Seminar 9

COGNITIVE APPROACH IN SYNTAX

Topics for Discussion

1. Cognitive understanding of syntax.

2. The basic principles and arguments of cognitive linguistics: how they work in

syntax.

3. Cognitive aspects of the phrase. Types of syntagmatic relations (see: Further

readings on English syntax in this book. On syntagmatic relations from: J.R. Taylor “Cognitive Grammar)

4. Principles of figure-ground segregation and “windowing of attention” on the level of

the simple sentence (R. Langacker).

Topics for Reports

1. The notion of clause in syntax. Clause structure and clause classification in

Cognitive Grammar (see: Further readings on English syntax in this book. On

sentence typology: clause types and clause structure from J.R. Taylor “Cognitive

Grammar”).

2. Когнитивные основы синтаксической репрезентации (Фурс Л.А. Когнитивные

аспекты синтаксиса английского простого предложения. – Тамбов, 2005, С. 57-

73).

Literature

1. Lectures on syntax (this book).

2. Langacker R.W. Foundations of Cognitive Grammar. – Vol.1.Theoretical

Prerequisites. - Stanford, 1987. - X.

3. Langacker R.W. Concept, Image, and Symbol: The Cognitive Basis of

Grammar. - Berlin, 1991. - 394 p.

4. Langacker R.W. Grammar and Conceptualization. Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter,

2000.

5. Talmy L. The windowing of Attention in Language // Grammatical

Constructions: Their Form and Meaning. – Oxford, 1996. – P. 235-287.

6. Taylor J.R. Cognitive Grammar.- Oxford: University press, 2002.

7. Ungerer F., Schmid H.-J. An Introduction to Cognitive Linguistics. – L., N.Y.,

1996.

8. Wierzbicka A. The semantics of Grammar.- Amsterdam: John Benjamins,

1988.

9. ВежбицкаяА.Семантикаграмматики//Реферат. –М., 1992.-32 c.

10. Демьянков В.З. Когнитивизм, когниция, язык и лингвистическая теория

//Язык и структуры представления знаний. - М:Наука, 1992.

11. Кубрякова Е.С. Язык и знание. – М.: Языки славянской культуры,

2004.

12. Фурс Л.А. Когнитивные аспекты синтаксиса английского простого

предложения. –Тамбов, 2005.

Practical tasks

I. Comment on the following sentences as illustrative examples of how

the main principles and arguments of cognitive linguistics work in syntax:

1. He sneezed the napkin off the table.

2. She emerged into a square blazing with lights, with cars hooting their way through thick crowds of wandering sightseers.

3. The tent sleeps six.

4. The room seats fifty.

5. The book sold a million copies.

6. Susan resembles my sister. – My sister resembles Susan.

7. John offered Mary a rose.

8. John offered a rose to Mary.

9. He carpeted the room.

II. Study the following sentences and say which of them are semantically accurate

(consider the basic arguments of cognitive approach in syntax):

1. Joe resembles his grandfather Daniel.

2. Daniel resembles his grandson Joe.

3. I sent a walrus to Antarctica.

4. I sent the zoo a walrus.

5. I sent Antarctica a walrus.

6. Give me a flower.

7. Kill me a spider.

8. He swam the Channel.

9. He swam across the Channel.

III. In cognitive linguistics the semantic diversity of the syntactic patterns (the

subject-verb-complement pattern, in particular) is viewed as a reflection of the

cognitive principle of Figure/Ground Segregation. State the syntactic figure and

syntactic ground in the following sentences and identify the semantic roles they

represent:

1. Susan is peeling the banana.

2. Susan loves bananas.

3. The hammer breaks the glass.

4. Susan has a large library.

5. Susan received a present.

6. The garden is swarming with bees.

IV. Cognitive principles of Figure/Ground Segregation and “Windowing” of

Attention govern the process of putting a particular semantic role in the subject

or complement (object or adverbial) position and thus create an event

perspective. Analyze the given examples ( 1, 2, 3-element constructions which

describe one and the same event) to state the event perspectives they represent.

Identify the hierarchy of semantic roles which govern the choice of subject in

1, 2, 3-element constructions (the hierarchy repeats the event as an action chain

in our mind):

3-element construction: Floyd broke the glass with the hammer.

2-element construction: The hammer broke the glass.

1-element construction: The glass easily broke.

V. Due to the cognitive principle of “Windowing” of Attention the setting

(“time” and “space”) can be given different degree of prominence and

raised to the status of object or subject. Analyze the degree of

prominence given to the setting in the following sentences. What

linguistic means actualize the prominence of the setting?

1. Susan swam in the Channel.

2. Susan swam across the Channel.

3. Susan swam the Channel.

4. The fifth day saw our departure.

VI. The expressions given bellow are the examples of middle constructions (one-

participant clauses where the subject designates a Patient-like entity). On the

basis of these examples, list the syntactic and semantic properties of middle

constructions:

1. The book sold well.

2. The car drives smoothly.

3. The ice-cream scoops out easily.

4. The poem doesn’t translate.

5. The food won’t keep.

6. The dirt brushes off easily.

7. I don’t photograph very well (=I am not very photogenic)

Not all verbs are equally likely to occur in the construction. The following

are scarcely possible. Try to state why:

8. *The book buys well.

9. *This food doesn’t eat. (=This food is inedible)

10. *His name doesn’t remember easily. (=It is difficult to remember his name)

11. *The small print doesn’t see very well.

12. *Your essay doesn’t understand at all.

13. *The bowls put easily into the cupboard.

VII. It is well known that not all transitive constructions have passive equivalents.

The following clauses have passive equivalents:

(i) The farmer shot the rabbit. – The rabbit was shot by the farmer.

Everyone admires you. – You are admired by everyone.

Everyone likes him. – He is liked by everyone.

The following do not have a passive counterpart:

(ii) The book costs 50 pounds.

The accountant lived a happy life.

Joe resembles his grandfather.

The tent sleeps six people.

Identify the properties of the active clauses which render the situations

compatible with a passive equivalent (consider the clauses which designate

cognitive processes separately from the others). Why are the clauses in (ii) are

incompatible with a passive construction?