Lakoff CSCTR Session 5 Dana Retov á Cognitive linguistics School of linguistics within cognitive science that conceives language creation learning and usage as a part of a larger psychological theory of how human understand the world ID: 313129
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Slide1
Cognitive semantics of G. Lakoff
CSCTR – Session 5
Dana
Retov
áSlide2
Cognitive linguistics
School of linguistics within cognitive science that conceives language creation, learning and usage as a part of a larger psychological theory of how human understand the world
Emerged in the 1970s
It advocates three principal positions:
It denies the existence of an autonomous linguistic faculty in the mind
It understands linguistic phenomena in terms of conceptualization
It claims that knowledge of language arises out of language use. Slide3
Shift of focus on semantics and embodiment
The conceptual structure originates in our
preconceptual
experiences.
We tend to structure our experience on the basic level of conceptualization that is characterized byGestelt perceptionMental imageryMotor competence
Cognitive linguisticsSlide4
Lakoff’s “Woman, Fire and Dangerous Things: What categories reveal about the mind.”
Categorization is one of the most basic ability of living beings.
Even amoeba categorizes the things into food and nonfood.
Animals categorize food predators, possible mates, members of their own species, etc.
Why do we need categorization?Reduction in complexity of rich sensory inputGeneralizationCategorizationSlide5
Objectivistic Aristotelian viewWoman, fire and dangerous things have some properties in commonResearch on categories
Wittgenstein
Family resemblances
Central and non-central members
Berlin & KayNeurophysiology of visionColors are not objectively “out there”Eleanor RoshWhat exactly categories are? Slide6
Prototype theoryResearch in New GuineaDani language
Mili
= dark/cool (black, green, blue)
Mola
= light/warm (white, red, yellow)They choose focal colors as best examplesPrimary colors are psychologically real even if they can’t name themFocal colors are learned more readilyEleanor RoschSlide7
AsymmetryPrototypical members are more representative than other membersNew information about a representative member is more likely to be generalized
E.g. Mexico is similar to USA
vs
USA is similar to Mexico
Cognitive reference pointsThe basis for inferencesE.g 10, 1000, 1000 00098 is more like 100 than 100 is like 98Eleanor RoschSlide8
Eleanor RoschBrown and BerlinBasic level in nature
Basic-level categoriesSlide9
Basic-level categoriesSlide10
Eleanor RoschBrown and BerlinBasic level in nature
People tend to name things on the level of genus instead of species
Short, most frequent, simple
Learned early in children, more readily
Greater cultural significancePerceived as gestaltsBasic-level categoriesSlide11
Levels of conceptualizationSlide12
Mental imagesIt is the highest level at which a single mental image can represent the entire category
Gestalt perception
It is the highest level at which category members have similarly perceived overall shapes
Motor programs
It is the highest level at which a person uses similar motor actions for interacting with category members. Knowledge structureIt is the level at which most of our knowledge is organizedBasic-level categoriesSlide13
And why so many philosophers supported objective categorization?It seems that on basic level, most categories map pretty well to reality.Notice that philosophical discussions about the relationship between our categories and things in the world tend to use basic-level examples
The cat is on the mat
The boy hit the ball
Why do “Aristotelian” categories seem right?Slide14
How we make sense of space around usWe automatically “perceive” one entity as in, on,
or
across
from another entity.
However such perception depends on an enormous amount of unconscious mental activityMost spatial relations are complexes made up of elementary spatial relationE.g. into, onElementary spatial relation have own structureImage schemaProfileTrajector-landmark structureSpatial-relations conceptsSlide15
English in consists ofContainer schema (a bounded region in space)
Profile that
highlights
the interior of the schema
A structure that identifies the boundary of the interior as the landmarkObject overlapping with the interior as a trajector.Spatial relations have built-in spatial “logics”Given 2 containers, A and B, and an object X, if A is in B and X is in A, then X is in B.
Spatial-relations conceptsSlide16
Structure of container schemaInsideBoundaryOutside
It is a gestalt structure
The parts make no sense without the whole
There is no inside without an inside
The structure is topologicalThe boundary can be made larger, smaler or distorted and still remain boundaryContainer schemaSlide17
Structure of source-path-goal schemaA trajector that moves
A source location
A goal
A route from the source to the goal
The actual trajectory of motionThe position of the trajector at a given timeThe direction of the trajector at that timeThe actual final location of the trajector (which may or may not be the intended destination)It too has internal spatial logic and built-in inferences
Source-path-goal schemaSlide18
If you have traversed a route to a current location, you have been at all previous locations of that route.If you travel from A to B and from B to C, then you have traveled from A to C.
