Basic Issues in Cognitive Linguistics: Course Overview
Wei-lun Lu
Masaryk University

History of CL
•Started in the 70s.
•
•Central figures: Wallace Chafe, Charles Fillmore, George Lakoff, Ronald Langacker, and Leonard
Talmy.
•
•Assumption: Meaning is central to language. Linguistic structures serve the function of expressing
meanings and hence the mappings between meaning and form are a prime subject.
•
•Opposed to: The prevalent idea that meaning was 'interpretive' and peripheral to the study of
language. The central object of interest in language was syntax.

Milestones in the 80s
•Took off in the 80s.
•
•Milestones:
–Metaphors We Live By
–Foundations of Cognitive Grammar, 2 vol.
–Women, Fire and Dangerous Things
–Topics in Cognitive Linguistics, ed. by Brygida Rudzka-Ostyn
•

The Enterprise
•Interprets lg in terms of concepts and bodily experience
•
•George Lakoff
•
•Ronald Langacker
•
•Len Talmy
4
Talk at FJU, Taipei

Visiting Scholars
•Yoshihiko Ikegami
•
•Laura Janda
•
•Zoltan Kovecses
•

Meaning and understanding
•Central concern of Cognitive Linguistics: meaning and ways of understanding.
•
•What do you see?
•
•Meaning of the picture resides in the way we understand it.
•
•Meaning of a situation resides in the way we verbalize it.
6
Talk at FJU, Taipei

Understanding Emotions
•My love is a red, red rose.
•Robert Burns.
•O Ephraim, what am I to do to you? O Judah, what am I to do to you? For your love is like a
morning cloud, and like the dew which goes early away.
•Hosea 6:4.
•Lakoff on LOVE (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Eu-9rpJITY8)

Applications of CL
•Used in studying various sorts of real data:
–Specialized genres (literary/legal/tourism etc.)
–Translation (cross-linguistic)
–Second language acquisition/teaching
•

Assignment 4
•Based on your research statement, write a 1-page assignment on the research methodology (choice of
materials). Justify why such material choice is important. Stress methodological rigor (how your
data is representative of the language/culture at issue).
•
•For example, if you plan to compare languages, what are some possible ways?
•

Housekeeping
•Show syllabus.