|
Showing 1 - 16 of
16 matches in All Departments
Spatial perception and cognition is fundamental to human abilities
to navigate through space, identify and locate objects, and track
entities in motion. Moreover, research findings in the last couple
of decades reveal that many of the mechanisms humans employ to
achieve this are largely innate, providing abilities to store
'cognitive maps' for locating themselves and others, locations,
directions and routes. In this, humans are like many other species.
However, unlike other species, humans can employ language in order
to represent space. The human linguistic ability combined with the
human ability for spatial representation apparently results in
rich, creative and sometimes surprising extensions of
representations for three-dimensional physical space. The present
volume brings together over 20 articles from leading scholars who
investigate the relationship between spatial cognition and spatial
language. The volume is fully representative of the state of the
art in terms of language and space research, and points to new
directions in terms of findings, theory, and practice.
This second edition of the bestselling textbook provides up-to-date
coverage of all areas of the field. As well as being fully revised
and updated throughout to reflect the most recent developments in
the field (including coverage of the neural theory of language
paradigm and the latest cognitive semantic and constructional
approaches to language and the mind), this second edition also
includes: A brand new section exploring New-Horizons in Cognitive
Linguistics covering advancements in the field including linguistic
relativity, English language teaching and bilingualism, cognitive
sociolinguistics and cognitive humanities. An innovative new
chapter entitled Key Topics in Language Science exploring the
'burning questions' in language science such as the relationship
between human language and non-human communication systems, whether
there are language universal etc. A new chapter dedicated to
Research Methods in Cognitive Linguistics exploring the range of
methodologies, the research areas, data and questions and offering
an evaluation of their relative merits. This will include hands on
check list of the research cycle for students who seek to apply
cognitive linguistics in their own research projects and
dissertations. While all topics are introduced in terms accessible
to both undergraduate and postgraduate students, this work is
sufficiently comprehensive and detailed to serve as a reference
work for scholars from linguistics and neighbouring disciplines who
wish to gain a better understanding of cognitive linguistics. The
book is divided into four parts and is therefore suitable for a
range of different course types, both in terms of length and level,
as well as in terms of focus. In addition to defining the field,
the text also includes appropriate critical evaluation.
Complementary and potentially competing approaches are explored
both within the cognitive approach and beyond it. For example
conceptual metaphor theory is compared and contrasted with
conceptual blending theory in terms of methodology, assumptions,
scope and phenomena.
Cognitive Linguistics is the most rapidly expanding school in
modern Linguistics. It aims to create a scientific approach to the
study of language, incorporating the tools of philosophy,
neuroscience and computer science. Cognitive approaches to language
were initially based on philosophical thinking about the mind, but
more recent work emphasizes the importance of convergent evidence
from a broad empirical and methodological base. "The Cognitive
Linguistics Reader" brings together the key writings of the last
two decades, both the classic foundational pieces and contemporary
work. The essays and articles - selected to represent the full
range, scope and diversity of the Cognitive Linguistics enterprise
- are grouped by theme into sections with each section separately
introduced. The book opens with a broad overview of Cognitive
Linguistics designed for the introductory reader and closes with
detailed further reading to guide the reader through the
proliferating literature. The Reader is both an ideal introduction
to the full breadth and depth of Cognitive Linguistics and a single
work of reference bringing together the most significant work in
the field.
