Cognitive semantics and the semiological function of language

2020 ◽  
pp. 163-188
Author(s):  
Patrick Duffley
Keyword(s):  
Construction Grammar ◽  
Cognitive Semantics ◽  
Cognitive Grammar ◽  
Critical Examination ◽  
Prototype Theory ◽  
Cognitive Approach ◽  
Conceptual Semantics ◽  
Semantics And Pragmatics

This chapter provides a critical examination of the cognitive approach, which claims to follow a semiological or symbolic principle according to which the fundamental role of language is to allow the symbolization of conceptualizations by means of phonological sequences. It asks whether Cognitive Grammar is faithful to this principle and argues that the cognitive postulate of a continuum between semantics and pragmatics stands in direct contradiction to it. Critical assessments are also offered of Prototype Theory, Conceptual Semantics, Construction Grammar, and Natural Semantic Metalanguage.

Discontinuous constituents or independent constructions?

2012 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
pp. 56-75 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tuomas Huumo ◽  
Jaakko Leino
Keyword(s):  
High School ◽  
Syntactic Structure ◽  
Construction Grammar ◽  
Intermediate Position ◽  
The Other ◽  
Cognitive Grammar ◽  
Grammatical Structure ◽  
The One ◽  
Formal Theories

In many formal theories of grammar, pairs of expressions such as the active and the passive are treated as variants of each other — the passive typically being a secondary construction derived from the active by operations that change the syntactic structure. Recent accounts based on Cognitive Grammar and Construction Grammar have questioned the validity of such an analysis, arguing that these “variants” are actually independent constructions with their own usage conditions and meaning. An important piece of evidence comes from so-called split constituents, discussed by Croft (2001: 191), who argues that expressions like A guy who I hadn’t seen since high school came in vs. A guy came in who I hadn’t seen since high school differ in their grammatical structure and usage. In this paper we discuss the Finnish split genitive construction where the assumed genitive modifier is separated from its head by intervening material, typically the finite verb. In many respects, the split genitive resembles constructions of external possession, but its range of usage is relatively limited, and in the grammatical system of Finnish it can be seen in an intermediate position between adnominal genitive constructions, on the one hand, and productive external possessor constructions based on local cases, on the other hand. Traditionally, the split genitive has been taken to be a discontinuous variant of a contiguous NP where the genitive is positioned next to its head. However, this study shows that the two constructions differ in pragmatic, semantic and grammatical terms. The split genitive construction is more limited in its usage, and it serves more specific semantic functions such as the topicalization of the genitive-marked element that carries the role of an experiencer. As in many external possessor constructions cross-linguistically, these constraints restrict the types of genitive modifiers that are available in the split genitive construction.

An Event-Oriented Data Modeling Technique Based on the Cognitive Semantics Theory

2012 ◽  
Vol 23 (4) ◽  
pp. 52-74 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dinesh Batra
Keyword(s):  
Data Model ◽  
Data Modeling ◽  
Modeling Technique ◽  
Cognitive Semantics ◽  
Conceptual Semantics ◽  
Comprehensive Data ◽  
Business Application ◽  
Business Events ◽  
Entity Relationship

The Resource-Event-Agent (REA) model has been proposed as a data modeling approach for representing accounting transactions. However, most business events are not transactions; thus, the REA formulation is incomplete. Based on the Conceptual Semantics theory, this paper discusses the entity-relationship event network (EREN) model, which extends the REA model and provides a comprehensive data template for a business event. Specifically, the notions of resource, event, and agent in the REA model are extended to include more discriminating entity types. The EREN technique can be used to identify events, sketch a network of events, and develop a data model of a business application by applying the EREN template to each event. Most extant techniques facilitate only the descriptive role whereas the EREN technique facilitates both the design and descriptive role of data modeling.

Is Empathy Required for Making Moral Judgments?

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
John Deigh
Keyword(s):  
Moral Judgment ◽  
Moral Judgments ◽  
Psychopathic Personality ◽  
Critical Examination ◽  
Psychological Profile ◽  
Main Thesis ◽  
Different Types ◽  
Additional Support

This essay is a study of the nature of moral judgment. Its main thesis is that moral judgment is a type of judgment defined by its content and not its psychological profile. The essay arrives at this thesis through a critical examination of Hume’s sentimentalism and the role of empathy in its account of moral judgment. The main objection to Hume’s account is its exclusion of people whom one can describe as making moral judgments though they have no motivation to act on them. Consideration of such people, particularly those with a psychopathic personality, argues for a distinction between different types of moral judgment in keeping with the essay’s main thesis. Additional support for the main thesis is then drawn from Piaget’s theory of moral judgment in children.

