Cognitive Grammar A Basic Introduction

by Langacker, Ronald W.

• ISBN13: 9780195331967
• ISBN10: 0195331966
• eBook ISBN(s): 9780199887200
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2008-02-04
• Publisher: Oxford University Press

Summary

This book fills a longstanding need for a basic introduction to CognitiveGrammar that is current, authoritative, comprehensive, and approachable. Itpresents a synthesis that draws together and refines the descriptive andtheoretical notions developed in this framework over the course of threedecades. In a unified manner, it accommodates both the conceptual and thesocial-interactive basis of linguistic structure, as well as the need for bothfunctional explanation and explicit structural description. Starting with thefundamentals, essential aspects of the theory are systematically laid out withconcrete illustrations and careful discussion of their rationale. Among thetopics surveyed are conceptual semantics, grammatical classes, grammaticalconstructions, the lexicon-grammar continuum characterized as assemblies ofsymbolic structures (form-meaning pairings), and the usage-based account ofproductivity, restrictions, and well-formedness. The theory's central claim -that grammar is inherently meaningful - is thereby shown to be viable. Theframework is further elucidated through application to nominal structure, clausestructure, and complex sentences. These are examined in broad perspective, withexemplification from English and numerous other languages. In line with thetheory's general principles, they are discussed not only in terms of theirstructural characterization, but also their conceptual value and functionalmotivation. Other matters explored include discourse, the temporal dimension oflanguage structure, and what grammar reveals about cognitive processes and theconstruction of our mental world.

Author Biography

Ronald W. Langacker retired after 37 years as Professor of Linguistics at the University of California, San Diego. He was originally trained in generative linguistics, and worked for a decade on the Uto-Aztecan family of Native American languages. Since 1976 he has been developing the theory of Cognitive Grammar (a radical alternative to generative theory) as part of the broader tradition of cognitive linguistics.

Table of Contents

Preliminaries
Orientation	p. 3
Grammar and Life	p. 3
The Nature of the Beast	p. 5
Grammar as Symbolization	p. 14
Conceptual Semantics	p. 27
Meaning and Semantic Representations	p. 27
Conceptual Content	p. 43
Construal	p. 55
Specificity	p. 55
Focusing	p. 57
Prominence	p. 66
Perspective	p. 73
Evidence for Semantic Claims	p. 85
Fundamentals
Grammatical Classes	p. 93
Are Conceptual Characterizations Conceivable?	p. 93
Nouns and Verbs	p. 103
Classes of Relational Expressions	p. 112
Major Subclasses	p. 128
Count and Mass Nouns	p. 128
Perfective and Imperfective Verbs	p. 147
Constructions: General Characterization	p. 161
Symbolic Assemblies	p. 161
Constructional Schemas	p. 167
Unipolar vs. Bipolar Organization	p. 174
Constructions: Descriptive Factors	p. 183
Correspondences	p. 183
Profile Determinance	p. 192
Elaboration	p. 198
Constituency	p. 205
Rules and Restrictions	p. 215
Networks and Schemas	p. 215
Assessing Conventionality	p. 227
Networks of Constructions	p. 237
Regularity	p. 244
Structures
Grounding	p. 259
Subjective and Objective Construal	p. 260
Type vs. Instance	p. 264
Nominal Grounding	p. 272
Clausal Grounding	p. 296
Nominal Structure	p. 310
Structure and Function	p. 310
Noun Modifiers	p. 318
Classification and Quantification	p. 334
Inflection and Agreement	p. 346
Clause Structure	p. 354
Global Organization	p. 354
Subject and Object	p. 363
Clause Types	p. 382
Complex Verbs	p. 400
Complex Sentences	p. 406
Ordination: Co- and Sub-	p. 406
Clausal Connections	p. 419
Finite Complements	p. 437
Frontiers
Discourse	p. 457
The Basis of Language Structure	p. 457
Conceptual Substrate	p. 463
Discourse Genres	p. 477
Structure Building	p. 486
Engaging the World	p. 500
Dynamicity	p. 500
Fictivity	p. 524
Simulation and Subjectification	p. 535
Mind, Meaning, and Grammar	p. 539
References	p. 541
Index	p. 551
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