Language, Mind, and Culture A Practical Introduction

by Kovecses, Zoltan

• ISBN13: 9780195187205
• ISBN10: 0195187202
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2006-10-12
• Publisher: Oxford University Press

Summary

This book shows that given the new findings of cognitive linguistics, it is possible to offer a unified account of not only linguistic meaning but also that of meaning in a wide variety of social and cultural phenomena. It is suggested that cognitive linguistics is a much more comprehensive enterprise than is commonly accepted--both inside and outside the field. The book presents a comprehensive account of meaning in many linguistic and cultural phenomena that is crucially based and dependent on cognitive capacities that human understanders and producers of language possess independently of their ability to use language.

Author Biography

Zoltan Kovecses is Professor of Linguistics in the Department of American Studies at Eotvos Loraand University, Budapest. He is the author of Metaphor: A Practical Introduction (OUP, 2002).

Table of Contents

1 Meaning in Mind, Language, and Culture	3	(14)
The General Goal of the Book	3	(1)
The Kinds of Issues in a Theory of Mind	4	(4)
The Objectivist View	8	(2)
The Experientialist View	10	(2)
Universality versus the Relativity of Human Knowledge	12	(3)
Conclusions	15	(2)
2 Categorizing the World	17	(22)
Prototypes, Theories, and Linguistic Relativity
How Do We Acquire Our Categories?	18	(1)
Theories of Categorization	19	(12)
Color and Linguistic Relativity	31	(3)
The Sapir-Whorf Hypothesis	34	(1)
Conclusions	35	(2)
Exercises	37	(2)
3 Levels of Interacting with the World	39	(12)
Cognitive and Cultural Considerations
Theories of Taxonomic Hierarchies	39	(3)
Basic-Level Categories and Their Properties	42	(4)
The Role of Culture in the Creation of Basic-Level Categories	46	(2)
Conclusions	48	(1)
Exercises	48	(3)
4 Contesting Categories in Culture	51	(12)
Debates about Art
Classical and Basic-Level Definitions of Art	52	(1)
The Traditional View of Art as a Prototype-Based Category	53	(3)
What Are the Emerging Features of the Traditional View of Art?	56	(2)
Is Art an "Essentially Contested Concept"?	58	(2)
Conclusions	60	(1)
Exercises	61	(2)
5 Organizing Knowledge about the World	63	(18)
Frames in the Mind
What Is a Frame?	64	(5)
Frames as Cultural Constructs and Cultures as Frames	69	(3)
What Are Frames Good For?	72	(6)
Conclusions	78	(1)
Exercises	78	(3)
6 The Frame Analysis of Culture	81	(16)
Classification Systems and Culture	81	(4)
Two Cultural Issues	85	(3)
Literature and Frames	88	(3)
Politics and Framing	91	(2)
Conclusions	93	(2)
Exercises	95	(2)
7 Mappings within Frames	97	(18)
Metonymy as a Cognitive and Cultural Process
What Is Metonymy?	98	(2)
Frames and Their Parts	100	(6)
Culture, Cognition, and Metonymy	106	(1)
Cultural Factors in Prototype Effects	107	(4)
Conclusions	111	(1)
Exercises	112	(3)
8 Mappings across Frames	115	(20)
Metaphor
What Is a Conceptual Metaphor?	115	(1)
Components of Conceptual Metaphors	116	(11)
Kinds of Metaphor	127	(3)
Conclusions	130	(1)
Exercises	131	(4)
9 Metaphoric Frames	135	(20)
Some Cultural and Social Applications
Cultural Symbols	136	(1)
Interpreting History and the Creation of Metaphors	137	(2)
Metaphoric Framing	139	(3)
Metaphors Made Real	142	(6)
Narrative Structure and Metaphor	148	(2)
Linguistic Relativity and Metaphor	150	(1)
Conclusions	151	(2)
Exercises	153	(2)
10 Metaphor Variation across and within Cultures	155	(26)
Universal Conceptual Metaphors	156	(1)
Dimensions of Metaphor Variation	157	(7)
Aspects of Metaphor Involved in Variation	164	(3)
Causes of Metaphor Variation	167	(5)
Love Is a Journey: A Case Study in Cultural Differences in Metaphorical Expression	172	(5)
Conclusions	177	(1)
Exercises	178	(3)
11 Meaning and Thought	181	(26)
Literal or Figurative?
Traditional Assumption (1): Literal Meaning Can Constitute Abstract Meanings	183	(1)
Traditional Assumption (2): Certain Figurative and Abstract Meanings Are Understood in a Literal Way under Certain Circumstances	184	(3)
Traditional Assumption (3): Figurative Abstract Meaning in One Language Can Be Expressed by Means of Literal Meaning in Another Language	187	(7)
Can Cultural Models for Abstract Concepts Be Literal?	194	(9)
Conclusions	203	(1)
Exercises	204	(3)
12 The Embodied Mind	207	(20)
The Role of Image-Schemas
Some Perceptual Image-Schemas	208	(3)
The Structure of Mind	211	(2)
Forces in the Mind	213	(9)
Understanding Stories	222	(2)
Conclusions	224	(1)
Exercises	225	(2)
13 Alternative Construals of the World	227	(22)
Attention	228	(4)
Judgment and Comparison	232	(4)
Perspective	236	(3)
Overall Structure	239	(5)
Grammatical Conceptualization and Linguistic Relativity	244	(1)
Construal Operations and Culture	245	(1)
Conclusions	246	(1)
Exercises	246	(3)
14 Constructing Meaning in Discourse	249	(22)
Mental Spaces
Characterizing Mental Spaces	250	(5)
How Mental Spaces Actually Work in Organizing Our Understanding of Discourse	255	(6)
The Uses of Mental Space Theory in Solving Linguistic Issues	261	(5)
The Global Cognitive Structure of Literary Discourse: A Further Use of Mental Space Theory	266	(1)
Conclusions	267	(1)
Exercises	268	(3)
15 Conceptual Blends and Material Anchors	271	(24)
Some Examples of Conceptual Integration	272	(5)
Types of Conceptual Integration	277	(10)
Blends in Material Culture and Cultural Practice	287	(4)
Conclusions	291	(1)
Exercises	292	(3)
16 Cognition and Grammar	295	(32)
The Cognitive Structure of Language
Cognition and Grammar	296	(9)
A Sketch of Cognitive Grammar	305	(13)
Grammar and Compositionality of Meaning	318	(4)
Linguistic Relativity and Grammar	322	(2)
Conclusions	324	(1)
Exercises	325	(2)
17 Summing It Up	327	(38)
An Account of Meaningful Experience
How Do Our Main Questions Get Answered?	328	(4)
Universality and Relativity	332	(2)
Language and Cognition: Linguistic Relativity Again	334	(1)
Meaning and Culture	335	(4)
Solutions to Exercises	339	(26)
Glossary	365	(12)
References	377	(12)
Index	389