So far and yet so near: The emerging characteristics, forms and configurations of organizational proximity in the context of digitalization

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-16
Author(s):  
Hongxia Peng
Keyword(s):  
Conceptual Framework ◽  
Crucial Role ◽  
Organizational Context ◽  
Organizational Studies ◽  
Cognitive Approach ◽  
Analytical Review ◽  
Organizational Proximity ◽  
Conceptual Study ◽  
Management Cognition

BACKGROUND: The current pandemic crisis evidences the importance of questioning and reconsidering the evolution of organizational proximity and the crucial role of digitalization in the emergence of new characteristics, forms and configurations of organizational proximity. OBJECTIVE: This article presents a conceptual study aimed at analyzing the evolution of organizational proximity in the context of digitalization. METHODS: Adopting a systemic-cognitive approach inspired by existing studies on management cognition and the biology of cognition, this article first presents an analytical review of existing research in organizational studies and proposes a taxonomy of proximity based on the forms and characteristics identified in the organizational context. Second, it introduces the notion of a proximity unit, based on which a conceptual framework for analyzing organizational proximity is conceived. RESULTS: Based on the proposed framework, this article analyzes the new characteristics and forms of organizational proximity and identifies possible configurations of organizational proximity by pointing out the emergence of substituted proximity propelled by digitalization and formulating six propositions. CONCLUSIONS: The article ends by arguing that it is important for organizations to conceive a composite proximity strategy by taking into account the effect of substituted proximity, driven by digitalization, in the configuration of organizational proximity.

Fossilized mistakes in Spanish relative clauses learned by Chinese students

2021 ◽  
Vol 0 (0) ◽  
Author(s):  
María Guijarro Sanz
Keyword(s):  
Teaching Methods ◽  
Relative Clauses ◽  
Chinese Students ◽  
Construction Grammar ◽  
Cognitive Grammar ◽  
Restrictive Relative Clauses ◽  
The Impact

Abstract This article demonstrates how Cognitive Grammar and Construction Grammar can prevent Chinese students learning Spanish from fossilizing mistakes in restrictive relative clauses at the A2-B1 level of the European Framework of Reference for Languages. To address this issue, first, relative clauses in Spanish and Chinese were contrasted and, second, tailored solutions based on Cognitive Grammar were proposed. Among the cognitive based tailored solutions, certain geometry forms, colours and basic mathematics metaphors were compared with syntactic characteristics such as noun order, subordination hierarchy or resumption. To elucidate the impact of such teaching methods, an experiment with 74 Chinese students was performed. The results indicate that the efficacy of the proposed materials is statistically significant and as such, the Chinese students avoid fossilized mistakes while producing subject, object and locative relative clauses in Spanish.

World-switch and mind style in The Barracks: a cognitive approach to ideology

2021 ◽  
Vol 50 (1) ◽  
pp. 43-59
Author(s):  
Salvador Alarcón-Hermosilla
Keyword(s):  
Figurative Language ◽  
World View ◽  
Cognitive Grammar ◽  
Irish Society ◽  
Frame Semantics ◽  
Cognitive Approach ◽  
Conceptual Metaphor Theory ◽  
Minor Characters ◽  
Metaphor Theory ◽  
Linguistic Level

Abstract The aim of this paper is to take a close look at John McGahern’s mind style through the language of the heroine Elizabeth Reegan and other characters, in his 1963 novel The Barracks. Specifically, attention will be drawn to how the linguistic choices shape the figurative language to cast the author’s controversial views on the religion-pervaded puritan Irish society that he knew so well. This will be done from two different perspectives. One perspective is through the breast cancer afflicted heroine, who asserts herself as a free thinker and a woman of science, in a society where priests have a strong influence at all social levels, and most women settle for housekeeping. The other is also through Elizabeth, together with other minor characters, who dare question some of the basic well-established ideological assumptions, in a series of examples where the author skilfully raises two parallel dichotomies, namely, FAITH versus REASON, and DARKNESS versus LIGHT. At a linguistic level, the present analysis relies on precepts from Frame Semantics, Conceptual Metaphor Theory, and Cognitive Grammar. These insights prove a most useful method of approach to a narrative text while unearthing the author’s ideological world view.