The authoritative general introduction to cognitive linguistics
Vyvyan Evans covers all aspects of the relationship between
language and mind, as well as applications and extensions of
cognitive linguistics to the study of text, literature, discourse,
and society. Bursting with new content and presented in a new
5-part structure, the book has been fully revised and extensively
updated throughout to deliver the complete guide to the cognitive
linguistic enterprise. Brand new additions include: an innovative
new chapter exploring key topics in language science, a new chapter
introducing the range of research methods and approaches for
studying human language, mind and behaviour and new chapters
exploring areas such as access semantics and meaning construction,
conceptual structure, the nature of space, time, gesture and sign
language. Key features include: 30 fully revised chapters in five
coherent parts, including 7 entirely new chapters Discussion
questions and annotated reading list at the end of each chapter
Critical evaluation and reflection on influential cognitive
linguistic theories, and how they compare to formal approaches in
linguistics and cognitive science Over 200 tables and figures to
clearly demonstrate key concepts, data and ideas An online resource
with additional exercises:
edinburghuniversitypress.com/cognitivelinguistics
Cognitive Linguistics is the most rapidly expanding school in
modern Linguistics. It aims to create a scientific approach to the
study of language, incorporating the tools of philosophy,
neuroscience and computer science. Cognitive approaches to language
were initially based on philosophical thinking about the mind, but
more recent work emphasizes the importance of convergent evidence
from a broad empirical and methodological base. "The Cognitive
Linguistics Reader" brings together the key writings of the last
two decades, both the classic foundational pieces and contemporary
work. The essays and articles - selected to represent the full
range, scope and diversity of the Cognitive Linguistics enterprise
- are grouped by theme into sections with each section separately
introduced. The book opens with a broad overview of Cognitive
Linguistics designed for the introductory reader and closes with
detailed further reading to guide the reader through the
proliferating literature. The Reader is both an ideal introduction
to the full breadth and depth of Cognitive Linguistics and a single
work of reference bringing together the most significant work in
the field.
Spatial perception and cognition is fundamental to human abilities
to navigate through space, identify and locate objects, and track
entities in motion. Moreover, research findings in the last couple
of decades reveal that many of the mechanisms humans employ to
achieve this are largely innate, providing abilities to store
cognitive maps for locating themselves and others, locations,
directions and routes. In this, humans are like many other species.
However, unlike other species, humans can employ language in order
to represent space. The human linguistic ability combined with the
human ability for spatial representation apparently results in
rich, creative and sometimes surprising extensions of
representations for three-dimensional physical space. The present
volume brings together over 20 articles from leading scholars who
investigate the relationship between spatial cognition and spatial
language. The volume is fully representative of the state of the
art in terms of language and space research, and points to new
directions in terms of findings, theory, and practice.
Language is central to our lives, the cultural tool that arguably
sets us apart from other species. Some scientists have argued that
language is innate, a type of unique human 'instinct'
pre-programmed in us from birth. In this book, Vyvyan Evans argues
that this received wisdom is, in fact, a myth. Debunking the notion
of a language 'instinct', Evans demonstrates that language is
related to other animal forms of communication; that languages
exhibit staggering diversity; that we learn our mother tongue
drawing on general properties and abilities of the human mind,
rather than an inborn 'universal' grammar; that language is not
autonomous but is closely related to other aspects of our mental
lives; and that, ultimately, language and the mind reflect and draw
upon the way we interact with others in the world. Compellingly
written and drawing on cutting-edge research, The Language Myth
sets out a forceful alternative to the received wisdom, showing how
language and the mind really work.
Cognitive linguistics is one of the most rapidly expanding schools
in linguistics with, by now, an impressive and complex technical
vocabulary. This alphabetic guide gives an up-to-date introduction
to the key terms in cognitive linguistics, covering all the major
theories, approaches, ideas and many of the relevant theoretical
constructs. The Glossary also features a brief introduction to
cognitive linguistics, a detailed annotated reading list and a
listing of some of the key researchers in cognitive linguistics.
The Glossary can be used as a companion volume to Cognitive
Linguistics, by Vyvyan Evans and Melanie Green, or as a stand-alone
introduction to cognitive linguistics and its two hitherto best
developed sub-branches: cognitive semantics, and cognitive
approaches to grammar. Key features: * A handy and easily
understandable pocket guide for anyone embarking on courses in
cognitive linguistics, and language and mind. * Supplies numerous
cross-references to related terms. * Includes coverage of newer
areas such as Radical Construction Grammar, Embodied Construction
Grammar, Primary MetaphorTheory and Principled Polysemy.
