Motion Encoding In Language And Space
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Motion Encoding in Language and Space
Author: Mila Dimitrova-Vulchanova
language: en
Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA
Release Date: 2013
This book brings together researchers in linguistics, computer science, psychology and cognitive science to investigate how motion is encoded in language. Part I considers the parameters of the field, while part II looks at the way in which spatial scale or granularity plays a role in the encoding of motion in language.
The Geometry of Meaning
A novel cognitive theory of semantics that proposes that the meanings of words can be described in terms of geometric structures. In The Geometry of Meaning, Peter Gärdenfors proposes a theory of semantics that bridges cognitive science and linguistics and shows how theories of cognitive processes, in particular concept formation, can be exploited in a general semantic model. He argues that our minds organize the information involved in communicative acts in a format that can be modeled in geometric or topological terms—in what he terms conceptual spaces, extending the theory he presented in an earlier book by that name. Many semantic theories consider the meanings of words as relatively stable and independent of the communicative context. Gärdenfors focuses instead on how various forms of communication establish a system of meanings that becomes shared between interlocutors. He argues that these “meetings of mind” depend on the underlying geometric structures, and that these structures facilitate language learning. Turning to lexical semantics, Gärdenfors argues that a unified theory of word meaning can be developed by using conceptual spaces. He shows that the meaning of different word classes can be given a cognitive grounding, and offers semantic analyses of nouns, adjectives, verbs, and prepositions. He also presents models of how the meanings of words are composed to form new meanings and of the basic semantic role of sentences. Finally, he considers the future implications of his theory for robot semantics and the Semantic Web.
Space, Time, and the Use of Language
Does temporal language depend on spatial language? This widespread view is intuitively appealing since spatial and temporal expressions are often similar or identical. Also, metaphors consistently express temporal phenomena in terms of spatial language, pointing to a close semantic and conceptual relationship. But what about the application of the two kinds of linguistic expressions in natural discourse? The book draws together findings on terms that describe the relation of objects or events to each other (such as in front / behind, before / after, etc.), highlighting the relationship between cognition and language usage. Using the method of cognitively motivated discourse analysis, novel empirical results are presented to complement earlier findings. The detailed investigation of a selected range of terms that appear to be parallel in space and time highlights both similarities and fundamental differences in their application. As a result, a new picture emerges: The concepts of space and time are represented in language usage in various systematic ways, reflecting how we understand the world - and at the same time reflecting how our concepts of space and time differ fundamentally. The volume contributes to a debate that has been of interest for cognitive linguists for several decades, concerning the understanding of transfer processes between two conceptually intertwined domains. The specific contribution of this work consists of addressing the novel question of how such processes come into play in the actual application of relevant expressions in natural discourse. By adopting established approaches from Discourse Analysis for issues that are deeply rooted in interdisciplinary research in Cognitive Science, insights are drawn together from two hitherto largely unrelated fields of research to approach the topic from an original perspective, leading to a deeper understanding of the relationship between the domains of space and time and their expression in language.