If there is a direct route from A to B and you are moving along that route toward B, then you will keep getting closer to B.
If X and Y are traveling along a direct route from A to B and X passes Y, then X is further from A and closer to B than Y is.
If X and Y start from A at the same time moving along the same route toward B and if X moves faster than Y, then X will arrive at B before Y.
Internal logic of this schemaSlide19
Clear instances how our body shapes conceptual structureIn front ofwe project fronts and backs onto objects
Artifacts (the side with which we interact)
Natural objects, e.g. trees (the side which faces us)
The cat is behind the tree only relative to our capacity to project fronts and backs onto trees and to impose relations onto visual scenes relative to such projections
Bodily projectionsSlide20
Part-wholeCenter-peripheryLinkCycle
Iteration
Contact
Adjacency
Forced motionPushing / pulling,…SupportBalanceNear-farOrientationsVerticalHorizontalFront-backOther image schemas and elements of spatial relationsSlide21
Conceptual
metaphor
theoryClassical theories viewed metaphors as novel or poetic linguistic expressions outside the realm of ordinary everyday language.Metaphor has is in many cases central to understanding the meaning of many abstract concepts.
Many concepts that are important to us are either abstract or not well-defined in our experience
emotions, thoughts, time,…
We need to mediate access to them through the concepts that we understand more clearly
spatial orientation, objects,…Slide22
“When in the Course of human events it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature’s God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.”
US Declaration of IndependenceSlide23
“When in the Course of human events it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands
which have
connected
them with another and to assume among the powers of the earth, the
separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature’s God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.”US Declaration of IndependenceSlide24
“When in the Course of human events it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands
which have
connected
them with another and to assume among the powers of the earth, the
separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature’s God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.”US Declaration of IndependenceSlide25
“When in the Course of human events it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands
which have
connected
them with another and to assume among the
powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature’s God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.”US Declaration of IndependenceSlide26
“When in the Course of human events it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve
the political
bands
which have
connected them with another and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature’s God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.”US Declaration of IndependenceSlide27
“When in the Course of human events it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve
the political
bands
which have
connected them with another and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature’s God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.”
US
Declaration
of
IndependenceSlide28
“When in the Course of human events it becomes necessary
for one people to
dissolve
the political
bands which have connected them with another and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature’s God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.”
US
Declaration
of
IndependenceSlide29
“When in the Course of human events it becomes necessary
for one people to
dissolve
the political
bands which have connected them with another and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature’s God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation
.”
US
Declaration
of
IndependenceSlide30
“When in the Course of human events it becomes necessary
for one people to
dissolve
the political
bands which have connected them with another and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature’s God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the
separation
.”
US
Declaration
of
IndependenceSlide31
“When in the Course of human events it becomes necessary
for one people to
dissolve
the political
bands which have connected them with another and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature’s God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which
impel
them to the
separation
.”
US
Declaration
of
IndependenceSlide32
“When in the Course of human events it becomes necessary
for one people to
dissolve
the political
bands which have connected them with another and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature’s God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should
declare
the causes which
impel
them to the
separation
.”
US
Declaration
of
IndependenceSlide33
“When in the Course of human events it becomes necessary
for one people to
dissolve
the political
bands which have connected them with another and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature’s God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should
declare
the causes which
impel
them to the
separation
.”
US
Declaration
of
IndependenceSlide34
“When in the Course of human events it becomes necessary
for one people to
dissolve
the political
bands which have connected them with another and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature’s God entitle
them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should
declare
the causes which
impel
them to the
separation
.”
US
Declaration
of
IndependenceSlide35
“When in the Course of human events it becomes necessary
for one people to
dissolve
the political
bands which have connected them with another and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature’s God entitle
them, a
decent
respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should
declare
the causes which
impel
them to the
separation
.”
US
Declaration
of
IndependenceSlide36
“When in the Course of human events it becomes necessary
for one people to
dissolve
the political
bands which have connected them with another and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature
’s God
entitle
them, a
decent
respect
to the opinions of mankind requires that they should
declare
the causes which
impel
them to the
separation
.”
US
Declaration
of
IndependenceSlide37
“When in the Course of human events it becomes necessary
for one people to
dissolve
the political
bands which have connected them with another and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature’s God entitle
them, a
decent
respect
to the opinions of man
kind
requires that they should
declare
the causes which
impel
them to the
separation
.”
US
Declaration
of
IndependenceSlide38
“When in the Course of human events it becomes necessary
for one people to
dissolve
the political
bands which have connected them with another and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature’s God entitle
them, a
decent
respect
to the opinions of man
kind
requires
that they should
declare
the causes which
impel
them to the
separation
.”
