Analysis of meaning 2022-23

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 Analysis of meaning 2022-23

1. Cognitive semantics
2. Categorization
3. Metaphor and metonymy

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Basic tenets:
1) Rejection of a modular approach to language
2) Identification of meaning with “conceptual
structure”
3) Rejection of syntax-semantics distinction

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2.1. The classical approach

2.2. Prototype theory
2.3. Basic level theory

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Categories have the following properties:

1) Discrete
2) Necessary and sufficient conditions
3) Homogeneous

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Problems with these categories:

1) Fuzzy lines between categories
2) Not all categories can be defined in termes of
necessary and sufficient conditions.
3) In most categories there are better examples
than others.

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Eleanor Rosch. Experiments:

 1973. Classifying a series of birds as “good” and
“bad” examples of the categories.
 1975 (with Melvis). Informants were asked to list
as many characteristics as possible of the
categories bird, fruit, vehicle, furniture and
weapon.

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Definition of prototype: “a mental representation of

the conceptual core of a category” (Carretero 2014:
79).
 Most easily recognized, representative and
distinctive.
 It shares more characteristics with other
member of category and fewer with members of
other categories.
 Category membership is a continuum.

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mentimeter.com
Prototypes 1
Prototypes 2

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Another experiment by Rosch (1973)  list “good”

and “bad” examples of the category bird. Results:
 Top 8: robin (petirrojo, pit-roig), sparrow (gorrión, pardal),
bluejay (arrendajo azul, gaig nord-americà), bluebird
(azulejo, siàlid), canary (canario, canari), blackbird (mirlo,
merla), dove (paloma, colom), lark (alondra, alosa)
 Middle rank (5): hawk (halcón, falcó), raven (cuervo, corb),
goldfinch (jilguero, cadernera), parrot (loro, lloro), sandpiper
(lavandera, territ)
 Last 5: ostrich (avestruz, estruç), titmouse (herrerillo,
mallerenga), emu (emú), penguin (pingüino, pingüí), bat
(murciélago, rat-penat)

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Based on results  properties of bird:

1) Lays eggs.
2) Has a beak.
3) Has two wings and two legs.
4) Has feathers.
5) Can fly.
6) Is small and lightweight.
7) Chirps/sings.
8) Has thin, short legs.
9) Has a short tail.
10) Has a red breast.

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Exercise 1

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Prototypical members have the following

psychological characteristics:
1) Shorter response time in statements such as “An
[exemplar] is a [category name]”.
2) When asked to list exemplars of categories,
prototypical members are mentioned more
frequently than non-prototypical ones.

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Hedges and prototypicality:

 par excellence/true  central members
(1) a. A robin is a bird par excellence.
b. ? An ostrich is a bird par excellence.
(2) a. A horse is a true mammal.
b. ? A bat is a true mammal.
 technically  marginal members
(3) a. A bat is technically a mammal.
b. ? A horse is technically a mammal.

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 loosely speaking  category extension

(4) a. Loosely speaking a telephone is a piece of furniture.
b. ? Loosely speaking a chair is a piece of furniture.
 strictly speaking  category narrowing
(5) a. Strictly speaking, olives are fruits.
b. ? Strictly speaking, apples are fruits.

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 in that  reasons to assign an exemplar with

peripheral attributes to a given category
(6) a. He killed Alice in that he did nothing to keep her alive.
b. ? He killed Alice in that he murdered her.
(7) She’s a friend of mine in that I’ve known her for years,
but we’re really not that close.

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Important:
Culture plays a role in protypicality, e.g. apple and
guava.