A review of the evidence to explain pharmacological basis of injection (ab)use of buprenorphine–naloxone tablets

2021 ◽  
Vol 17 (7) ◽  
pp. 141-152
Author(s):  
Tamoud Modak, MD, DM ◽  
Siddharth Sarkar, MD, MRCPsych ◽  
Yatan Pal Singh Balhara, MD
Keyword(s):  
Public Health Problem ◽  
Opioid Use Disorder ◽  
Critical Examination ◽  
Evidence Based ◽  
Major Public Health Problem ◽  
Opioid Use ◽  
Evidence Based Treatment ◽  
Opioid Replacement Therapy ◽  
Pharmacological Basis

Opioid use disorder is a major public health problem, and opioid replacement therapy with buprenorphine (BPN) is a clinically effective and evidence-based treatment for it. To deter misuse of the tablet through the injecting route, BPN coformulated with naloxone (BNX) in 4:1 ratio is available in many countries. Despite this, significant diversion and injecting use of the BNX combination has been reported from across the world. In this article, the pharmacological properties of BPN and BNX and the evidence for their diversion are reviewed. Also, a critical examination is made of the evidence supporting the role of naloxone in reducing the agonist effects of BPN when used through the injecting route. Based on this evidence, a hypothesis explaining the continued diversion of BNX has been proposed.

Prosody in Automatic Speech Processing

2020 ◽  
pp. 632-645
Author(s):  
Anton Batliner ◽  
Bernd Möbius
Keyword(s):  
Speech Processing ◽  
High Performance ◽  
Early Years ◽  
Short History ◽  
Word Level ◽  
Dialogue Acts ◽  
Semantics And Pragmatics ◽  
Different Types ◽  
History Of

Automatic speech processing (ASP) is understood as covering word recognition, the processing of higher linguistic components (syntax, semantics, and pragmatics), and the processing of computational paralinguistics (CP), which deals with speaker states and traits. This chapter attempts to track the role of prosody in ASP from the word level up to CP. A short history of the field from 1980 to 2020 distinguishes the early years (until 2000)—when the prosodic contribution to the modelling of linguistic phenomena, such as accents, boundaries, syntax, semantics, and dialogue acts, was the focus—from the later years, when the focus shifted to paralinguistics; prosody ceased to be visible. Different types of predictor variables are addressed, among them high-performance power features as well as leverage features, which can also be employed in teaching and therapy.

scholarly journals The Role Of Buddhist Ethics And Communication In The Contemporary World Crisis

2017 ◽  
Vol 1 (2) ◽  
pp. 155
Author(s):  
Phramaha Pornchai Sripakdee
Keyword(s):  
Critical Examination ◽  
Buddhist Ethics ◽  
Contemporary World ◽  
World Crisis

<p><em>In reality, man cannot live without communication; at least, he communicates something with himself, thoughts, for instance. In order to successfully communicate something as such, ethics concerning any kinds of communication should be taken into a critical examination; what kind of speech one should speak out, what kind of speech one should not speak out. In this article, an attempt was purposely made to discuss the role of Buddhist ethics and communication in the contemporary world crisis. In this, it is argued by Buddhist ethics that the communication should be subject to ethics because of man’s ideal life, without it, such communication will pose the danger to the chance in obtaining the goal, ideal life. </em></p>

scholarly journals MEASURED EDUCATION: SENSING, CONFIGURING AND INTERVENING WITH ADVANCED MEDIA

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kevin Witzenberger ◽  
Kalervo Gulson ◽  
Sam Sellar ◽  
Ben Williamson ◽  
Elizabeth De Freitas
Keyword(s):  
Machine Learning ◽  
Human Life ◽  
Critical Examination ◽  
Critical Education ◽  
Machine Learning Methods ◽  
Data Practices ◽  
Science Technology ◽  
Trade Shows ◽  
Genetic Form

Education has long been a space of in which knowledge was created through data practices. But the ongoing datafication and digitalisation has made new forms of datafied knowledge production within educational research possible. This new form of datafied knowledge creation has shifted the sites of expertise and the authority to create educational knowledge to a more-than-human network. This panel conceptually and empirically examines the possibilities and implications that arise from the entanglement of education with advanced media such as ubiquitous sensory environments, APIs, machine learning, and codes. The panel shows how the idea of measurable and re-configurable bodies of students is being performed and stabilized through trade shows and academic conferences; it moves towards a critical analysis of different applications of facial recognition in education and the role of doubt in machine learning methods; it shows the complex involvement of advanced learning analytics through a critical examination of interrelated studies in behavioural genetics and genoeconomics looking for associations between genes and educational outcomes through bioinformatic methods; and, it examines learning and living spaces that create a situation of ubiquitous sensation and explores interventions to disrupt the technical milieu. What connects these papers is more than the spaces, ideas and practices that surround education. All contributions look at datafied knowledge about human life – whether in behavioural, physiological, emotional, or genetic form. The panel aims to show what critical education research has adopted from other disciplines, but also show how it can contribute to the wider discourse around science, technology and society.

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