expressions from media discourse are examined (113 in Vietnamese and 80 in English), revealing three primary cognitive models: "Media is Heat," " The ability to transmit the energy of Media is the ability to transmit energy of Fire," and "Media is Burning," along with the mapping mechanism from the source domain to the target domain. Furthermore, this research emphasizes the similarities and differences in the conceptualization of fire-related metaphors between the two languages. The findings of this study offer valuable insights for teaching, learning, and translating conceptual metaphors, thereby enhancing cross-cultural communication skills for Vietnamese English learners."

Language and Politics: Framing the Use of Conceptual Metaphors in Political Discourse

This article examines the intricate relationship between language and politics through the lens of conceptual metaphors utilized in contemporary political discourse. By analyzing the framing and use of conceptual metaphors in political communication, the study aims to elucidate how language shapes and influences political narratives and ideologies. In this study, a qualitative research approach was adopted, incorporating critical discourse analysis (CDA) to delve into the use of conceptual metaphors in the context of American political discourse, taking as a case study Barack Obama's 2009 Cairo speech and Donald Trump's 2017 Inaugural Address. Drawing upon insights from studies on cognitive linguistics, politics, and discourse analysis, the research investigates the ways in which political actors strategically employ metaphors to construct persuasive arguments, shape public opinion, and advance specific policy agendas. This research thus aims to contribute to a nuanced understanding of the relation existing between language and political persuasion.

La competencia metafórica y la didáctica del español/L2

This study aims to examine the role of metaphor in the process of teaching and learning a second language (L2), more specifically, L2 Spanish. As part of one of the most popular research lines in the field of Ap- plied Linguistics, i.e., L2 teaching and learning, this research is based on a Cognitive Linguistics approach to language. It presents metaphors not as mere stylistic and rhetorical mechanisms, but as critical components of everyday language and fundamental mechanisms of conceptualization of the world (Lakoff & Johnson, 1980). After providing a summary of the literature exploring the relationship between metaphor and L2 pedagogy and learning, focusing on conceptual metaphor theory and metaphorical competence, we will present the results of a case study with intermediate learners. The empirical investigation exam- ines whether their metaphoric competence is enhanced after the intervention and whether there is a relationship between learners’ general metaphorical competence and linguistic competence –comprehension and production– of a complex metaphorical linguistic construction that expresses emotions.

On Beowulf's Elegiac Mood: from the Perspective of Cognitive Poetics

Beowulf is the longest narrative poem in ancient England and the most complete and outstanding epic in the early Middle Ages of Europe. It holds an important position in the history of British literature and even European literature. Beowulf mainly tells the great deeds of the hero Beowulf, who is half human and half divine, in subduing monsters and killing poisonous dragons. It has a mythological colour and can be regarded as a heroic mythological epic. It mainly praises Beowulf's heroic spirit, promotes Christian consciousness, and showcases England's unique cultural style during the Anglo-Saxon period. Most studies of Beowulf focus on Germanic culture, literary form, historical background, themes, and symbolic significance portrayed in the poem. By adopting theories in Cognitive Linguistics like prototype, iconicity, perspectives, metaphor, naming in cognitive poetics, this article peruses the elegiac language of Seamus Heaney's Beowulf, illustrating that Beowulf is an elegy of the deaths of heroes, the inconstant fate, the vicissitudes of the world and age, the collapse of tribal society, and ultimately—the elegiac world, and results in that Beowulf is more like an elegy than an epic.

The construction of English ecological discourse system in cognitive linguistics applicable to semantic association network model

Abstract Based on the features and knowledge elements of the semantic network, this paper proposes a formal model of the semantic network of English ecological discourse and constructs an abstract description based on classification learners and reduced operation commands. In the formal description, the semantic features are extracted based on the sequence model, the text composition is completed based on the word relationship for the adaptive semantic network, and the hierarchical structure of the semantic network is constructed. By selecting English ecological news discourse data from mainstream news media in the United Kingdom and the United States and combining it with the adaptive semantic network, the subject of the discourse system is determined, and the characteristics of the title tone and modal verbs are analyzed. English ecological discourse has 115,000 modal verbs. Low-modal verbs reached 993,000, and high-modal verbs accounted for the smallest proportion, 516,000. The ecological characteristics of English news are revealed through the ecological discourse analysis of this paper.

