Cognitive linguistics challenges many of the basic concepts of traditional linguistics. Instead of trying to explain meaning in terms of internal relations, it forms categories of meaning by looking at similarities. According to the cognitive approach, prototypes identify central features and serve as reference and access points for words, while metaphors and frames are the basic tools by which we organize knowledge. This lecture offers a general introduction to the discipline of cognitive linguistics, with an overview of theory, methods, representatives and research. Extensive examples will serve to illustrate the central ideas, as well as innovative ways of using the cognitive approach, for example in historical linguistics and applied fields such as language teaching. In various practical exercises we’ll also put cognitive theory to the test, answering questions such as:
How do words structure our thinking?
Why are metaphors so popular in everyday language?
How does “connotation” work?
What do we think of when we hear “breakfast”?
What is the “best” green, and does color perception change with cultural background?
What images were used to describe the financial crisis?
Where is the border between “concrete” and “figurative” meaning? |
