scholarly journals La concettualizzazione del verbo ‘mettere’ in italiano

2021 ◽  
Vol 33 ◽  
pp. 1-17
Author(s):  
Aleksandra Paliczuk

The conceptualization of space is manifested in language through diverse linguistic structures. Space, one of the most significant analytical categories not only in linguistics, introduces a variety of senses and conceptual relations in the construction of communicative meaning. While there are several approaches to linguistic studies, the most obvious choice for this type of analysis seems to be Cognitive Linguistics, with some of its theoretical currents and the Cognitive Grammar of Ronald W. Langacker (1987, 1991a, 1991b, 1995, 2008) in particular. In his works, Langacker often refers to spatial and visual relationships that provide useful illustrations to depict different conceptual structures and relationships. Indeed, the relations between visual perception and conceptualization concerns numerous aspects of the semantics of natural language (E. Tabakowska, 1999: 59). The paper aims to analyse the concept of the Italian verb ‘mettere’ (‘to put’), apparently simple and yet, as it will be shown, rich and varied in meaning.

2016 ◽  
Vol 8 (2) ◽  
pp. 141-165 ◽  
Author(s):  
Karen Sullivan

Conceptual Metaphor Theory (CMT) aims to represent the conceptual structure of metaphors rather than the structure of metaphoric language. The theory does not explain which aspects of metaphoric language evoke which conceptual structures, for example. However, other theories within cognitive linguistics may be better suited to this task. These theories, once integrated, should make building a unified model of both the conceptual and linguistic aspects of metaphor possible. First, constructional approaches to syntax provide an explanation of how particular constructional slots are associated with different functions in evoking metaphor. Cognitive Grammar is especially effective in this regard. Second, Frame Semantics helps explain how the words or phrases that fill the relevant constructional slots evoke the source and target domains of metaphor. Though these theories do not yet integrate seamlessly, their combination already offers explanatory benefits, such as allowing generalizations across metaphoric and non-metaphoric language, and identifying the words that play a role in evoking metaphors, for example.


2017 ◽  
Vol 28 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-43 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tuomas Huumo

AbstractRecent groundbreaking work in cognitive linguistics has revealed the semantic complexity of motion metaphors of time and of temporal frames of reference. In most approaches the focus has been on the clause-level metaphorical meaning of expressions, such as Moving Ego (We are approaching the end of the year) and Moving Time (both Ego-centered, as in The end of the year is approaching and field-based, as in Boxing Day follows Christmas Day). The detailed grammatical structure of these metaphorical expressions, on the other hand, has received less attention. Such details include both elements that contribute to the metaphorical meaning and those that have a non-metaphorical temporal function, e. g., tense and (central features of) aspect. I propose a model for the analysis of metaphorical expressions, building on earlier work in Conceptual Metaphor Theory and the framework of Cognitive Grammar (CG). I approach the grammatical structure of metaphorical expressions by analyzing the interplay between veridical and metaphorical systems of expressing temporal relations. I argue that these systems relate to two relevant conceptualizations of time. Veridical time (VT) is the non-metaphorical conceptualization of time, where the processual profile of the clause-level metaphorical expression resides. A metaphorical path (MP) is the metaphorical conceptualization of time as a path occupied by the metaphorical motion. A motion metaphor of time tracks the mover’s changing position on the MP against VT. I show how metaphorical expressions based on a motion verb differ from those based on a prepositional construction in grammatical and semantic terms, and how tense and aspect contribute to the conceptualization of the motion scenario. I argue that tense grounds the metaphorical motion event with respect to the speech event. All the participants in the motion event, as well as the metaphorical path itself, are present in each subsequent configuration tracked against VT by the conceptualizer. Thus tense has a wide scope over the motion scenario with Ego’s ‘now’ as a reference point, while Ego’s ‘now’ cannot serve for grounding of tense. This is why expressions such as *The meeting is difficult ahead of us are not acceptable.


Author(s):  
Ekaterina Savitskaya ◽  

In the field of cognitive linguistics it is accepted that, before developing its capacity for abstract and theoretical thought, the human mind went through the stage of reflecting reality through concrete images and thus has inherited old cognitive patterns. Even abstract notions of the modern civilization are based on traditional concrete images, and it is all fixed in natural language units. By way of illustration, the author analyzes the cognitive pattern “сleanness / dirtiness” as a constituent part of the English linguoculture, looking at the whole range of its verbal realization and demonstrating its influence on language-based thinking and modeling of reality. Comparing meanings of language units with their inner forms enabled the author to establish the connection between abstract notions and concrete images within cognitive patterns. Using the method of internal comparison and applying the results of etymological reconstruction of language units’ inner form made it possible to see how the world is viewed by representatives of the English linguoculture. Apparently, in the English linguoculture images of cleanness / dirtiness symbolize mainly two thematic areas: that of morality and that of renewal. Since every ethnic group has its own axiological dominants (key values) that determine the expressiveness of verbal invectives, one can draw the conclusion that people perceive and comprehend world fragments through the prism of mental stereo-types fixed in the inner form of language units. Sometimes, in relation to specific language units, a conflict arises between the inner form which retains traditional thinking and a meaning that reflects modern reality. Still, linguoculture is a constantly evolving entity, and its de-velopment entails breaking established stereotypes and creating new ones. Linguistically, the victory of the new over the old is manifested in the “dying out” of the verbal support for pre-vious cognitive patterns, which leads to “reprogramming” (“recoding”) of linguoculture rep-resentatives’ mentality.


