Integrates research findings from across the cognitive sciences to answer the question of why frequency has the effects it has. It generates insights that challenge the way in which frequency has been interpreted in usage-based linguistics and serves as a cross-disciplinary point of reference for discussions of frequency in language.
Exploring the intersection of language and meaning, this volume investigates how learners derive understanding of abstract concepts without sensory-motor experience. It examines the role of frequency distributions in language input and how semantic knowledge is spread between grammar and lexicon. A key focus is on the often-overlooked synonymy of constructions and lexemes, offering fresh insights into a significant yet neglected aspect of Western linguistics.
The volume explores the relationship between well-studied aspects of language (constructional alternations, lexical contrasts and extensions and multi-word expressions) in a variety of languages (Dutch, English, Russian and Spanish) and their representation in cognition as mediated by frequency counts in both text and experiment. The state-of-the-art data collection (ranging from questionnaires to eye-tracking) and analysis (from simple chi-squared to random effects regression) techniques allow to draw theoretical conclusions from (mis)matches between different types of empirical data. The sister volume focuses on language learning and processing.
This volume offers an overview of recent cognitive linguistic research focusing on Slavic languages, which, due to their rich inflectional morphology in both nominal and verbal systems, serve as a crucial testing ground for linguistic theories. It explores a wide array of phenomena, including the semantics of grammatical case, tense, aspect, voice, and word order, while also addressing grammaticalization, language change, and sound symbolism. The analyses delve into theoretically significant issues such as the role of virtual entities in language, iconic motivation in grammar, the impact of metaphor on grammaticalization, and subjectification's influence on synchronic polysemy and diachronic change. Additionally, it examines various patterns for encoding events non-canonically and expressing the speaker's epistemic stance regarding the communicated content. The analyses are framed within diverse cognitive linguistic theories, including cognitive grammar, mental space theory, construction grammar, frame semantics, grammaticalization theory, and prototype semantics. Overall, the insights presented enhance the understanding of established cognitive models of language and may stimulate further development, making this volume valuable for both Slavic and cognitive linguists.