Aspects of Meaning Construction

Aspects of Meaning Construction

Author: Günter Radden

Publisher: John Benjamins Publishing

Published: 2007-01-01

Total Pages: 312

ISBN-13: 9789027232427

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

Meaning does not reside in linguistic units but is constructed in the minds of the language users. Meaning construction is an on-line mental activity whereby speech participants create meanings on the basis of underspecified linguistic units. The construction of meaning is guided by cognitive principles. The contributions collected in the volume focus on two types of cognitive principles guiding meaning construction: meaning construction by means of metonymy and metaphor, and meaning construction by means of mental spaces and conceptual blending. The papers in the former group survey experiential evidence of figurative meaning construction and discuss high-level metaphor and metonymy, the role of metonymy in discourse, the chaining of metonymies, metonymy as an alternative to coercion, and metaphtonymic meanings of proper names. The papers in the latter group address the issues of meaning construction prompted by personal pronouns, relative clauses, inferential constructions, “sort-of” expressions, questions, and the into-causative construction.


Book Synopsis Aspects of Meaning Construction by : Günter Radden

Download or read book Aspects of Meaning Construction written by Günter Radden and published by John Benjamins Publishing. This book was released on 2007-01-01 with total page 312 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Meaning does not reside in linguistic units but is constructed in the minds of the language users. Meaning construction is an on-line mental activity whereby speech participants create meanings on the basis of underspecified linguistic units. The construction of meaning is guided by cognitive principles. The contributions collected in the volume focus on two types of cognitive principles guiding meaning construction: meaning construction by means of metonymy and metaphor, and meaning construction by means of mental spaces and conceptual blending. The papers in the former group survey experiential evidence of figurative meaning construction and discuss high-level metaphor and metonymy, the role of metonymy in discourse, the chaining of metonymies, metonymy as an alternative to coercion, and metaphtonymic meanings of proper names. The papers in the latter group address the issues of meaning construction prompted by personal pronouns, relative clauses, inferential constructions, “sort-of” expressions, questions, and the into-causative construction.


Mental Spaces

Mental Spaces

Author: Gilles Fauconnier

Publisher: Cambridge University Press

Published: 1994-08-26

Total Pages: 250

ISBN-13: 9780521449496

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

Mental Spaces is the classic introduction to the study of mental spaces and conceptual projection, as revealed through the structure and use of language. It examines in detail the dynamic construction of connected domains as discourse unfolds. The discovery of mental space organization has modified our conception of language and thought: powerful and uniform accounts of superficially disparate phenomena have become available in the areas of reference, presupposition projection, counterfactual and analogical reasoning, metaphor and metonymy, and time and aspect in discourse. The present work lays the foundation for this research. It uncovers simple and general principles that lie behind the awesome complexity of everyday logic.


Book Synopsis Mental Spaces by : Gilles Fauconnier

Download or read book Mental Spaces written by Gilles Fauconnier and published by Cambridge University Press. This book was released on 1994-08-26 with total page 250 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Mental Spaces is the classic introduction to the study of mental spaces and conceptual projection, as revealed through the structure and use of language. It examines in detail the dynamic construction of connected domains as discourse unfolds. The discovery of mental space organization has modified our conception of language and thought: powerful and uniform accounts of superficially disparate phenomena have become available in the areas of reference, presupposition projection, counterfactual and analogical reasoning, metaphor and metonymy, and time and aspect in discourse. The present work lays the foundation for this research. It uncovers simple and general principles that lie behind the awesome complexity of everyday logic.


The Communicative Mind

The Communicative Mind

Author: Line Brandt

Publisher: Cambridge Scholars Publishing

Published: 2013-11-04

Total Pages: 640

ISBN-13: 1443853887

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

Integrating research in linguistics, philosophy, semiotics, neurophenomenology, and literary studies, The Communicative Mind presents a thought-provoking and multifaceted investigation into linguistic meaning construction. It explores the various ways in which the intersubjectivity of communicating interactants manifests itself in language structure and use and argues for the indispensability of dialogue as a semantic resource in cognition. The view of the mind as highly conditioned by the domain of interpersonal communication is supported by an extensive range of empirical linguistic data from fiction, poetry and written and spoken everyday language, including rhetorically “creative” metaphors and metonymies. The author introduces Cognitive Linguistics to the notion of enunciation, which refers to the situated act of language use, and demonstrates the centrality of subjectivity and turn-taking interaction in natural semantics. The theoretical framework presented takes contextual relevance, viewpoint shifts, dynamicity, and the introduction into discourse of elements with no real-world counterparts (subjective motion, fictivity and other forms of non-actuality) to be vital components in the construction of meaning. The book engages the reader in critical discussions of cognitive-linguistic approaches to semantic construal and addresses the philosophical implications of the identified strengths and limitations. Among the theoretical advances in what Brandt refers to as the cognitive humanities is Fauconnier and Turner’s theory of conceptual integration of “mental spaces” which has proved widely influential in Cognitive Poetics and Linguistics, offering a philosophy of language bridging the gap between pragmatics and semantics. With its constructive criticism of the “general mechanism” hypothesis, according to which “blending” can explain everything from the origin of language to binding in perception, Brandt’s book brings the scope and applicability of Conceptual Integration Theory into the arena of scientific debate. The book contains five main chapters entitled Enunciation: Aspects of Subjectivity in Meaning Construction, The Subjective Conceptualizer: Non-actuality in Construal, Conceptual Integration in Semiotic Meaning Construction, Meaning Construction in Literary Text, and Effects of Poetic Enunciation: Seven Types of Iconicity.


