Cognitive paths into the Slavic domain / edited by Dagmar Divjak, Agata Kochanska.

Format:

Book

Contributor:

Divjak, Dagmar.

Kochańska, Agata.

Series:

Cognitive linguistics research ; 38.

Cognitive linguistics research, 1861-4132 ; 38

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Slavic languages--Grammar.

Slavic languages.

Cognitive grammar.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (472 pages)

Edition:

1st ed.

Place of Publication:

Berlin ; New York : Mouton de Gruyter, c2007.

Language Note:

English

Summary:

The volume presents an overview of recent cognitive linguistic research on Slavic languages. Slavic languages, with their rich inflectional morphology in both the nominal and the verbal system, provide an important testing ground for a linguistic theory that seeks to motivate linguistic structure. Therefore, the volume touches upon a wide range of phenomena: it addresses issues related to the semantics of grammatical case, tense, aspect, voice and word order, it looks into grammaticalization and language change and discusses sound symbolism. At the same time, the analyses presented address a variety of theoretically important issues. Take for example the role of virtual entities in language or that of iconic motivation in grammar, the importance of metaphor for grammaticalization or that of subjectification for motivating synchronic polysemy and diachronic language change, as well as the myriad of patterns available to encode events in a non-canonical way or to convey the speaker's epistemic stance with respect to the communicated content. In addition, the analyses are couched in a variety of cognitive linguistic frameworks, such as cognitive grammar, mental space theory, construction grammar, frame semantics, grammaticalization theory, as well as prototype semantics. All in all, the analyses presented in this volume enrich the understanding of established aspects of the cognitive model of language and may serve as catalysts for their further development and refinement, making the volume a worthwhile read for Slavic and cognitive linguists alike.

Contents:

Frontmatter

Table of contents

Why cognitive linguists should care about the Slavic languages and vice versa

Part one. The nominal system: the meaning of case

Nominative and instrumental variation of adjectival predicates with the Russian copula byt': reference time, limitation, and focalization

Why double marking in the Macedonian dativus sympatheticus?

Part two. The verbal system: the meaning of tense, aspect and mood

What makes Russian bi-aspectual verbs special?

Perfectives, imperfectives and the Croatian present tense

Conflicting epistemic meanings of the Polish aspectual variants in past and in future uses: are they a vagary of grammar?

Conjunctions, verb forms, and epistemic stance in Polish and Serbian predictive conditionals

Part three. The sentential system: non-archetypal event conceptions

Degrees of event integration. A binding scale for [VFIN VINF] structures in Russian

The 'impersonal' impersonal construction in Polish. A Cognitive Grammar analysis

Part four. Changing language: category shifting

A Frame Semantic account of morphosemantic change: the case of Old Czech věřící

A prototype account of the development of delimitative po- in Russian

The rise of an epistemic pragmatic marker in Balkan Slavic: an exploratory study of nešto

Part five. Motivating language: iconicity in language

Iconicity and linear ordering of constituents within Polish NPs

Discourse-aspectual markers in Czech sound symbolic expressions: Towards a systematic analysis of sound symbolism

Backmatter

Notes:

Description based upon print version of record.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

9786613396587

9781283396585

1283396580

9783110198799

3110198797

OCLC:

437239139