1. Cognitive Linguistics: some basic facts
What is cognitive linguistics?
Cognitive linguistics is a branch of linguistics that focuses on the conceptual structures and cognitive processes that underlie linguistic representation and grammar in language. [3]
Cognitive linguistics is the study of language in its cognitive function, where “cognitive” refers to the crucial role of intermediate informational structures with our encounters with the world. Cognitive linguistics assumes that our interaction with the world is mediated through informational structures in the mind. It is more specific than cognitive psychology, however, by focusing on natural language as a means for organizing, processing, and conveying that information. [2]
How does cognitive linguistics differ from general linguistics?
Cognitive linguistics argues that language is governed by general cognitive principles, rather than by a special-purpose language module. The three major hypotheses that guide the cognitive linguistics approach to language are: 1. Language is not an autonomous cognitive faculty 2. Grammar is conceptualization 3. Knowledge of language emerges from language use [3]
What is the subject of cognitive linguistics?
Cognitive linguistics studies the peculiarities of receiving and processing information by means of language signs and the correlation between the cognitive mechanisms and speech. Its subject is language as the instrument of representation of the cognitive structures and perception forms.[3]
What are the cognitive linguistics’ principal targets?
As any study, cognitive linguistics aims at the solution of certain theoretical and practical problems: 1. The analysis of human language competence, its origin and development in the process of life. 2. The definition and classification of common language experience of the speakers. 3. The
Bibliography: 1. Cognitive Linguistics: An Introduction, by Vyvyan Evans and Melanie Green (Routledge, 2006) 2 3. Gilles Fauconnier. 2006. "Cognitive Linguistics." Encyclopedia of Cognitive Science. John Wiley & Sons. 4. G. Radden and R. Dirven, Cognitive English Grammar. John Benjamins, 2007 5 6. Ungerer and Schmid, 1997 7