Cognitive grammar focuses on the meaning behind language, recognizing that it is a symbolic representation of human thoughts and perceptions. Cognitive linguists apply theories of cognition to grammar, viewing language as an extension of human mental capacities. Cognitive grammar practitioners are interested in how words and sentences can be altered and moved to create a certain effect or express a certain idea. Specific subfields include generative grammar, which deals with syntax, and construction grammar, which considers how words relate to specific sounds and meanings.
The guiding word in cognitive grammar is meaning. Grammar itself refers to the basic ways of implementing a written and spoken language. While some theories focus on the purely structural aspects of language, cognitive grammar – developed by Ronald Langacker and others – recognizes that the patterns and sounds of language are a symbolic representation of human thoughts and perceptions about the surrounding world. Perception, memory and attention are therefore crucial aspects of the development of grammar. Forms of cognitive grammar include construction grammar and generative grammar.
Cognitive linguists apply theories of cognition to grammar. Cognition focuses on human thought patterns and how humans form and maintain ideas. Language is simply a natural extension and expression of human mental capacities and not a specialized practice in and of itself.
Therefore, letters, words and sounds are linguistic symbols representing thought processes. A cognitive schema, for example, is a mental plan that a human being develops to deal with recurring specific situations. For example, a human being could come up with a step-by-step plan on how to react when he meets a stranger and execute this plan unconsciously. In linguistic terms, languages might create a certain standard, or pattern, for putting action words into different tenses.
Cognitive grammar practitioners are also interested in how words and sentences can be altered and moved to create a certain effect or express a certain idea. Rhetoric, or the use of language for persuasive purposes, may be a particular topic of interest to many cognitive grammar researchers. Literary devices such as comparative similes and metaphors can also become important areas of study in cognitive focuses.
There are several specific subfields of cognitive grammar. For one, famed language scholar Noam Chomsky introduced generative grammar in the mid-20th century. This theory deals with syntax, or the particular ordering of words. Chomsky proposed that the human mind contained instinctive guidelines for using words and sounds – or phonology – to create intelligible sentences and phrases. These ideals were universal to all human beings in general if not specific terms, and thus the human brain naturally contained mental capacities for language from birth.
Other cognitive grammar approaches consider different aspects of how the mind forms the relationships between words, their sounds and their meanings. The grammar of words, for example, proposes that the human mind has a vast, almost computerized network in which it stores words, sounds and meanings. Such modes of cognitive grammar owe much of their origin to Gestalt psychology, which focuses on organized groupings, fundamental rules and customs, and a holistic philosophy.
Construction grammar furthers the goals of word grammar by considering how words relate to specific, categorized sounds and meanings. For example, the English words knife and gun can both be classified under another word: weapon.
In this and countless other examples, the brain creates pathways between specific profiles, or definitions, and more general domain categories. This gradual building of associations eventually spawns entire languages.
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