Language is central to our lives, the cultural tool that arguably
sets us apart from other species. Some scientists have argued that
language is innate, a type of unique human 'instinct'
pre-programmed in us from birth. In this book, Vyvyan Evans argues
that this received wisdom is, in fact, a myth. Debunking the notion
of a language 'instinct', Evans demonstrates that language is
related to other animal forms of communication; that languages
exhibit staggering diversity; that we learn our mother tongue
drawing on general properties and abilities of the human mind,
rather than an inborn 'universal' grammar; that language is not
autonomous but is closely related to other aspects of our mental
lives; and that, ultimately, language and the mind reflect and draw
upon the way we interact with others in the world. Compellingly
written and drawing on cutting-edge research, The Language Myth
sets out a forceful alternative to the received wisdom, showing how
language and the mind really work.
Using language and thought to fix events in time is one of the most
complex computational feats that humans perform. In the first
book-length taxonomy of temporal frames of reference, Vyvyan Evans
provides an overview of the role of space in structuring human
representations of time. Challenging the assumption that time is
straightforwardly structured in terms of space, he shows that while
space is important for temporal representation, time is
nevertheless separate and distinguishable from it. Evans argues for
three distinct temporal frames of reference in language and
cognition and evaluates the nature of temporal reference from a
cross-linguistic perspective. His central thesis is that the
hallmark of temporal reference is transience, a property unique to
the domain of time. This important study has implications not only
for the relationship between space and time, but also for that
between language and figurative thought, and the nature of
linguistically-mediated meaning construction.
How Words Mean introduces a new approach to the role of words and
other linguistic units in the construction of meaning. It does so
by addressing the interaction between non-linguistic concepts and
the meanings encoded in language. It develops an account of how
words are understood when we produce and hear language in situated
contexts of use. It proposes two theoretical constructs, the
lexical concept and the cognitive model. These are central to the
accounts of lexical representation and meaning construction
developed, giving rise to the Theory of Lexical Concepts and
Cognitive Models (or LCCM Theory).
Vyvyan Evans integrates and advances recent developments in
cognitive science, particularly in cognitive linguistics and
cognitive psychology. He builds a framework for the understanding
and analysis of meaning that is at once descriptively adequate and
psychologically plausible. In so doing he also addresses current
issues in lexical semantics and semantic compositionality,
polysemy, figurative language, and the semantics of time and space,
and writes in a way that will be accessible to students of
linguistics and cognitive science at advanced undergraduate level
and above.
Using a cognitive linguistics perspective, this book provides a
comprehensive, theoretical analysis of the semantics of English
prepositions. All English prepositions originally coded spatial
relations between two physical entities; while retaining their
original meaning, prepositions have also developed a rich set of
non-spatial meanings. In this study, Tyler and Evans argue that all
these meanings are systematically grounded in the nature of human
spatio-physical experience. The original 'spatial scenes' provide
the foundation for the extension of meaning from the spatial to the
more abstract. This analysis articulates an alternative methodology
that distinguishes between a conventional meaning and an
interpretation produced for understanding the preposition in
context, as well as establishing which of several competing senses
should be taken as the primary sense. Together, the methodology and
framework are sufficiently articulated to generate testable
predictions and allow the analysis to be applied to additional
prepositions.
Using a cognitive linguistics perspective, this work provides the most comprehensive, theoretical analysis of the semantics of English prepositions available. All English prepositions are originally coded as spatial relations between two physical entities. While retaining their original meaning, prepositions have also developed a rich set of non-spatial meanings. Andrea Tyler and Vyvyan Evans argue that all the meanings are systematically related through a set of cognitive principles, emphasizing the importance of human experience with the world as the foundation for lexical meaning.
From the barbed, childish taunt on the school playground, to the
eloquent sophistry of a lawyer prising open a legal loophole in a
court of law, meaning arises each time we use language to
communicate with one another. How we use language - to convey
ideas, make requests, ask a favour, and express anger, love or
dismay - is of the utmost importance; indeed, linguistic meaning
can be a matter of life and death. In The Crucible of Language,
Vyvyan Evans explains what we know, and what we do, when we
communicate using language; he shows how linguistic meaning arises,
where it comes from, and the way language enables us to convey the
meanings that can move us to tears, bore us to death, or make us
dizzy with delight. Meaning is, he argues, one of the final
frontiers in the mapping of the human mind.
|
|