Semantics - A Cognitive Account of Linguistic Meaning - Zeki Hamawand
4. Guiding assumptions
Semantics - A Cognitive Account of Linguistic Meaning - Zeki Hamawand
Zeki Hamawand [+]
University of Kirkuk and University of Sulaimani
Description
Chapter 4 presents the general approach to language study, known as Cognitive Linguistics, and the specific approach to linguistic meaning, known as Cognitive Semantics. The chapter begins by outlining the guiding assumptions that characterize the two approaches to language description. The aim is to show how adept the assumptions are in analysing linguistic data and capturing semantic phenomena. The chapter is organized as follows. Section 4.1 introduces the assumptions of Cognitive Linguistics that characterize language as being non-modular, symbolic, usage based, meaningful and creative. Section 4.2 presents the assumptions of Cognitive Semantics that characterize linguistic meaning as being embodied, motivated, dynamic, encyclopaedic and conceptualized. In all the sections, I pursue three steps. First, I present the assumption. Second, I elaborate on its essence. Third, I devise an exercise to validate its application. Section 4.3 summarizes the main points of the chapter.