“There was much new to grok”: an analysis of word coinage in science fiction literature

Abstract As can be witnessed in projects such as The Oxford Dictionary of Science Fiction (Prucher, Jeff. 2007. Brave new words: The Oxford dictionary of science fiction. Oxford: Oxford University Press), science fiction has been fertile ground for the creation of new words and concepts. Whereas the aforementioned dictionary was constructed by eliciting examples and citations from volunteers, this paper presents an initial foray into data-driven methods for uncovering lexis unique to science fiction. Words unique to science fiction texts are extracted by comparing a science fiction corpus against the British National Corpus (BNC Consortium. 2007. The British National Corpus, XML edition. Oxford Text Archive. http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.12024/2554 (accessed 29 June 2022)) to produce a list of 306 neologisms from 74 texts. In addition, this study seeks to examine the ways in which authors impart the meaning of such words to the reader, drawing on frameworks of semantic word relations and work in cognitive linguistics. This reveals the use of definitions and glosses by the authors, both in narration and direct speech, co-occurrence with synonyms, and the drip-feeding of attributes pertaining to the concept being referenced. In addition, characters can be shown to struggle with the concepts to which neologisms refer, allowing authors to explore themes of alienation and other-worldliness.

Use of non-invasive transcutaneous auricular vagus nerve stimulation: neurodevelopmental and sensory follow-up.

To assess the impact of non-invasive transcutaneous auricular vagal nerve stimulation (taVNS) paired with oral feeding on long-term neurodevelopmental and sensory outcomes. We tested 21 of 35 children who as infants were gastrostomy tube (G-tube) candidates and participated in the novel, open-label trial of taVNS paired with oral feeding. To evaluate possible effects on development at 18-months after infant taVNS, we performed the Bayley-III (n = 10) and Sensory Profile (SP-2, n = 12) assessments before the COVID pandemic, and Cognitive Adaptive Test (CAT), Clinical Linguistics and Auditory Milestone (CLAMS), Ages and Stages Questionnaire (ASQ), and Peabody Developmental Motor Scales-2 gross motor tests as possible during and after the pandemic. We compared outcomes for infants who attained full oral feeds during taVNS ('responders') or received G-tubes ('non-responders'). At a mean of 19-months, taVNS 'responders' showed significantly better general sensory processing on the SP-2 than 'non-responders'. There were no differences in other test scores, which were similar to published outcomes for infants who required G-tubes. This is the first report of neurodevelopmental follow-up in infants who received taVNS-paired feeding. They had similar developmental outcomes as historical control infants failing oral feeds who received G-tubes. Our data suggests that infants who attained full oral feeds had better sensory processing.

Conceptualization ofSar(Head) in Persian figurative expressions

AbstractSinceLakoff and Johnson (1999)proposed ‘Embodiment theory’ in Cognitive Linguistics, the relationship between language and body parts has been a subject of research for many years. This paper examines the conceptualization of body part ‘head’ in 305 Persian figurative expressions and proverbs in two related Iranian dictionaries. Using the ‘Cultural Conceptualization’ model introduced bySharifian (2011), this article demonstrates howsar, the Persian equivalent to ‘head’, is conceptualized to convey various notions such as mental activity, emotions, personality traits, social behavior and state, time, place, death, measurement, leader, and success. The conceptualization of body parts in a language can be bounded to that language and often rooted in some cultural background; however, this topic has received scant attention among scholars of Persian language. Apparently, no comprehensive studies on the conceptualization of head in Persian figurative expressions have been conducted so far, thus this research is an attempt to fill this gap. The analysis of the afore-mentioned word revealed that it can convey several meanings; these include mental activity, emotions, human traits, social action and status, time, location, death, measurement, leadership and success. The variety of meanings stems from contexts within which the word is presented.

