V Cognitive Grammar and Cognitive Linguistics

Cognitive Linguistics (George Lakoff, Leonard Talmy, Ronald Langacker, Mark Johnson, Mark Turner, Gilles Fauconnier, Charles Fillmore, Ray Jackendoff, R. Dirven ) is a school of linguistics and cognitive science that “sees language as part of, and in interaction with, the cognitive abilities of the human mind such as perception, memory, attention, emotion, reasoning, etc.”[30]. Within the cognitive approach language is regarded “as a tool of conceptualization and hence the meaningfulness of language” [Radden, Dirven 2007]. Thus, cognitive linguistics is a school of linguistic thought that tends to characterize language in relation to more general cognitive processes. Cognition in a broad sense includes thought processes, consciousness, and perception and the result of all these activities. The guiding principle behind this area of linguistics is that language use must be explained with reference to the underlying mental processes.

Cognitive Linguistics is a challenge to Saussurean linguistics as well as it is opposed to generative linguistics. Cognitive linguistics does not recognize (1) classical definitions of categories, (2) dichotomies such as langue vs. parole, synchrony vs. diachrony, syntax vs. semantic, lexis vs. grammar, etc., (3) linguistic knowledge as detached from other types of knowledge, especially encyclopedic knowledge[31]. On the other hand, linguists emphasize the role of generative semantics and transformational generative grammar which paved way towards cognitive semantics and cognitive linguistics at large.

Cognitive Linguistics is divided into two main areas of study: cognitive semantics and cognitive approaches to grammar. Ronald Langacker started developing cognitive grammar in 1976. The model of his cognitive grammar includes semantic and syntactic theories. A Cognitive Grammar sees grammar as part of human cognition. It is usage-based as it offers a native speaker a variety of structural options. Grammatical forms, like lexical items are meaningful and “never empty”. “The grammar of a language represents the whole of a native speaker’s knowledge of both the lexical categories and the grammatical structure of the language” [Radden, Dirven 2007: XI-XII].

The major tenets of cognitive grammar comprise a number of principles:

1). Cognitive Linguistics sees itself as a usage-based approach to language. The basic claim of Cognitive Linguistics is that “usage events define and continuously redefine the language system in a dynamic way”. Thus, the grammar is not only “a knowledge repository” to be employed but also the product of language use[32].

2). Language is not a self-contained system, it cannot be described without reference to cognitive processing. Cognitive processes such as generalization, specialization, metaphor and metonymy are described as responsible for a concrete linguistic expression. These processes map source domain onto more abstract target domain. Or, in other words, abstract thought is strongly based on our bodily and spatial experience[33]. Thus, cognitive linguists arrive at the conclusion that “language structure resides primarily in individual minds” [34].

3). Lexicon, morphology and syntax form a continuum of symbolic or, in other words, iconic elements.

4). As a result, grammatical structures do not constitute an autonomous formal system or level of representation. The analysis of grammatical units is connected with their semantic value. Grammar is seen as forming a continuum with lexicon.

5). Semantic structures reflect the content of the situation as well as the way this content is arranged and interpreted [Langacker 1991: IX, 1].

R. W. Langacker claims that cognitive grammar is quite distinct from any kind of generative theory for it sees the use of syntactic structures “as a reflection of how a situation is conceptualized by the speaker, and this conceptualization is governed by the attention principle. Salient participants, especially agents, are rendered as subjects and less salient participants as objects; verbs are selected which are compatible with the choice of subject and object, and evoke the perspective on the situation that is intended; locative, temporal and many other types of relations are highlighted or “windowed for attention” by expressing them explicitly as adverbials. Although languages may supply different linguistic strategies for the realization of the attention potential, the underlying cognitive structures and principles are probably universal”[35].

The cognitive approach is considered a viable and attractive model of linguistic description. It embraces not only lexis and grammar, it also includes pragmatic and discourse studies as well as dwells upon language functions and structure.

Ø Recommended literature:

1. Бархударов Л.С. Структура простого предложения современного английского языка. – М.: Высшая школа, 1966. – С. 20-29.
2. Блох М.Я. Практикум по теоретической грамматике английского языка: Учебное пособие/ М.Я. Блох, Т.Н. Семенова, С.В. Тимофеева. – М.: Высшая школа, 2004. – С. 12-15, 33-36, 71-75, 348-350.
3. Иофик Л.Л., Чахоян Л.П. Хрестоматия по теоретической грамматике английского языка. – Л.: Изд-во «Просвещение», 1967. – С. 3-38.
4. Иофик Л.Л., Чахоян Л.П., Поспелова А.Г. Хрестоматия по теоретической грамматике. – Л.: Изд-во «Просвещение», 1981. – С. 5-40.
5. Современная американская лингвистика: Функциональные направления / Под ред. А.А. Кибрика, И.М. Кобозевой и И.А. Секериной. – М.: Едиториал УРСС, 2002. – С. 13-167, 276- 344, 356-368.
6. Худяков А.А. Теоретическая грамматика английского языка. – М.: Издательский центр «Академия», 2005. – С. 142-163.
7. Valeika L., Buitkiené J. An Introductory Course in Theoretical English Grammar. – Vilnius: Vilnius Pedagogical University, 2003. – P. 13-35.

Ø Supplementary literature:

1. Алпатов В.М. История лингвистических учений. Учебное пособие. – М.: «Языки русской культуры», 1999. – С. 194-209, 309-323.
2. Ахманова О.С., Микаэлян Г.Б. Современные синтаксические теории. – М.: Едиториал УРСС, 2003. – С. 7-37.
3. Иртеньева Н.Ф., Барсова О.М., Блох М.Я., Шапкин А.П. Теоретическая грамматика английского языка (Синтаксис). – М.: Высшая школа, 1969. – С.41-46, 49-55, 68-72.
4. Левицкий Ю.А., Боронникова Н.В. История лингвистических учений. – М.: Высшая школа, 2005. – С. 202-214, 215-218, 232-324, 237-238.
5. Хрестоматия по английской филологии / Сост. проф. О.В. Александрова. – М.: Высшая школа, 1991. - С. 98-103.

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