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Lecture 5

The document discusses key concepts in cognitive linguistics, including polysemy, tests for ambiguity, and the continuum view of categories. It addresses that polysemy reflects our ability to categorize the world. Tests for ambiguity include syntactic, semantic and lexical ambiguity, but have limitations. The continuum view posits categories on a spectrum rather than discrete units, and radial categories have central and less central members.

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Zhuldyz Abilgaisanova
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110 views

Lecture 5

The document discusses key concepts in cognitive linguistics, including polysemy, tests for ambiguity, and the continuum view of categories. It addresses that polysemy reflects our ability to categorize the world. Tests for ambiguity include syntactic, semantic and lexical ambiguity, but have limitations. The continuum view posits categories on a spectrum rather than discrete units, and radial categories have central and less central members.

Uploaded by

Zhuldyz Abilgaisanova
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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1. Polysemy in cognitive linguistics.

2. Different tests for ambiguity. Problems with tests


3. Continuum view and its advantages.
4. Radial category.
• Polysemy is the phenomenon where a single linguistic expression, be it a word or a
phrase, possesses multiple related meanings.
• Cognitive linguists perceive polysemy as a window into the human mind's
intricacies. It reflects our innate ability to categorize and understand the world
around us.
• Understanding and dissecting polysemy often requires the application of various
tests. These tests are designed to identify and analyze multiple meanings associated
with a particular word or phrase. Some of the primary tests include:
- Syntactic ambiguity: This arises when the structure of a sentence alone leads to
multiple interpretations, as seen in the sentence, "Visiting relatives can be boring."
- Semantic ambiguity: In cases like "He saw her duck," a single word takes on
different meanings depending on the context. "Duck" could refer to the bird or an
action.
- Lexical ambiguity: Here, a word itself has distinct meanings in different contexts.
Consider the phrase "She's a real peach," where "peach" can refer to someone's
sweet nature or an actual fruit.
• While these tests are valuable tools, • The continuum view offers several
they come with inherent challenges: advantages:
- Context dependency - Accommodating polysemy.
- Subtle nuances - Capturing nuances.
- Purposeful ambiguity - Accurate representation.
• Continuum view, which challenges - Radial categories are a central
the traditional view of fixed and concept in cognitive linguistics,
discrete categories. This perspective reflecting the prototype theory. They
acknowledges the gradient nature of describe how categories can have a
linguistic categories and posits that central prototype, which possesses
they exist on a spectrum. the most prototypical features of a
category, and related, less central
members that share fewer
prototypical features.
Recourses
1. Evans V., Green M. (2006). Cognitive Linguistics. An Introduction. EDINBURGH UNIVERSITY PRESS.
Polysemy in Cognitive Linguistics:
1. Langacker, R. W. (2008). Cognitive Grammar: A Basic Introduction. Oxford University Press.
2. Geeraerts, D. (2006). Cognitive Linguistics: Basic Readings. Walter de Gruyter.
3. Tyler, A., & Evans, V. (2001). Reconsidering prepositional polysemy networks: The case of over.
Language, 77(4), 724-765.
Different Tests for Ambiguity:
1. Cruse, D. A. (2004). Meaning in Language: An Introduction to Semantics and Pragmatics. Oxford
University Press.
2. Jurafsky, D., & Martin, J. H. (2008). Speech and Language Processing: An Introduction to Natural
Language Processing, Computational Linguistics, and Speech Recognition. Prentice Hall.
3. Levinson, S. C. (2000). Presumptive Meanings: The Theory of Generalized Conversational Implicature.
MIT Press.
• Problems with Tests:
• Murphy, G. L. (2002). The Big Book of Concepts. MIT Press.
• Croft, W., & Cruse, D. A. (2004). Cognitive Linguistics. Cambridge University Press.
• Jackendoff, R. (2002). Foundations of Language: Brain, Meaning, Grammar, Evolution. Oxford
University Press.
• Continuum View and Its Advantages:
• Taylor, J. R. (2002). Cognitive Grammar. Oxford University Press.
• Langacker, R. W. (1987). Foundations of Cognitive Grammar: Theoretical Prerequisites. Stanford
University Press.
• Radial Category:
• Lakoff, G. (1987). Women, Fire, and Dangerous Things: What Categories Reveal about the Mind.
University of Chicago Press.
• Rosch, E. (1978). Principles of categorization. In Cognition and Categorization (pp. 27-48).
Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.

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