US
Declaration
of
IndependenceSlide39
“When in the Course of human events
it
becomes
necessary
for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another and to assume among the powers of the earth, the
separate
and equal
station
to
which the
Laws
of
Nature
and of
Nature
’s God
entitle
them, a
decent
respect
to
the opinions
of
man
kind
requires
that they should
declare
the causes which
impel
them
to
the
separation
.”
US
Declaration
of
IndependenceSlide40
“When in the Course of human events
it
becomes
necessary
for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another and to assume among the
powers of the earth
, the
separate
and equal
station
to
which the
Laws
of
Nature
and of
Nature
’s God
entitle
them, a
decent
respect
to
the opinions
of
man
kind
requires
that they should
declare
the causes which
impel
them
to
the
separation
.”
US
Declaration
of
IndependenceSlide41
“When in the
Course of human events
it
becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another and
to
assume
among
the
powers of the earth
,
the
separate
and equal
station
to
which
the
Laws
of
Nature
and of
Nature
’s God
entitle
them
, a
decent
respect
to
the
opinions
of
man
kind
requires
that
they
should
declare
the causes which
impel
them
to
the
separation
.”
US
Declaration
of
IndependenceSlide42
Conceptual metaphors
Metaphors are “general mappings across conceptual domain” (
Lakoff
, 1992).
Metaphoric projection is equivalent to simultaneous activation of neural maps in the brain.We do not have to define the domains of experience linguistically; they are inherent in our experience.
This mapping has common structureSlide43
Human intelligence is a product ofConceptualizationconcepts at basic-levelspatial /force dynamic concepts
Metaphor
Metaphor allows the mind to use a few basic ideas (substance, location, force, goal) to understand more abstract domains.
Combinatorics
allows a finite set of simple ideas to give rise to an infinite set of complex ones Consequences of metaphor theorySlide44
Role of metaphors in reasoning
Metaphors are “general mappings across conceptual domain” (
Lakoff
, 1992).
Metaphoric projection is equivalent to simultaneous activation of neural maps in the brain.We do not have to define the domains of experience linguistically; they are inherent in our experience.
This mapping has common structure:
SOURCE DOMAIN RELATIONSHIP TARGET DOMAIN
LOVE IS A JOURNEYSlide45
Example of conceptual metaphor
SOURCE – HOT FLUID IN A CONTAINER
→
TARGET - ANGER
Container
→
Body
Temperature / fluid level
→
Intensity of anger
Temperature of the fluid / container
→
Body temperature
Pressure in the container
→
Blood pressure
Simmer of fluid
→
Shivering of the body
Explosion
→
Loss of self-control
Cold / still fluid
→
Absence of anger
ANGER IS HOT FLUID IN CONTAINER
His anger reached the top
His blood boiled
He was blowing off steam
He was about to blow outSlide46
HAPPY IS UPWhen evaluating words as positive or negative, people are faster when word is flashed correspondingly (Meier & Robinson, 2004)Metaphorical movement
Quicker pushing button near/far to their bodies upon reading
Adam conveyed the message to you / You conveyed the message to Adam
Simple metaphor processingSlide47
Cannot be learned by mere associationSimilarity ?Learn that GOAL IS A JOURNEY by association
Extent the metaphor to relationship because goals are similar
GOAL:
Abstract
concept doing all the workMore complex metaphors ?
SOURCE DOMAIN RELATIONSHIP TARGET DOMAIN
LOVE IS A JOURNEYSlide48
Human intelligence is a product ofConceptualizationconcepts at basic-levelspatial /force dynamic concepts
Metaphor
Metaphor allows the mind to use a few basic ideas (substance, location, force, goal) to understand more abstract domains.
Combinatorics
allows a finite set of simple ideas to give rise to an infinite set of complex onesFraming of a problem is important Consequences of metaphor theorySlide49
2 views:After the metaphor is used long enough, “the ladder is kicked away”
people seem to use “dead” metaphors without really using original metaphorical sources.
All metaphorical projections are real
Human mind can directly think only about concrete experiences
Capacity for abstract thoughts evolved from primate capacity to cope with the physical and social world and capacity to extend these to new domains by metaphorical abstraction“Dead” metaphor debadeSlide50
Apparently in some cases, people not only do access the underlying metaphor but are readily able to generate new examples:
Metaphors are alive!
SOURCE DOMAIN RELATIONSHIP TARGET DOMAIN
LOVE IS A JOURNEYSlide51
Metaphor in scienceSlide52
Skeleton of spatial and force-dynamic concepts likeThing, substance, aggregate, place, path, agonist, antagonist, goal, means,…What is the role of metaphor then?
