Cognitive linguistics

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A branch of linguistics that emphasizes the relationship between language and thought, and the role of metaphor and conceptual mapping.

Introduction to Cognitive Linguistics: This topic provides an overview of what Cognitive Linguistics is all about, its history, and its main proponents.
Theories of Meaning: This topic explores the different theories of meaning, such as truth-conditional semantics, compositionality, and conceptual semantics, and how they relate to Cognitive Linguistics.
Conceptual Structure: This topic looks at the structure of concepts and how they are represented in the mind, including image schemas, prototypes, and exemplars.
Image Schemas: This topic delves into the idea of image schemas or basic perceptual patterns, such as containment, path, and force dynamics, which shape our understanding of the world around us.
Metaphor and Metonymy: This topic examines the role of metaphor, in which one conceptual domain is mapped onto another, and metonymy, in which one thing is used to stand for another related thing.
Prototype Theory: This topic explores the concept of prototype theory, which argues that categories are not defined by necessary and sufficient conditions, but by a prototype that is a typical member of the category.
Polysemy: This topic looks at the phenomenon of polysemy or multiple meanings of words, which is a major challenge in Semantic analysis.
Pragmatics: This topic considers how meaning is shaped by context and the speaker's intentions, including the Cooperative Principle, implicature, and speech acts.
Embodied Cognition: This topic investigates the idea that language and thought are grounded in sensorimotor experience, as well as how the body and the environment influence the way we think and talk.
Corpus Linguistics: This topic explores how large collections of linguistic data, such as corpora, can be used to investigate the meanings of words and constructions as they occur in natural language use.
Prototype semantics: A framework that involves the categorization of objects based on their typical features rather than necessary and sufficient conditions.
Frame semantics: A framework that posits that meaning arises from a network of cognitive "frames" that organize knowledge and experience. Frames are mental structures that represent typical situations or events, and can be activated to guide processing and interpretation of language.
Conceptual blending: A process by which different mental spaces, or conceptual domains, are combined to create new meaning. This is often used to explain metaphors, which involve mapping elements from one domain onto another to create a novel way of understanding a concept.
Embodied cognition: The idea that language is grounded in the body and physical experiences, and that bodily sensations and movements play a role in shaping meaning. For example, the metaphorical mapping of "up" with positive emotions and "down" with negative emotions may be rooted in the physical experience of standing up straight when happy and slumping down when sad.
Cognitive grammar: A framework that emphasizes the structure of conceptual information and its relation to meaning, rather than formal structure. It posits that grammatical categories are based on conceptual categories, and that syntax reflects the organization of meaning in the mind.
Lexical semantics: The study of how words and phrases contribute to meaning. This includes the study of polysemy (multiple meanings for a single word), homonymy (multiple words with the same form but different meanings), and metaphorical extension of meaning.
Discourse analysis: The study of how language is used in context to create meaning. This includes the analysis of conversation structure, pragmatics (how context affects meaning), and discourse markers (words and phrases that signal relationships between parts of a discourse).
Construction grammar: A framework that emphasizes the importance of constructions (form-meaning pairings) in shaping language, including both grammatical and lexical constructions.
Cognitive semantics: An umbrella term that encompasses many of the above approaches to cognitive linguistics, emphasizing the role of mental processes and structures in shaping language.
"Cognitive linguistics is an interdisciplinary branch of linguistics, combining knowledge and research from cognitive science, cognitive psychology, neuropsychology and linguistics."
"Cognitive linguistics combines knowledge and research from cognitive science, cognitive psychology, neuropsychology and linguistics."
"Models and theoretical accounts of cognitive linguistics are considered as psychologically real."
"Research in cognitive linguistics aims to help understand cognition in general and is seen as a road into the human mind."
"There has been scientific and terminological controversy around the label 'cognitive linguistics'."
"There is no consensus on what specifically is meant with the term."
"Knowledge and research from cognitive science, cognitive psychology, neuropsychology, and linguistics contribute to cognitive linguistics."
"Models and theoretical accounts of cognitive linguistics are considered as psychologically real."
"Research in cognitive linguistics aims to help understand cognition in general."
"Research in cognitive linguistics is seen as a road into the human mind."
"There has been scientific and terminological controversy around the label 'cognitive linguistics'."
"There is no consensus on what specifically is meant with the term."
"Cognitive linguistics combines knowledge and research from cognitive science, cognitive psychology, neuropsychology, and linguistics."
"Models and theoretical accounts of cognitive linguistics are considered as psychologically real."
"Research in cognitive linguistics aims to help understand cognition in general."
"Research in cognitive linguistics is seen as a road into the human mind."
"There has been scientific and terminological controversy around the label 'cognitive linguistics'."
"There is no consensus on what specifically is meant with the term."
"Cognitive linguistics combines knowledge and research from cognitive science, cognitive psychology, neuropsychology, and linguistics."
"Models and theoretical accounts of cognitive linguistics are considered as psychologically real."