Year: 2023
Type: article
Abstract: This much needed introductory book is a remarkably complete survey of cognitive linguistics, presenting the theoretical foundations and the major new developments in this fast-growing field of linguistics.In twelve chapters it highlights the basic principles of the cognitive linguistic approach to the analysis of linguistic meaning and grammatical form, and some of its most important results and implications for the study of language.It is intended to be used as a textbook for a course on cognitive linguistics, but it is also recommended as essential reading for linguists doing research in this field.The book's 12 chapters are each divided into three parts being organized as follows: Part I focuses on the conceptual approach to linguistics analysis, Part II is concerned with 'the cognitive approaches to lexical semantics' and Part III deals with 'the cognitive approaches to grammatical form'.In contrast to the dominant approaches to semantics and syntax in generative grammar and in truth-conditional semantics, some of the basic assumptions of cognitive linguistics are that "language is not an autonomous cognitive faculty, grammar is conceptualization, and knowledge of language emerges from language use", which are presented in the introduction (1).This is followed by Part I, which presents the basic principles and key concepts underlying cognitive linguistics, such as frames, domains and spaces (Ch.2); conceptualization and construal operations (Ch.3); categories, concepts and meanings (Ch.4).These principles and concepts are refined, expanded and further illustrated through their application to aspects of word meaning and to grammar in Part II and III, respectively.The heart of the book is Part II, which includes topics widely discussed in cognitive linguistics, such as polysemy (Ch.5) and metaphor (Ch.8), and lexical semantic topics that have generally not been examined by cognitive linguists, i.e. lexical relations, such as hyponymy and meronymy (Ch.6) and antonymy and complementarity (Ch.7).The authors demonstrate that these sense relations are worthwhile object of study (even for cognitive linguistics) and that the "dynamic construal approach" can throw new light on their nature.In other words, sense
Source: Eger Journal of English Studies
Author: KOVÁCS, Éva
Institution: Cambridge University Press
Language: English
Subfield: Linguistics and Language
Field: Social Sciences
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: diamond
OpenAlex ID: W7036711517