Review of Cognitive Linguistics. Published under the auspices of the Spanish Cognitive Linguistics Association - Volume 17, Issue 1, 2019

Abstract

As a usage-based approach to the study language, cognitive linguistics is theoretically well poised to apply quantitative methods to the analysis of corpus and experimental data. In this article, I review the historical circumstances that led to the quantitative turn in cognitive linguistics and give an overview of statistical models used by cognitive linguists, including chi-square test, Fisher test, Binomial test, t-test, ANOVA, correlation, regression, classification and regression trees, naïve discriminative learning, cluster analysis, multi-dimensional scaling, and correspondence analysis. I stress the essential role of introspection in the design and interpretation of linguistic studies, and assess the pros and cons of the quantitative turn. I also make a case for open access science and appropriate archiving of linguistic data.

Abstract

The paper addresses a pair of construction variants: the N1 V for N2 to-infinitive construction and its version without for, in the cases when both are possible with the same main verb (I need for him leave / I need you to stop). It aims to point to the importance of the use of massive e-corpora in gaining better insight into the given construction pair. It also aims to test the hypothesis that the obtained quantitative data from such corpora can at least partially be accounted for by the interplay of: (1) the differences in the semantics of the two construction variants (based on combining relevant cognitive-linguistic insights), (2) the differences in the lexical semantics of the main verbs, and (3) extra-linguistic factors dealt with by models of cross-cultural communication styles. The paper thus argues for a tighter integration of cognitive-linguistic insights and a social-interactional perspective on language phenomena.

Abstract

This paper is a contribution to a hitherto unexplored area in English-Czech contrastive semantics. It examines differences in the construal of walking, the most prototypical type of human locomotion. Based on the data from InterCorp, a synchronic parallel translation corpus, it presents a cognitive oriented analysis of the semantics of English walk and its nearest Czech counterparts, i.e. jít and kráčet. Despite their apparent commonalities, the verbs in question do not construe walking in the same way. In contrast to jít, the construal of a motion situation in walk and kráčet involves focus on leg movements and bodily position, amounting to a marked segmentation of the motion into individual quanta. Focus on leg movements and verticality of the body is even more pronounced in kráčet, which can then serve an evaluative function; such a possibility is not open for walk. Walk thus occupies an intermediate position between the two verbs.

Abstract

Czech and Japanese show formal differences in adnominal modification. Czech tends to utilize adjectives for both classification and qualification purposes whereas Japanese tends to express classification by compounding and to use a whole range of parts of speech for qualification. As a result, part of speech membership often differs between the Czech and Japanese rendering of the same referential content. It has been shown that parts of speech dispose of schematic meaning which contributes to conceptualization. Based on the results of corpora analysis, I argue that the difference in parts of speech membership results in different tendencies in meaning extension and ultimately in different meaning of the two counterparts, Czech adjectives are more abstract and schematic while Japanese verbs are more concrete.

Abstract

This paper investigates the near-synonymy of classifiers, using Chinese kē and zhū as illustration. We find that in [quantifier] – [classifier] – [noun], the two classifiers have overlapping semantic prototypes due to their similar behavioral profiles. However, despite a shared functional core, the two classifiers diverge in terms of which part of plant to profile. In particular, zhū highlights parts of plant that are small and vulnerable, such as flowers and seedlings. In addition, small is another important conceptual characteristic exclusively associated with zhū, which gives it a distinctive set of peripheral members to include in that particular linguistic category, including mold, bacterium, and even biological and chemical substance. Another important difference is the quantifier that precedes, where kē tends to occur with lower numbers (typically under 10), while zhū with higher numbers (typically over 1,000). Accordingly, we conclude that [quantifier] – [zhu] – [noun] tends to invoke a higher-resolution construal.

Abstract

Although the Construction Grammar (CxG) model has yielded fruitful findings, the role that pragmatics plays in language has not yet been fully considered in this theoretical framework. The recent development of spoken corpora, however, enables construction grammarians to develop a new approach called Interactional Construction Grammar, which incorporates interactional factors into CxG analysis to account for patterns that involve interpersonal functions and global contexts. Adopting this approach, the present study attempts to examine the use of a complement-taking mental predicate xiangshuo in Taiwan Mandarin conversation and analyze the co-occurrence patterns of this cognitive verb with different subjects. We identify three sequential patterns in which xiangshuo most frequently occurs, including account-giving, contrast-projecting and involvement-constructing, and argue that only by taking into account the sequential context and interactional function can the distribution patterns of subjects and particles that recurrently collocate with xiangshuo be explained.

