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W4 – Cognitive Semantics
Cognitive Semantics – Chapter 10
2 1 Semantic Structure reflect the conceptual system/structure

The conceptual system is expressed through

language
Two systems are theorized to exist –
conceptual structuring system and
conceptual content system
One is about providing structure for a scene
(allowing schemas), and the other the detail
represent two conceptual systems---the evidence about the relation between semantic and conceptual
always pop up new words
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Two subsystems – open-class and closed-class
semantic system difficult for new words to
pop in (preposition)/add
to...
Easy to add to open-class, and difficult for
closed-class
Open-class contributes to content, closed-
class to the structural system
Does this go against the generalization
commitment?
Let’s see EX1: consider as a continum--how hard or easy to add new words
question: how to measure it/place everything
EX1

contribute to
 5 2.1 TIME versus SPACE time is based on space
time should also be cut up

how much
‘Quantity’ refers to the contents of the how we
conceptualize space
conceptual domains of space and time and time

Continuous and discrete measures

activity: action require time
action represents Activities versus actions (sleep vs. punch)refer to subparts
change/is about
changing time Time is related to progression, space being
static
Closed-class words for conceptual structure
 switch between one and two, one and two

6 2.2 Conceptual Alternativity

Both time and space share quantity
How far is Shanghai? About 1h, 100km all about space

Conceptual alternativity allows

conceptualization of space and time, and
vice versa object in space
action in time
‘John washed her’ – ‘John gave her a wash’
‘Susan removed the pit from the olive’ –
‘pitted’
7 3.1 The Configuration Structure System

Talmy identifies four schematic systems – there

may be more
We’ll be investigating each one
Let’s see EX2:
EX2

rooted in our cognition

9 3.1.1 Overview

The first system review is the Configurational

Structure System
We can first consider the notion of ‘point’, dotriver
there is boundary‘bounded extent’, and ‘unbounded extent’do not know
the beginning
point in time
‘The train passed through at noon/ in 10 and end

seconds, ‘The train kept going faster and

unbounded extent(on
faster’ and on, further and
further away)

points can be time or space; pass through the station/at noon

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The Configurational Structure System is made
of six schematic categories – we were just
looking at Extension
We will look at each one
Let’s see EX3:
EX3

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every subpart should be embodied

12 3.1.2 Plexity how many elements/things there

How many elements to time or space

‘Shoe’ is uniplex (1), ‘shoes’ is multiplex (2+)
one more
‘Coughed’ semelfactive, ‘coughed for 10
mins’ iterativecontinous how many time

Verbs generally have a lexical aspect, the

event’s ending
13 3.1.3 Boundedness bounded vs. unbounded

Binary boundary/no boundary – count/mass

nouns, progressive/perfect aspect
action has been completed
Verbs can be telic/atelic, ‘win/run’
it is finished a go on event
‘in four minutes’ only works for unbounded
events run--a activity has finished

You can convert between boundedness –

‘two (bags of) cements’ unbounded thing
14 3.1.4 Dividedness closely relate to boundary, table has boundary
and can be divided

Dividing up space and time (conceptually),

dealing with discreteness/ continuous
The word ‘space’ is continuous and
unbounded
Furniture is unbounded (mass N), but it is
discrete
15 3.1.5 Disposition of Quantity

The interaction between plexity,

boundedness, and dividedness
‘Water’ is conceptualized as multiplex,
unbounded, and continuous
Let’s see EX4:
EX4

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semantic strcture of words

conceptual content system

sea area

how to categrise it rather than meaning

EX5

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conceptualize it as a bounded entity

18 3.1.6 Degree of Extension

The quantities can stretch over distance,

relating to boundedness
how long the event took
‘I slept in Darcy’s class for an hour/ in an hour’
provide an boundary
Sleep is unbounded (atelic)
I ate in an hour
have the beginning and end

Preposition encodes this information meal is finied

19 3.1.7 Patterns of Distribution

How actions/matter distribute over

space/time
Let’s see EX6:
EX6

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cannot come back to life

can back up again

a continous state
21 3.1.8 Axiality

Direction is on an axis
‘well’ and ‘sick’ are an endpoint and
remainder I am almost well; I am sick
22 3.2 The Attentional System

This focuses on how attention is given to

actions and matter
 23 3.2.1 Overview

We often drawn attention to different things in

scene
This is governed by strength
backgournd information
(back/foregrounding), pattern (organization),
focus of attention (figure-ground organization)
This interacts with window of attention, level of
attention, and mapping
24 3.2.2 Focus of Attention Pattern

COMMERICAL EVENT frame is famous

BUYER, SELLER, GOODS
‘I bought the cat from the shop, The shop sold
me a cat, The cat was bought from the shop
by me’
25 3.2.3 Windowing Pattern
can only see a part of them

You might mention a part of a scene and omit

others (windowing/gapping), relating to
foregrounding
In motion, we can have beginning, middle,
and end
In the COMMERICAL FRAME, no seller for
‘spend’ focus on the money not the person
he spends my five dollars
26 3.2.3 Level of Attention Pattern

Attentional patterns
do not make sense; group do not have tails
‘The group of pigs/ the pigs in the group’ lost their tails
make sense; pigs have tails
Focus and meaning shifts
27 3.3 The Perspectival System

Focuses on speaker’s perspective of the scene

the person who use the sentences

this/that refers to the context

she --context
28 3.3.1 Overview

How we view the scene includes location,

distance, mode, and direction
29 3.3.2 Perspectival Location

Concerned with deixis – from whose

viewpoint? towards the speak speaker is outside
‘The door slowly opened and two men walked
in/ Two men slowly opened the door and
walked in’ enter a container

Theme/Agent, in/transitive being swapped

around
30 3.3.3 Perspectival Distance
relative closeness

close kind of close far away

Proximal, medial, distal, relative to
speaker/hearer
Here/there/ yonder (why no yonder?)
come here
based upon what is people's
go there perspective

yonder: you cannot see it, it is far away

lost its function; useless now

vowel position
distance--tongue position front vowel vs back
31 3.3.4 Perspectival Mode

If the perspective point is in motion or static,

sequential/synoptic
action is finished or not
Relates to aspect, progressive/perfect
grammartical aspect
can happen in the future, but still finished the action is finished
I ate
I will have eaten by tomorrow morning
I have eaten

chinese does not have tense, but it has aspect

32 3.3.5 Perspectival Direction

Temporal event being

prospective/retrospective
‘He finished his thesis before he died/ Before
he died, he finished his thesis’
33 3.4 The Force-Dynamics System

Our ‘native’ physics system, how entities

interact with force
34 3.4.1 Overview

Closely related to kinanesthesia, sensorimotor

information
35 3.4.2 Types of Force
will stop eventually
we are always competing
aginst force
Physical force is basic, ‘was rolling/ kept
rolling’
The force in the second part is being
force to be overcome
overcome
Meaning expressed in the close-class system
Also consider psychological and social force
36 3.4.3 Antagonist versus Agonist
how you structure things

Antagonist opposes the agonist

Agonist creates force
‘The boat sailed with the wind’
being pushed agonist provide the force