2018 ◽  
Vol 5 (2) ◽  
pp. 42-61
Author(s):  
Ньюман Джон

Daphne du Maurier’s 1938 novel Rebecca provides rich opportunities for the study of imaginary narrative spaces and the language associated with such spaces. The present study explores the linguistics of the imaginary narrative spaces in Rebecca, drawing upon three lines of linguistic research consistent with a Cognitive Linguistic approach: (i) an interest in understanding and appreciating ordinary readers’ actual responses (rather than merely relying upon “expert” readers’ responses), (ii) the construction of worlds or “spaces”, and (iii) the application of ideas from Cognitive Grammar. The study reveals a surprisingly intricate interplay of linguistic devices used in the construction of imaginary narrative spaces and the maintenance of such spaces in extended discourse. References Armitt, L. (2000). Contemporary women’s fiction and the fantastic. New York: St. Martin’s Press. Beauman, S. (2003). Afterword. In Daphne du Maurier’s Rebecca (pp. 429-441). London: Virago Press. Biber, D., Johansson, S., Leech, G., Conrad, S., & Finnegan, E. (Eds.) (1999). Longman grammar of spoken and written English. Harlow, UK: Pearson Education Limited. Birch, D. (2007). Addict of fantasy. The Times Literary Supplement, 5447-5448, 17-18. Dancygier, B. (2012). The language of stories: A cognitive approach. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Dancygier, B. (2017a). Introduction. In B. Dancygier (Ed.), The Cambridge handbook of cognitive linguistics (pp. 1-10). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Dancygier, B. (2017b). Cognitive Linguistics and the study of textual meaning. In B. Dancygier (Ed.) The Cambridge handbook of cognitive linguistics (pp. 607-622). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Du Maurier, D. (2012). Rebecca. London: Virago Press. Emmott, C. (1997). Narrative comprehension: A discourse perspective. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Evans, V., & Green, M. (2006). Cognitive linguistics: An introduction. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press. Fauconnier, G. (1985). Mental spaces: Aspects of meaning construction in natural language. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Forster, M. (1993). Daphne Du Maurier. London: Chatto & Windus. Gavins, J. (2007). Text world theory: An introduction. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press. Hadiyanto, H. (2010). The Freudian psychological phenomena and complexity in Daphne Du Maurier’s “Rebecca” (A psychological study of literature). LITE: Jurnal Bahasa, Sastra, Dan Budaya 6(1), 14-25. Available at: https://publikasi.dinus.ac.id/index.php/lite/article/ view/1348/1014. Harrison, C., Nuttall, L., Stockwell, P., & Yuan, W. (Eds.) (2014). Cognitive grammar in literature. Amsterdam & New York: John Benjamins. Harrison, C., & Stockwell, P. (2014). Cognitive poetics. In J. Littlemore and J. R. Taylor (Eds.), The Bloomsbury companion to cognitive linguistics (pp. 218-233). London: Bloomsbury. Horner, A., & Zlosnik, S. (1998). Writing, identity, and the Gothic imagination. London: Macmillian. Huddleston, R. (2002). The verb. In R. Huddleston & G. K. Pullum (Eds.), The Cambridge grammar of the English language (pp. 71-212). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Kelly, R. (1987). Daphne du Maurier. Boston: Twayne Publishers. Lakoff, G., & Turner, M. (1989). More than cool reason: A field guide to poetic metaphor. Chicago & London: The University of Chicago Press. Langacker, R. W. (1991). Foundations of cognitive grammar. Vol. II: Descriptive application. Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press. Leech, G. N. (1969). A linguistic guide to English poetry. London: Longman Group Limited. Margawati, P. (2010). A Freudian psychological issue of women characters in Daphne Du Maurier’s novel Rebecca. LANGUAGE CIRCLE: Journal of Language and Literature IV(2), 121-126. Available at: https://journal.unnes.ac.id/nju/index.php/LC/article/viewFile/900/839 Naszkowska, K. (2012). Living mirror: The representation of doubling identities in the British and Polish women’s literature (1846–1938). Doctoral dissertation, The University of Edinburgh. Palmer, F. R. (1974). The English verb. London: Longman Group Limited. Stockwell, P. (2002). Cognitive poetics: An introduction. London & New York: Routledge. Turner, M. (1996). The literary mind. New York & Oxford: Oxford University Press. Turner, M. (2015). Blending in language and communication. In E. Dąbrowska & D. Divjak (Eds.), Handbook of cognitive linguistics (pp. 211-232). Berlin & Boston: de Gruyter Mouton. Werth, P. (1999). Text worlds: Representing conceptual space in discourse (M. Short, Ed.). Harlow, UK: Longman. Wilde, O. (1996). The picture of Dorian Gray. In The complete Oscar Wilde: The complete stories, plays and poems of Oscar Wilde (pp. 11-161). New York: Quality Paperback Book Club. Winifrith, T. J. (1979). Daphne du Maurier. In J. Vinson (Ed.), Novelists and prose writers (Great writers of the English language) (pp. 354-357). New York: St. Martin’s Press.