Book Synopsis The Communicative Mind by : Line Brandt

Download or read book The Communicative Mind written by Line Brandt and published by Cambridge Scholars Publishing. This book was released on 2013-11-04 with total page 640 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Integrating research in linguistics, philosophy, semiotics, neurophenomenology, and literary studies, The Communicative Mind presents a thought-provoking and multifaceted investigation into linguistic meaning construction. It explores the various ways in which the intersubjectivity of communicating interactants manifests itself in language structure and use and argues for the indispensability of dialogue as a semantic resource in cognition. The view of the mind as highly conditioned by the domain of interpersonal communication is supported by an extensive range of empirical linguistic data from fiction, poetry and written and spoken everyday language, including rhetorically “creative” metaphors and metonymies. The author introduces Cognitive Linguistics to the notion of enunciation, which refers to the situated act of language use, and demonstrates the centrality of subjectivity and turn-taking interaction in natural semantics. The theoretical framework presented takes contextual relevance, viewpoint shifts, dynamicity, and the introduction into discourse of elements with no real-world counterparts (subjective motion, fictivity and other forms of non-actuality) to be vital components in the construction of meaning. The book engages the reader in critical discussions of cognitive-linguistic approaches to semantic construal and addresses the philosophical implications of the identified strengths and limitations. Among the theoretical advances in what Brandt refers to as the cognitive humanities is Fauconnier and Turner’s theory of conceptual integration of “mental spaces” which has proved widely influential in Cognitive Poetics and Linguistics, offering a philosophy of language bridging the gap between pragmatics and semantics. With its constructive criticism of the “general mechanism” hypothesis, according to which “blending” can explain everything from the origin of language to binding in perception, Brandt’s book brings the scope and applicability of Conceptual Integration Theory into the arena of scientific debate. The book contains five main chapters entitled Enunciation: Aspects of Subjectivity in Meaning Construction, The Subjective Conceptualizer: Non-actuality in Construal, Conceptual Integration in Semiotic Meaning Construction, Meaning Construction in Literary Text, and Effects of Poetic Enunciation: Seven Types of Iconicity.


Semantic Leaps

Semantic Leaps

Author: Seana Coulson

Publisher: Cambridge University Press

Published: 2001-01-29

Total Pages: 328

ISBN-13: 9780521643610

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

Semantic Leaps explores how people combine knowledge from different domains in order to understand and express new ideas. Concentrating on dynamic aspects of on-line meaning construction, Coulson identifies two related sets of processes: frame-shifting and conceptual blending. By addressing linguistic phenomena often ignored in traditional meaning research, Coulson explains how processes of cross-domain mapping, frame-shifting, and conceptual blending enhance the explanatory adequacy of traditional frame-based systems for natural language processing. The focus is on how the constructive processes speakers use to assemble, link, and adapt simple cognitive models underlie a broad range of productive language behavior.


Book Synopsis Semantic Leaps by : Seana Coulson

Download or read book Semantic Leaps written by Seana Coulson and published by Cambridge University Press. This book was released on 2001-01-29 with total page 328 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Semantic Leaps explores how people combine knowledge from different domains in order to understand and express new ideas. Concentrating on dynamic aspects of on-line meaning construction, Coulson identifies two related sets of processes: frame-shifting and conceptual blending. By addressing linguistic phenomena often ignored in traditional meaning research, Coulson explains how processes of cross-domain mapping, frame-shifting, and conceptual blending enhance the explanatory adequacy of traditional frame-based systems for natural language processing. The focus is on how the constructive processes speakers use to assemble, link, and adapt simple cognitive models underlie a broad range of productive language behavior.


