Human Cognitive Processing (vols. 1–51, 1998–2015)
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Human Cognitive Processing (vols. 1–51, 1998–2015)
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Collection Contents
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Frames of Understanding in Text and Discourse
show More to view fulltext, buy and share links for: show Less to hide fulltext, buy and share links for:How do words mean? What is the nature of meaning? How can we grasp a word’s meaning? The frame-semantic approach developed in this book offers some well-founded answers to such long-standing, but still controversial issues. Following Charles Fillmore’s definition of frames as both organizers of experience and tools for understanding, the monograph attempts to examine one of the most important concepts of Cognitive Linguistics in more detail. The point of departure is Fillmore’s conception of “frames of understanding” – an approach to (cognitive) semantics that Fillmore developed from 1975 to 1985. The envisaged Understanding Semantics (“U-Semantics”) is a semantic theory sui generis whose significance for linguistic research cannot be overestimated. In addition to its crucial role in the development of the theoretical foundations of U-semantics, corpus-based frame semantics can be applied fruitfully in the investigation of knowledge-building processes in text and discourse.
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Fictive Interaction
show More to view fulltext, buy and share links for: show Less to hide fulltext, buy and share links for:Language is intimately related to interaction. The question arises: Is the structure of interaction somehow mirrored in language structure and use? This book suggests a positive answer to this question by examining the ubiquitous phenomenon of fictive interaction, in which non-genuine conversational turns appear in discourse, even within clauses, phrases, and lexical items (e.g. “Not happy? Money back! guarantee”). The book is based on a collection of hundreds of examples of fictive interaction at all grammatical levels from a wide variety of spoken, written, and signed languages, and from many different discourse genres. Special attention is devoted to the strategic use of fictive interaction in legal argumentation, with a focus on high-profile criminal trials. Both trial lawyers and lay jurors often present material evidence or murder victims as speaking, and express emotions and intentions in conversational terms. The book thus establishes the role of the conversational turn—rather than the sentence—as the basic unit of language, and the role of conversation as a frame that structures cognition, discourse, and grammar.
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From Space to Time
show More to view fulltext, buy and share links for: show Less to hide fulltext, buy and share links for:Eugene Casad’s posthumous monograph is an in-depth study of the TIME IS SPACE metaphor in Cora – an Uto-Aztecan language spoken in the state of Nayarit, Mexico – within the framework of Ronald Langacker’s Cognitive Grammar. The author provides an introduction to Cora speakers and their history, and traces the evolution of Cora locative expressions, comparing them with cognate or corresponding expressions in other Uto-Aztecan languages, e.g. Huichol, to reconstruct the development of Cora temporal meanings. Based on a meticulous analysis of synchronic and diachronic data, Casad postulates distinct Cora models of time, grammatical aspect, and event structure, among which the topographically based model of time is especially prominent. This important book can be regarded as the opus magnum of the author. It should be of interest to scholars working in conceptual metaphor theory, grammaticalization, and the history and typology of Uto-Aztecan languages.
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