2000 ◽  
Vol 9 (2) ◽  
pp. 170-181 ◽  
Author(s):  
Elzbieta Wójcik-Leese

In the first Polish attempt to systematically describe free verse Urbafska (1995) argues that this poetic form requires ‘visual perception during mental (silent) reading’. As free verse gradually adapts to late 20th-century culture, where the visual supersedes the oral, the intonation and rhythm of a poem increasingly come to depend on its graphic segmentation. Consequently, the visual design of the poem constitutes its meaning. As cognitive linguistics admits that sensory imagery, also visual, ‘plays a substantial role in conceptual and semantic structure’ (Langacker, 1983), it seems possible to employ the cognitive parameters of focal adjustments to analyse a poem composed in free verse. If we assume that reading such a poem involves ‘scanning through a domain’ of the page and ‘along a line’ of the poem ‘until a contrast is registered’ (Langacker, 1983), then we can discuss the whole poem in terms of the figure/ground organization. The whole poem can thus be treated both as the figure in itself and as the background to each of the verses, which demands from its readers constant readjustment of the viewpoint. Therefore the awareness of the cognitive strategies of focal adjustments may help to analyse syntactic and stylistic resources of the salient ordering offered by free verse. Moreover, it may assist the translation of poems composed in free verse and the assessment of translated texts.


Author(s):  
Marga Reimer ◽  
Elisabeth Camp

Metaphor has traditionally been construed as a linguistic phenomenon: as something produced and understood by speakers of natural language. So understood, metaphors are naturally viewed as linguistic expressions of a particular type, or as linguistic expressions used in a particular type of way. This linguistic conception of metaphor is adopted in this article. In doing so, the article does not intend to rule out the possibility of non-linguistic forms of metaphor. Many theorists think that non-linguistic objects (such as paintings or dance performances) or conceptual structures (like love as a journey or argument as war) should also be treated as metaphors. Indeed, the idea that metaphors are in the first instance conceptual phenomena, and linguistic devices only derivatively, is the dominant view in what is now the dominant area of metaphor research: cognitive science. In construing metaphor as linguistic, the article merely intends to impose appropriate constraints on a discussion whose focus is the understanding and analysis of metaphor within contemporary philosophy of language.


Author(s):  
S.G. Vinogradova ◽  

The article opens with a brief overview of approaches to the study of secondary phenomena in the linguistic worldview. In particular, the author indicates the main reasons for secondary meaning formation including linguistic economy based on minimum of efforts aspiration and the associative and creative nature of human thinking. The author argues that in the framework of cognitive linguistics secondary meanings result from interpretation and the accompanying conceptual derivation and metarepresentation as processes of cognition. Such processes reflect a new understanding of the previously acquired knowledge, generating secondary conceptual structures, and choosing best ways of their anchoring in language considering cognitive dominants of linguistic consciousness as certain templates for construing reality through language. In the context of the above processes, the author examines secondary phenomena of the linguistic worldview analysing the examples of lexical and grammatical units of the English language. The discussion is focused on the outcomes of word formation in lexis, secondary interjections, secondary predicative structures, composite sentences.


1999 ◽  
Vol 22 (4) ◽  
pp. 625-625 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ronald W. Langacker

Barsalou's contribution converges with basic ideas and empirical findings of cognitive linguistics. They posit the same general architecture. The perceptual grounding of conceptual structure is a central tenet of cognitive linguistics. Our capacity to construe the same situation in alternate ways is fundamental to cognitive semantics, and numerous parallels are discernible between conceptual construal and visual perception. Grammar is meaningful, consisting of schematized patterns for the pairing of semantic and phonological structures. The meanings of grammatical elements reside primarily in the construal they impose on conceptual content. This view of linguistic structure appears to be compatible with Barsalou's proposals.


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