Abstract

This article aims to explore the evolutionary order of the five types of macro-event in Mandarin. As a methodology, a closed corpus is set up for five historical stages. The following is concluded: (1) The “V+C” constructions representing a macro-event started to appear from Stage III and continued to be used until the present stage; (2) The “V+C” constructions can only represent four out of five types of Talmy’s macro-event, and action correlating is not systematically represented; (3) The four types of macro-event appeared at a relatively similar time period, and their proportion is: Motion > State change > Temporal > Realization; (4) Verbs with PATH meaning in the V2 slot are more prone to grammaticalization than in the V1 in the serial verb construction “V1+V2”. This research is significant in bridging the areas of event structure, grammaticalization and typology, and might have implications for other languages as well.

Abstract

The paper accounts for the Greek discourse topicalization construction APO X, Y and the sarcastic and humorous effects that arise in the context of Twitter exchanges. Our analysis is based on the analytical tools of the Lexical Constructional Model (henceforth LCM) as formulated in Ruiz de Mendoza and Mairal (2008), Ruiz de Mendoza (2013), and Ruiz de Mendoza and Galera (2014). For this purpose we have created a corpus of over 1300 real use tweets. The LCM enables us to treat the patricular uses of the APO X, Y construction. It is shown to be very useful in capturing emergent uses of an already established construction.

Abstract

This article reports empirical evidence of constructional priming effects in L2 learners of English and Italian. The well-known pioneering experiment carried out by Bencini and Goldberg (2000) with L1 speakers of English paved the way for our investigation. We employed the same protocol to ascertain whether constructions have an ontological status also in the mind of L2 learners. We conducted experiments with four groups of learners whose language proficiency levels correspond to the B1 and B2 levels of the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR). The results we obtained in our cross-linguistic experiments demonstrate that learners are reliant on constructional templates when they are required to produce linguistic generalizations.

Abstract

Earlier studies have shown that conceptually supportive context is an important factor in the comprehension of metaphors (Inhoff, Lima, & Carroll, 1984; Ortony, Schallert, Reynolds, & Antos, 1978). However, little empirical evidence has been found so far regarding contextual effects on metonymy processing (Lowder & Gordon, 2013). Implementing an eye-tracking experiment with Chinese materials, this present paper investigated whether and how preceding contextual information affects the processing of metonymy. The results show that for unfamiliar metonymies, it takes readers longer time to interpret unfamiliar metonymies than to literally interpret them given a shorter context. However, the processing disparity between metonymic comprehension and literal comprehension disappears when longer supportive information is available in the preceding context. These results are analogous to those found for metaphors and familiar metonymies, supporting the parallel model of language processing. In addition, our results suggest that the presence of supportive preceding context facilitates the processing of unfamiliar metonymies more than it does to the literal controls.

Abstract

This study explores compounds from the perspective of conceptual blending (conceptual integration), and argues that the meaning of compounds arises through the interaction of three levels: (i) input spaces established for the head and non-head components, (ii) a blended space involving compression and emergent structure, i.e. elements not imported from the input spaces, and (iii) the language system as a whole and the culture this system is part of. With regard to (iii) we propose the “Culture-to-Compound Hypothesis”, according to which compounding can be recruited to represent culturally “novel” content in languages where compounding enjoys a peripheral status in the language system. The examples discussed in the article come from Norwegian (a Germanic language where compounding is a central word-formation mechanism) and Russian (a Slavic language where compounding is more marginal in the language system).

Abstract

This paper explores the roles of the cognitive mechanisms of conceptual metaphor and performativity in political policy by conducting a case study on the South Korean government’s Sunshine Policy toward North Korea from 1998 to 2008. This study contends that the policy is metaphorically motivated by an Aesop’s fable, The sun and the wind, a narrative whose entailments have significant implications for the policy. It also systematically accounts for the policy’s performative characteristic, focusing on the fact that the policy makers intended to map the causal relationship of the narrative onto a real-world relationship, even though the real-world causal relationship must be based on the unknown result of the policy. Lastly, this paper discusses theoretical implications of the performativity entangled with the conceptual metaphors in the policy; the real-world concept is usually what limits the mapping possibilities, but in this case, the narrative structure of the fable determines the construal.

This article reviews Metaphor wars: Conceptual metaphors in human life9781107071148