Towards a theory of lexical meaning as ontologies and construals
Year: 2004
Type: report
Abstract: The purpose of this paper is to propose a framework of lexical meaning, broadly along the lines of Cognitive Semantics (Langacker 1987a). The paper focuses on interpretations of adjective-noun (ADJ N ) combinations in English. Within the proposed model, all aspects of meaning are to be explained in terms of properties of ontologies in conceptual space, i.e. properties of content ontologies and schematic ontologies and construals which are cognitive operations imposed on the conceptual structures on the occasion of use. It is through the operations of construals on ontological structures that different readings of lexical expressions arise. Lexical meanings are dynamic and sensitive to contextual demands, rather than fixed and stable. In a dynamic usage-based model like this, polysemy and multiple readings emerge as a natural consequence of the human ability to think flexibly.
Author: Carita Paradis
Language: English
Subfield: Language and Linguistics
Field: Arts and Humanities
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W1749270709