Lexical and Syntactical Constructions and the Construction of Meaning

Lexical and Syntactical Constructions and the Construction of Meaning

Author: Marjolijn Verspoor

Publisher: John Benjamins Publishing

Published: 1997-06-26

Total Pages: 474

ISBN-13: 9027285594

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

The basic tenet of cognitive linguistics is that every linguistic expression is a construal relation. The first section of this volume focuses on issues of such construal and presentation of information, including figure-ground relations, image-schematic structures, and the role of syntactic constructions in information structure.In sections two and three papers are presented on cross-categorial polysemy between lexical and grammatical uses of a morpheme, and between different grammatical senses, and on the relationship between earlier lexical senses and later grammatical ones. The final section of the volume brings together studies which shed further light on transitivity and argument structure. The study of transitivity necessarily entails exploration of the relationship between syntactic constructions and the pragmatics and semantics conveyed by such constructions. As a whole, this collection of papers gives new evidence on the complexity and motivation of the mapping between linguistic form and function and offers a wealth of new directions for research on the construction of meaning at every level of the sentence.


Book Synopsis Lexical and Syntactical Constructions and the Construction of Meaning by : Marjolijn Verspoor

Download or read book Lexical and Syntactical Constructions and the Construction of Meaning written by Marjolijn Verspoor and published by John Benjamins Publishing. This book was released on 1997-06-26 with total page 474 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The basic tenet of cognitive linguistics is that every linguistic expression is a construal relation. The first section of this volume focuses on issues of such construal and presentation of information, including figure-ground relations, image-schematic structures, and the role of syntactic constructions in information structure.In sections two and three papers are presented on cross-categorial polysemy between lexical and grammatical uses of a morpheme, and between different grammatical senses, and on the relationship between earlier lexical senses and later grammatical ones. The final section of the volume brings together studies which shed further light on transitivity and argument structure. The study of transitivity necessarily entails exploration of the relationship between syntactic constructions and the pragmatics and semantics conveyed by such constructions. As a whole, this collection of papers gives new evidence on the complexity and motivation of the mapping between linguistic form and function and offers a wealth of new directions for research on the construction of meaning at every level of the sentence.


The Construction of Words

The Construction of Words

Author: Geert Booij

Publisher: Springer

Published: 2018-04-13

Total Pages: 622

ISBN-13: 3319743945

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

This volume focuses on detailed studies of various aspects of Construction Morphology, and combines theoretical analysis and descriptive detail. It deals with data from several domains of linguistics and contributes to an integration of findings from various subdisciplines of linguistics into a common model of the architecture of language. It presents applications and extensions of the model of Construction Morphology to a wide range of languages. Construction Morphology is one of the theoretical paradigms in present-day morphology. It makes use of concepts of Construction Grammar for the analysis of word formation and inflection. Complex words are seen as constructions, that is, pairs of form and meaning. Morphological patterns are accounted for by construction schemas. These are the recipes for coining new words and word forms, and they motivate the properties of existing complex words. Both schemas and individual words are stored, and hence there is no strict separation of lexicon and grammar. In addition to abstract schemas there are subschemas for subclasses of complex words with specific properties. This architecture of the grammar is in harmony with findings from other empirical domains of linguistics such as language acquisition, word processing, and language change.


Book Synopsis The Construction of Words by : Geert Booij

Download or read book The Construction of Words written by Geert Booij and published by Springer. This book was released on 2018-04-13 with total page 622 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This volume focuses on detailed studies of various aspects of Construction Morphology, and combines theoretical analysis and descriptive detail. It deals with data from several domains of linguistics and contributes to an integration of findings from various subdisciplines of linguistics into a common model of the architecture of language. It presents applications and extensions of the model of Construction Morphology to a wide range of languages. Construction Morphology is one of the theoretical paradigms in present-day morphology. It makes use of concepts of Construction Grammar for the analysis of word formation and inflection. Complex words are seen as constructions, that is, pairs of form and meaning. Morphological patterns are accounted for by construction schemas. These are the recipes for coining new words and word forms, and they motivate the properties of existing complex words. Both schemas and individual words are stored, and hence there is no strict separation of lexicon and grammar. In addition to abstract schemas there are subschemas for subclasses of complex words with specific properties. This architecture of the grammar is in harmony with findings from other empirical domains of linguistics such as language acquisition, word processing, and language change.


Linguistic Perspectives on the Construction of Meaning and Knowledge

Linguistic Perspectives on the Construction of Meaning and Knowledge

Author: Elke Diedrichsen

Publisher: Cambridge Scholars Publishing

Published: 2019-09-24

Total Pages: 407

ISBN-13: 1527540421

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

This book is an exploration of the dimensions of meaning in language from several important perspectives that are of major interest to scholars today, bringing together studies from the realms of linguistic pragmatics, semantics, ontological knowledge engineering, and computational linguistics. Situated within modern functional-cognitive constructional-ontological and computational paradigms, the analyses here are supported by authentic language data, including corpus data, from a rich set of languages. Context and situation play an important but complex role in meaning elaboration. The role of context and situation is elusive and has proved difficult to elucidate with respect to meaning and knowledge representation. This volume provides evidence of the nature of the, often rapid, emergence of meaning in the digital world of the internet, social media, and Internet memes. The use of computational avatars and the rise of human language technologies, including big data and digital corpora, have made the construction of meaning and human language understanding essential to the work of linguists, cognitive scientists and computer scientists who are increasingly working together in collaborative teams to share insights.


