Conceptual structure

As we have seen, an important line of investigation within cognitive semantics focuses on how language encodes (and reflects) conceptual structure. This line of investigation concerns the conceptual structuring mechanisms apparent in linguistic structure. One way of uncovering conceptual structure in language is by investigating the distinct functions associated with open-class and closed class semantic systems. Talmy (2000) argues that these two systems encode our Cognitive Representation (CR) in language. The closed-class semantic system (the system of meaning associated with grammatical constructions, bound morphemes and grammatical words like and and the) provides scene structuring representation. The open-class semantic system (the system of meaning associated with content words and morphemes) provides the substantive content relating to a particular scene. In Chapter 1, we illustrated the distinction between the open-class and closed-class subsystems with the following example:

The elements marked in bold, as well as the declarative word order (as opposed to the interrogative Did the hunter track the tigers? for example) form part of the system of closed-class semantics. They provide the ‘concept structuring’ elements of the meaning described in this scene, and provide information about when the event occurred, how many participants were involved, whether the participants are familiar to the speaker and hearer in the current discourse, whether the speaker asserts the information (rather than, say, asking a question about it) and so on. We can think of these closed-class elements as providing a kind of frame or scaffolding, which forms the foundations of the meaning in this sentence. The open-class semantic system relates to words like hunter, track and tiger, which impose rich contentful meaning upon this frame: who the participants are and the nature of event described in the scene. We look at these ideas in more detail in Chapter 6.

اخر الاخبار

اخبار العتبة العباسية المقدسة

خدمات صحية متكاملة قدَّمها قسم الشؤون الطبية لزائري ليلة النصف من شعبان في مجمَّع الشيخ الكليني

خدمات صحية متكاملة قدَّمها قسم الشؤون الطبية لزائري ليلة النصف من شعبان في مجمَّع الشيخ الكليني

في ذكرى ولادة الإمام المهدي (عجّل الله فرجه).. قسم الشؤون الفكرية يصدر عددًا خاصًّا من مجلة العقيدة

للاطّلاع على خدماته المقدمة للزائرين مركز السيد جعفر الحلي يستقبل المدير العام لمديرية العمليات والخدمات الطبية في وزارة الصحة

المزيد

الآخبار الصحية

دراسة تكشف "سر الوسادة".. ودورها في حماية البصر

بالأشعة تحت الحمراء.. "ثورة علمية" في علاج اللاعبين

مشروب أحمر يخفض ضغط الدم "بشكل ملحوظ"

الصحة العالمية تكشف حقيقة انتشار فيروس نيباه خارج الهند

المزيد

الآخبار التكنلوجية

دراسة تدفعك لشراء ساعة ذكية "فورا".. هذا ما تقوله عن قلبك

علماء حاصلون على "نوبل": الذكاء الاصطناعي لن يستبدل الإنسان

وانغ هو: القمة العالمية للعلماء تجسد تقدير الإمارات للعلم

رئيس رابطة كبار العلماء يعلن تأسيس مقر في الإمارات

المزيد

مواضيع ذات صلة

Cognitive Grammar

The Conceptual Structuring System Model

Distinct cognitive approaches to grammar

The architecture of the model

The usage-based thesis

The symbolic thesis

Guiding assumptions

What is a cognitive approach to grammar?

Cognitive approaches to grammar

Cognitive semantics in context Summery

Comparison with cognitive semantics

Metaphor