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Human categorization can have different levels of

specificity.
8) a. Something happened.
b. An animal hurt somebody.
c. A dog bit a man.
d. My black poodle bit the postman’s arm.
e. My old black noisy poodle, Fido, bit the
scared postman’s arm with his incredibly
sharp teeth.
Hierarchy: entity > organism > animal > mammal >
dog > poodle > Fido

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Based on the classification of species into domain,

kingdom, phylum, class, order, family, genus, species
and variety, Rosch and her collaborators established
three levels of categorization: superordinate, basic
and subordinate.
Activity - mentimeter (basic level)

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The basic level is the most important cognitively, the

richest and the most efficient.
Characteristics:
1) Most rapidly identified
2) First to be learnt by children
3) Culturally salient
4) Usually frequent and short words
5) Highest cognitive economy  largest amount of
Info with least cognitive effors

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Superordinate level is relatively inefficient: it includes a

wide variety of elements  it is difficult to determine
common attributes (just a few).
Subordinate level includes all attributes of basic level +
more detailed & specific ones.
(9) jewellery > ring > ruby ring
There can be more than 3 levels (only ONE basic),
related to speaker’s level of expertise.
(10) a. animal > mammal > rabbit
b. animal > mammal > leporidae > rabbit > volcano >
rabbit

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3.1. Metaphor
3.2. Metonymy

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Definition: “an inherent and fundamental aspect of

semantic and grammatical structure” (Langacker
1987: 100).
It is a cognitive process.
It is a mechanism to understand and express
complex situations by using concepts that are more
basic and better known.

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Some metaphors are so frequent, usual and

conventional that we are not aware that they are
actually metaphors.
(11) MORE IS UP
a. Interest rates keep rising.
b. The number of books printed each year keeps
going up.
c. That causes high costs.
(12) LESS IS DOWN
a. His income actually fell last year.
b. You need to turn the heat down.
c. Real estate prices seem to be dropping.

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Metaphors come from our daily life, our experience.

In capital letters in (11) & (12)  METAPHORS
a, b & c  metaphorical expressions
Metaphor: mapping between two domains:
 Target domain (TD) what we are talking about
 Source domain (SD)  what we are comparing it
to.

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(11)’ MORE IS UP
SD: up
TD: more
(12)’ LESS IS DOWN
SD: down
TD: less

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Source: JOURNEY M Target: LOVE

TRAVELLERS  LOVERS
VEHICLE  LOVE RELATIONSHIP
JOURNEY  EVENTS IN THE RELATIONSHIP
DISTANCE COVERED  PROGRESS MADE
OBSTACLES  DIFFICULTIES EXPERIENCED
ENCOUNTERED
DECISIONS ABOUT  CHOICES ABOUT WHAT TO DO
DIRECTION
DESTINATION OF  GOALS OF THE RELATIONSHIP
THE JOURNEY

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Main metaphors

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Summary:
 Metaphors structure thinking.
 Metaphors structure knowledge.
 Metaphors are grounded in physical experience.
 Metaphors are ideological.
 Their cognitive function is to enable to
understand the target by means of the structure
of the source (by means of conceptual mappings).
 The source domain provides a relatively rich
knowledge for the target concept.

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Metonymy is, as metaphor, a cognitive process.

It involves indirect reference: an implicit entity is
referred to by means of an explicit one, belonging
to the same domain.
(13) The first violin is the conductor’s sister-in-law.
Formula: “B for A”; B  vehicle (V), B  target (T).
(13)’ INSTRUMENT FOR MUSICIAN
Vehicle: instrument (violin)
Target: musician (violinist)

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Metonymies  capital letters; metonymic

expressions  small letters
(14) PRODUCER FOR PRODUCT
a. My sister has bought a used Audi.
b. Can I borrow you Maggie O’Farrell?
c. I’d love to get a pair of red Ferragamo.

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Usual metonymies

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Carretero, Marta. 2014. Semántica y pragmática del

inglés. UCM.
Cuenca, Maria Josep & John Hilferty. 2013.
Introducción a la lingüística cognitiva. 2nd edition. Ariel.
Evans, Vyvyan & Melanie Green. 2006. Cognitive
Linguistics. An Introduction.
Riemer, Nick. 2010. Introducing Semantics. CUP.
Edinburgh University Press.
Taylor, John R. 2003. Linguistic Categorization. 3rd
edition. OUP.

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