Mark Turner Language: Journal of the Linguistic Society of America. Review of Talmy, Leonard. Toward a Cognitive Semantics. Volume 1: Concept Structuring Systems. Volume 2: Typology and Process in Concept Structuring. Cambridge: MIT Press, 2000. In the two volumes of this widely-anticipated work, Leonard Talmy systematically arrays and expands the studies that have won him immense influence as one of the most original theorists of language. Here are refined versions of classic articles such as "The Relation of Grammar to Cognition," "Fictive Motion," "How Language Structures Space," "The Windowing of Attention in Language," "Figure and Ground," "Force Dynamics in Language and Cognition," "The Semantics of Causation," "Lexicalization Patterns," "The Cognitive Culture System," and "A Cognitive Framework for Narrative Structure." "Semantics," Talmy observes, "is intrinsically cognitive." Grammars reveal conceptual structures, expressions prompt for conceptual arrays, and linguistics is a method for discovering the way we think. Talmy takes the view, familiar from various traditions of philology and linguistics, that language conforms to a fundamental design feature: it is divided into two subsystems, the grammatical and the lexical. The lexical subsystem consists of the "open" classes of linguistic forms, including ideophonic, adjectival, verbal, and nominal roots. In contrast, the grammatical subsystem consists of all other forms, that is, "closed" classes, and accordingly includes grammatical categories and subcategories, grammatical relations, word order patterns, and grammatical complexes such as constructions, syntactic structures, and complement structures. Sentences prompt listeners to construct cognitive representations. The lexical subsystem, for the most part, provides cues for their content, while the grammatical subsystem, for the most part, provides cues for their structure. Our capacity for language depends on our ability to integrate disparate conceptual contents and conceptual structures to create unified cognitive representations, and equally on our ability to use a relatively limited inventory of grammatical and lexical forms to prompt for virtually unlimited ranges of cognitive representations. Crucially, there is an elaborate semantics of grammar, that is, a closed-class semantics, informed by a system of constraints having to do with topology, perspective, attention, viewpoint, figure and ground, time and space, location and motion, and force and causation. Talmy analyzes the semantics of grammatical and lexical subsystems and the ways in which they interact. The grammatical subsystem, for example, provides topological rather than Euclidean cues: English deictics this and that, the English preposition across, and the English past tense inflection -ed are all closed-class items that are neutral with respect to magnitude of space or time, allowing us to say with equal felicity, "This ant crawled across my palm" or "This bus drove across the country." These grammatical forms prompt for topological structure, for mental "rubber-sheet geometry" that can be stretched indefinitely without challenging semantic constraints. review
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Відповідь:The review you've provided appears to be a summary and analysis of Leonard Talmy's two-volume work, "Toward a Cognitive Semantics," as it appeared in the journal "Language: Journal of the Linguistic Society of America." The review highlights key aspects of Talmy's work, his approach to linguistics, and his theories on the relationship between language and cognition. Here are some key points from the review:
Overview of Talmy's Work: The review introduces Leonard Talmy's work as a significant contribution to the field of linguistics. It mentions that his studies have garnered substantial influence and position him as an original theorist of language.
Key Articles and Concepts: The review mentions that Talmy's work includes refined versions of classic articles on various linguistic topics, such as grammar's relation to cognition, fictive motion, language's structuring of space, attention in language, figure and ground, force dynamics in language, semantics of causation, lexicalization patterns, cognitive culture system, and narrative structure.
Cognitive Nature of Semantics: Talmy's work emphasizes that semantics is inherently cognitive. He argues that grammars reveal conceptual structures, linguistic expressions prompt conceptual arrays, and linguistics serves as a method for uncovering the way humans think.
Two Subsystems of Language: Talmy's linguistic framework posits that language consists of two subsystems: the grammatical and the lexical. The lexical subsystem comprises open classes of linguistic forms, while the grammatical subsystem encompasses closed classes, including grammatical categories, word order patterns, and syntactic structures.
Interaction Between Grammatical and Lexical Subsystems: The review discusses how these two subsystems interact. The lexical subsystem provides cues for the content of cognitive representations, while the grammatical subsystem provides cues for their structure.
Semantics of Grammar: Talmy delves into the semantics of grammar, particularly closed-class items, highlighting the role of constraints related to various aspects of cognition, such as topology, perspective, attention, figure and ground, time and space, location and motion, and force and causation.
Examples and Analysis: The review provides examples from Talmy's work, illustrating how grammatical forms, such as English deictics, prepositions, and inflections, influence the topological structure of cognitive representations.
Overall, the review presents an overview of Talmy's significant contributions to the study of language and cognition, emphasizing the cognitive nature of semantics and the interaction between the grammatical and lexical subsystems of language.
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