Cognitive semantics is an approach to linguistics that focuses on how the mind processes language in relation to its meaning within a given context. It unifies psychological and formal approaches to linguistics by stating that both fall under the umbrella of semantics. Cognitive semantics sees all aspects of linguistics as related to meaning and rejects the idea that linguistic processing is a specialized function that can be separated from other mental processes. It demonstrates the ways in which the mind uses language to organize experience and vice versa.
Cognitive semantics refers to a way of approaching linguistics that deals with how the mind processes language in relation to its meaning, or conceptual content, within a given context. Unlike traditional approaches to linguistics, cognitive semantics cannot be easily divided into branches of study such as phonetics, syntax, etc., because it sees all of these as related to meaning. Cognitive linguists also reject the idea that linguistic processing is a specialized function that can be separated from other mental processes.
Before the advent of cognitive semantics in the 1970s, approaches to linguistics could generally be divided into psychological and formal approaches. Psychological approaches focus on the relationship between language and other psychological phenomena, such as reasoning and memory. Formal approaches tend to address aspects of linguistics specifically related to grammar, sometimes treating meaning as an entirely separate issue. Cognitive semantics, however, tries to unify the two methods by stating that both fall under the umbrella of semantics.
In general, semantics refers to the branch of linguistics that deals with how language conveys meaning. It is closely related to pragmatics, the relationship of language to its real-life context. Within the field of cognitive semantics, however, these two concepts are considered inseparable from all other areas of linguistics. This approach to language attempts to demonstrate the ways in which the mind uses language to organize experience and vice versa.
Syntax, for example, is not separate from semantics because the grammatical components of a sentence are valid only when the mind is capable of understanding their meaning. To use a simple example, the statement “That’s a porcupine” could be parsed and broken down into its grammatical parts, but it would still have no meaning out of context. That is, it would be a true statement if the speaker did, in fact, point to a porcupine, but it would be a false statement if the speaker pointed to a duck. It would have no meaning if the person hearing the statement could not see what the speaker was pointing to. Its meaning would be further obscured if the speaker were using “porcupine” in a metaphorical sense unknown to the listener, or if the listener had an erroneous notion of a porcupine.
Another way of putting it is that cognitive semantics is primarily about the conceptual content of language. The mind, according to this theory, does not and cannot understand words or sentences in a vacuum, but by necessity it does understand them in relation to other experiences. Some approaches to linguistics claim that the brain has specialized functions for handling linguistic input, but cognitive linguists see this distinction as artificial. Neurolinguistic research on the subject is inconclusive.
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