Cognitive Linguistics Croft&Cruse

1. Cognitive Linguistics Croft&Cruse 2: Frames, domains, spaces: the organization of conceptual structure

2. 2.1 Arguments for frame semantics • Cognitive linguistics is a departure from both: • Structural semantics (with semantic features) -- meanings of boy, girl, spinster is more than a feature analysis of MALE/FEMALE, ADULT/YOUNG and UNMARRIED • Truth-conditional semantics, since no unitary definition captures distinctions between live and alive

3. 2.1 Arguments for frame semantics, cont’d • Meaning is embedded in human experience, so the meaning of restaurant is related to CUSTOMER, WAITER, ORDERING, EATING, BILL • The experiential structure can be known as: frame, schema, script, global pattern, pseudo-text, [idealized] cognitive model, experiential gestalt, base, scene

4. 2.1 Arguments for frame semantics, cont’d • Cognitive linguistics/frame semantics defines words in relation to their frame. • Deictic expressions require a frame to be interpreted, since they refer to the speech act: tense, person, spatial deixis (this, here), and definite/indefinite • Many concepts require a context: vegetarian requires a meat-eating culture as context.

5. 2.1 Arguments for frame semantics, cont’d • A word allows the speaker and hearer to focus their attention on only part of an entire frame • Cf RISK – any given use refers to only part of the RISK frame • Cf My dad wasted most of the morning on the bus, which makes reference to relationships, working day, time as a commodity, and the fact that the bus was in service

6. 2.1 Arguments for frame semantics, cont’d • Croft&Cruse list a number of other types of utterances that are difficult to analyze according to truth-conditions: change in word meanings, text coherence, negation, real-world knowledge, etc.

7. 2.2 Concepts: profile-frame organization • We need to identify frames based on the words and constructions of a human language • RADIUS is a profile against the base (=domain=frame) of CIRCLE • The meaning of a linguistic unit must specify both the profile and its base • A domain is a semantic structure that functions as the base for at least one concept profile • No concept exists autonomously

8. 2.3 Some consequences of the profile-frame/domain distinction • Three allied theories: • Artificial intelligence: a script is a frame/domain for a sequence of events • Cognitive psychology: “theory theory” states that categorization is based not on perceptual features but on theories of biological kinds and artifacts • Sociology: there can be differences in how communities use concepts

9. 2.3 Some consequences of the profile-frame/domain distinction • Q: Why is the profile-frame/domain distinction important?

10. 2.3 Some consequences of the profile-frame/domain distinction • Q: Why is the profile-frame/domain distinction important? • A: Because “some distinctions in word meaning apply not to the profiled concept -- what is usually thought of as ‘the definition’ of a word -- but to its frame/domain.” • E.g. ROE vs. CAVIAR vs.

11. 2.3 Some consequences of the profile-frame/domain distinction • Examples: • LAND is profiled against SEA, but GROUND is profiled against AIR • ROE is profiled against fish reproduction, but CAVIAR is profiled against food • STINGY is profiled against GENEROSITY, but THRIFTY is profiled against WASTEFULNESS • FETUS is profiled against MAMMAL, UNBORN BABY is profiled against HUMAN BABY VS.

12. 2.3 Some consequences of the profile-frame/domain distinction • Polysemy can be understood as a multiplicity of frames/domains for a single item • Example: MOUTH can be profiled against BODY, BOTTLE, CAVE, RIVER • The range of frames/domains available for a given item may be language-specific -- this is a way in which languages differ, and can make items “untranslatable” by including cultural references • Example: Czech mlsat

13. 2.4 Extensions of the basic profile-frame/domain distinction 2.4.1 Locational and configurational profiles -- a locational profile accounts for deixis, such as the meaning of HERE; RECTANGLE is an example of a configurational profile 2.4.2 Scope of predication -- NIECE presupposes kinship relations, but you need only part of the system

14. 2.4 Extensions of the basic profile-frame/domain distinction • 2.4.3 Relationships between domains -- there can be chains of profile-frame/domain distinctions: RADIUS is profiled against CIRCLE which is profiled against SPACE • Basic domains -- grounded in embodied human experience vs. abstract domains • A concept may be profiled in many domains simultaneously -- the domain matrix of HUMAN BEING, or of the letter T

15. 2.5 Domains and idealized cognitive models • The frame/domain of a word may represent an idealized version of the world that does not include all possible real-world situations (e.g. BACHELOR) • Encyclopedic knowledge is used to properly understand a concept, and this knowledge is all interconnected in our minds

16. 2.6 Mental spaces • The notion of mental space replaces the notion of possible worlds. • A mental space is a cognitive structure that can represent beliefs and hypothetical situations • Base space is usually present reality • Space builders are linguistic expressions that build links between base space and other mental spaces

17. 2.6 Mental spaces • Mental spaces include roles and values • A role is a linguistics description describing a category • A value is an individual that can be described by that category • Roles and values can have counterparts across different mental spaces • A blended space is a special mental space that combines two input spaces