Lingvuocognitive and Lingvuocultural Dimensions of the concept “Life” in Modern English

The article deals with the problem of exploring the specificity of lingvuocognitive and lingvuocultural dimensions of the concept “Life” in Modern English. Some integral and differential markers of cognitive linguistics and linguoculturology have been identified.In the given paper conceptual analysis has been considered to be the most effective way to determine the structure of the concept. The mentioned type of analysis provided: (Barsalou, L. W. (1992). Frames, concepts, and conceptual fields in Lehrer A. & Kittay E. F. (eds.) Frames, fields, and contrasts. Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum), (Eugene, H. (1996). Cognitive Linguistics in the Redwoods: The Expansion of a New Paradigm in Linguistics).• Determination of the most complete repertoire of the linguistic means, objectifying the concept;• Adequate description of the semantics of the mentioned linguistic means;• Cognitive interpretation of the results of the analysis of the semantic space of the concept;• Representation of the concept as a global mental unit imprinted with national specifics.Conceptual analysis of the concept “Life” revealed its great significance in the communication of the representatives of the English-speaking culture and its special status in the language system.

Эвфемизмы и дисфемизмы в русском языковом сознании

The cognitive-communicative linguistics studies, in particular, meta-sense, i.e. everything expressed indirectly and implied in oral and written texts. The range of interests of cognitive linguistics includes the problems of understanding and applying meta-sense in figures of indirect communication. Also, linguists focus on the problem of understanding and application of these hidden linguistic means on the knowledge, behavior and emotions of communication participants. To reveal the meta-sense in texts, we use practices of cognitive-communicative linguistics. The article presents examples of the semantic-synonymous scales created by the pretext programs of euphemisation and disphemisation of oral and written speech. The study also demonstrates how the processes of euphemization and dysphemization can affect entire texts, giving them a negative or positive modality.

Концепт «Грех» в русской языковой ментальности - фреймовый подход

In the article, the concept of «Sin» is subjected to a comprehensive study and description, which is the ethical dominant of the Russian religious and Orthodox picture of the world, which determines the most important, spiritual and value sphere of the people's worldview, as well as its linguistic representation.
 Using the method of linguistic modeling, we have constructed a frame structure that represents the concept of «Sin» in both religious and everyday types of consciousness frame. The semantic structure of the concept «Sin» was presented graphically, in the form of diagrams.
 On the basis of Russian phraseological units, using component analysis, semantic features, motivating features and motivating factors for the functioning of the frame «Sin» were determined.
 The frame structure of Russian proverbs with the lexeme «Sin» was developed, one of the criteria of cultural significance of which is the frame nature of their semantics, due to their ability to reflect generalized situations.
 The results of the study can be used in special courses on cognitive linguistics, linguoculturology and lexicology, as well as in a practical course of the Russian language.

The First Nature of Language

The first nature of language function is often considered to be communication. But with the rise of cognitive linguistics, whether the primary function of language is externalized communication or internalized thinking has been re-examined. This paper focused on what is the first function of language, and argued that the thinking function should remain the top priority. Based on theories of generative grammar from Noam Chomsky, it redefines the key concepts of language, thinking, and communication, discusses the superiority of language for thinking and the shortcomings of language for communication, and reveals the direction of language evolution by natural selection, and compile a series of evidence to justify the top status of thinking function by comparing the common peoples thinking ability and the auditory disableds thinking ability. Besides, another possible communicative pattern, direct brain-to-brain communication (DBBC) was also introduced to prove there might emerge a better way for communication. It is hoped that this will paint a possible picture of the development of language function science and provide an organic extension for the subsequent discovery of language function. At the end the paper finds out the first nature of thinking is plausible and tangible, conforming to the evolutionary tendency of human language. More researches are expected to provide more direct proofs approving the arguments.