There are tools of
inference
that can be carried over from the physical to the nonphysical realms, where they can do real work
Space, time, causationIf A moves B over to C, then B was at C at a previous time, though now it is.They support analogical reasoning“A is to B as X is to Y”The source (e.g. a journey) is stripped down to some essential components (A,B,C) The metaphor puts these components into correspondence with the components of the target (X,Y,Z)One can reason about these components using experience with the source domain
Reasoning with abstract elementsSlide53
Metaphor can power sophisticated inferences
Paintbrush problem (
Schön
, 1993)
Paintbrush as a pumpMetaphor in reasoningSlide54
Metaphors in reasoning
Typical case is
„
framing
“Many arguments are not based on disagreement in data or use of logic but the frame in which the problem is setWhich metaphor is used to describe itExample: Tversky & KahnemanA new type of virus appeared. 600 people are infected and will die without treatment2 programs of fighting the epidemics are suggested:
Treatment
A
:
200 people will be saved
Treatment
B:
with p=
1/3
all
600
people will survive and with p=
2/3
no one will survive
.
Do
c
tor
s would choose A – certainty to riskSlide55
Metaphors in reasoning
Typical case is
„
framing
“Many arguments are not based on disagreement in data or use of logic but the frame in which the problem is setWhich metaphor is used to describe itExample: Tversky & KahnemanA new type of virus appeared. 600 people are infected and will die without treatment2 programs of fighting the epidemics are suggested:
Treatment
C
:
400 people will die
Treatment
D
:
with p=
1/3
no one will die and with p=
2/3
all 600 will die
.
Do
c
tor
s would choose D – risk to certaintySlide56
Metaphors in reasoning
Treatment as “gain” (saved lives)
Treatment
as “loss” (lost lives)
A: 200 will surviveC: 400 will die
B:
p=1/3; 600 will survive
p=2/3; 600
will die
D:
p=1/3; 600 will survive
p=2/3; 600
will die
Unpleasant feeling from the loss is stronger than pleasant feeling from gain
Risk aversion of peopleSlide57
Abstract concepts are acquired through associative conditioning with the source domainThere is no objective truth but only competing metaphors which are more or less apt for the purposes of the people who live by them
Liberating Iraq vs. Invading Iraq
“Show me a relativist at 30,000 feet and I will show you a hypocrite” (R. Dawkins)
Scientific metaphors are not merely “useful” in teaching abstract concepts
It seems that some metaphors can express truths about the world Is it all a matter of framing?Slide58
Glucksberg & Keysar (1993)Conventional metaphor:
“Love is a patient (challenge)”, said Lisa. “I feel that this relationship is on its last legs (in trouble). How can we have a strong marriage if you keep admiring other women?”
“You’re infected with this disease”
Novel metaphor:
“Love is a patient”, said Lisa. “I feel that this relationship is about to flatline. How can we administer the medicine if you keep admiring other women?”Is most of our thinking metaphorical?Slide59
3D domain of space is inherently more concrete and richly organized than the 1D domain of timeMetaphor in language acquisitionIn children (
Bowerman
, 1983)
Can I have any reading behind [=after] the dinner?
The balloons is on the other side, after I ate. But there might have been more on the first side [=before eating]Today we’ll be packing because tomorrow there won’t be enough space to packFriday is covering Saturday and Sunday so I can’t have Saturday and Sunday if I don’t go through Friday.TIME IS SPACE metaphorSlide60
We do not necessarily conceptualize time as spaceKemmerer (2005)Double dissociation in brain-damaged patients
“She is at the corner” vs. “She arrived at 1:30”
“She ran through the forest” vs. “She worked through the evening”
Different circuits
responsible for understanding space and timeTIME IS SPACE metaphorSlide61
Or do we?Casasanto & Boroditsky (2008)
Time and space are asymmetrically dependent representational domains
Space being a more rich and embodied domain
It is used more often to represent time than time is used to represent space
Spatial dimension directly affects temporal estimationDuration of an event has no effect on length estimationTIME IS SPACE metaphorSlide62
“Wednesday meeting has been moved forward two days.”What day will it fall on?
TIME IS A PROCESSION vs. TIME IS A LANDSCAPE (
Boroditski
, 2000)
TIME metaphorsSlide63
Ego-moving vs. Time-moving
Gentner et al. (2002, p.
539)Slide64
Núñez & Sweetser (2006):
Speakers of
Aymara
face the past and have their backs to the future
Nayra = past (eye, sight, or front)Q’’ipa = future (behind, back)Q’’ipüru = tomorrow = q’’ipa + uru (some day behind one’s back)Analyzed gestures use when talking about timeCultural varianceSlide65
Questions?