Book Synopsis Linguistic Perspectives on the Construction of Meaning and Knowledge by : Elke Diedrichsen

Download or read book Linguistic Perspectives on the Construction of Meaning and Knowledge written by Elke Diedrichsen and published by Cambridge Scholars Publishing. This book was released on 2019-09-24 with total page 407 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book is an exploration of the dimensions of meaning in language from several important perspectives that are of major interest to scholars today, bringing together studies from the realms of linguistic pragmatics, semantics, ontological knowledge engineering, and computational linguistics. Situated within modern functional-cognitive constructional-ontological and computational paradigms, the analyses here are supported by authentic language data, including corpus data, from a rich set of languages. Context and situation play an important but complex role in meaning elaboration. The role of context and situation is elusive and has proved difficult to elucidate with respect to meaning and knowledge representation. This volume provides evidence of the nature of the, often rapid, emergence of meaning in the digital world of the internet, social media, and Internet memes. The use of computational avatars and the rise of human language technologies, including big data and digital corpora, have made the construction of meaning and human language understanding essential to the work of linguists, cognitive scientists and computer scientists who are increasingly working together in collaborative teams to share insights.


Figurative Meaning Construction in Thought and Language

Figurative Meaning Construction in Thought and Language

Author: Annalisa Baicchi

Publisher: John Benjamins Publishing Company

Published: 2020-08-12

Total Pages: 321

ISBN-13: 9027261024

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

This volume brings together twelve usage-based studies conducted by leading researchers in language and cognition that explore core issues of figurativeness from the Cognitive Linguistics perspective. The individual chapters reveal the central function of figurativeness in thought and its impact on language. Cognition relies on knowledge-structuring tools in the construction of meaning both mentally and linguistically. Collectively, the chapters delve into an array of topics that are crucial to future research in figurative meaning construction, especially on questions of identification and structure of figures, the figurative motivation of constructions, the impact of figurativeness on pragmatic and multimodal communication, and the correlation between figures and cognitive models.


Book Synopsis Figurative Meaning Construction in Thought and Language by : Annalisa Baicchi

Download or read book Figurative Meaning Construction in Thought and Language written by Annalisa Baicchi and published by John Benjamins Publishing Company. This book was released on 2020-08-12 with total page 321 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This volume brings together twelve usage-based studies conducted by leading researchers in language and cognition that explore core issues of figurativeness from the Cognitive Linguistics perspective. The individual chapters reveal the central function of figurativeness in thought and its impact on language. Cognition relies on knowledge-structuring tools in the construction of meaning both mentally and linguistically. Collectively, the chapters delve into an array of topics that are crucial to future research in figurative meaning construction, especially on questions of identification and structure of figures, the figurative motivation of constructions, the impact of figurativeness on pragmatic and multimodal communication, and the correlation between figures and cognitive models.


Deconstructing Constructions

Deconstructing Constructions

Author: Christopher Butler

Publisher: John Benjamins Publishing

Published: 2008

Total Pages: 328

ISBN-13: 9027205744

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

Experts in functional linguistics and in Construction Grammar approaches explore the concept of construction, what it is, and what roles constructions play in the frameworks which can be located within a multidimensional functional-cognitive space. The volume also plots the developments which led to recent models.


Book Synopsis Deconstructing Constructions by : Christopher Butler

Download or read book Deconstructing Constructions written by Christopher Butler and published by John Benjamins Publishing. This book was released on 2008 with total page 328 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Experts in functional linguistics and in Construction Grammar approaches explore the concept of construction, what it is, and what roles constructions play in the frameworks which can be located within a multidimensional functional-cognitive space. The volume also plots the developments which led to recent models.


A Dictionary of Construction, Surveying, and Civil Engineering

A Dictionary of Construction, Surveying, and Civil Engineering

Author: Christopher Gorse

Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA

Published: 2012-02-23

Total Pages: 507

ISBN-13: 0199534462

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

An A to Z of construction, surveying, and civil engineering terms covering all core aspects, this book provides a one-stop reference for construction students and professionals.


Book Synopsis A Dictionary of Construction, Surveying, and Civil Engineering by : Christopher Gorse

Download or read book A Dictionary of Construction, Surveying, and Civil Engineering written by Christopher Gorse and published by Oxford University Press, USA. This book was released on 2012-02-23 with total page 507 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: An A to Z of construction, surveying, and civil engineering terms covering all core aspects, this book provides a one-stop reference for construction students and professionals.