Structuring the Lexicon
-
Dagmar Divjak
About this book
Given that we lack sensory-motor experience for abstract concepts, how do we find out what they mean? How far can we get by tracking frequency distributions in input? The volume tackles the question of what language has to offer the language learner in his/her quest for meaning, and explicitly addresses how semantic knowledge may be distributed along the continuum from "grammar" to "lexicon". Focus is on the synonymy of constructions and lexemes, a meaning relation that has been largely ignored in Western linguistics.
Frequency in all its guises plays a major part in this book. Approaching meaning from a usage-based perspective, a radically distributional approach to quantifying meaning is proposed that encompasses both the constructional and lexical level. Statistical data analysis, relatively new in the field of linguistics, yields a cognitively realistic, clustered model that encourages re-evaluating existing accounts of near-synonymy. Theoretical concepts spanning a range of cognitive linguistic frameworks, i.e. Cognitive Grammar, Radical Construction Grammar and Prototype Theory, account for the complexity of the data and lead to a re-appraisal of traditional semantic theory.
Built on a solid empirical foundation, this network account of synonymy at the constructional and lexical level enriches our understanding of established aspects of the cognitive model of language, serving as catalyst for their further development and refinement. The theoretically informed combination of descriptive accuracy and methodological innovation makes the book a worthwhile read for cognitive linguists and psycholinguists alike.
Author / Editor information
Dagmar Divjak, University of Sheffield, UK.
Topics
-
Download PDFRequires Authentication UnlicensedLicensed
Frontmatter
I -
Download PDFRequires Authentication UnlicensedLicensed
Preface
VII -
Download PDFRequires Authentication UnlicensedLicensed
Contents
IX -
Download PDFRequires Authentication UnlicensedLicensed
1. Introduction
1 -
Download PDFRequires Authentication UnlicensedLicensed
2. Degrees of event integration: delineating groups of near-synonyms
15 -
Download PDFRequires Authentication UnlicensedLicensed
3. Ways of intending: constructional frames for lexicographical portraits
80 -
Download PDFRequires Authentication UnlicensedLicensed
4. Clustering Behavioral Profiles: structuring groups of near-synonyms
107 -
Download PDFRequires Authentication UnlicensedLicensed
5. Ways of TRYING: describing scales of variation in a radial category
146 -
Download PDFRequires Authentication UnlicensedLicensed
6. Beyond Behavioral Profiles
177 -
Download PDFRequires Authentication UnlicensedLicensed
Appendix
229 -
Download PDFRequires Authentication UnlicensedLicensed
References
249 -
Download PDFRequires Authentication UnlicensedLicensed
Author index
273 -
Download PDFRequires Authentication UnlicensedLicensed
Subject index
275
-
Manufacturer information:
Walter de Gruyter GmbH
Genthiner Straße 13
10785 Berlin
productsafety@degruyterbrill.com
