Introducing Cognitive Linguistics Oxford Handbooks

Introducing Cognitive Linguistics
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date: 06 June 2022
one form of cognitive linguistics, to be distinguished from, for instance, Generative Gram­
mar and many forms of linguistic research within the field of Artificial Intelligence. What, 
then, determines the specificity of Cognitive Linguistics within cognitive science? The 
question may be broken down in two more specific ones: what is the precise meaning of
cognitive
in
Cognitive Linguistics
, and
(p. 5)
how does this meaning differ from the way in 
which other forms of linguistics conceive of themselves as being a cognitive discipline? 
(The latter question will be answered specifically with regard to Generative Grammar.)
Against the background of the basic characteristics of the cognitive paradigm in cognitive 
psychology, the philosophy of science, and related disciplines (see De Mey
 
1992), the 
viewpoint adopted by Cognitive Linguistics can be defined more precisely. Cognitive Lin­
guistics is the study of language in its cognitive function, where
cognitive
refers to the 
crucial role of intermediate informational structures in our encounters with the world. 
Cognitive Linguistics is cognitive in the same way that cognitive psychology is: by assum­
ing that our interaction with the world is mediated through informational structures in 
the mind. It is more specific than cognitive psychology, however, by focusing on natural 
language as a means for organizing, processing, and conveying that information. Lan­
guage, then, is seen as a repository of world knowledge, a structured collection of mean­
ingful categories that help us deal with new experiences and store information about old 
ones.
From this overall characterization, three fundamental characteristics of Cognitive Lin­
guistics can be derived: the primacy of semantics in linguistic analysis, the encyclopedic 
nature of linguistic meaning, and the perspectival nature of linguistic meaning. The first 
characteristic merely states that the basic function of language involves meaning; the 
other two characteristics specify the nature of the semantic phenomena in question. The
primacy of semantics
in linguistic analysis follows in a straightforward fashion from the 
cognitive perspective itself: if the primary function of language is categorization, then 
meaning must be the primary linguistic phenomenon. The
encyclopedic nature of linguis­
tic meaning
follows from the categorial function of language: if language is a system for 
the categorization of the world, there is no need to postulate a systemic or structural lev­
el of linguistic meaning that is different from the level where world knowledge is associat­
ed with linguistic forms. The
perspectival nature of linguistic meaning
implies that the 
world is not objectively reflected in the language: the categorization function of the lan­
guage imposes a structure on the world rather than just mirroring objective reality. 
Specifically, language is a way of organizing knowledge that reflects the needs, interests, 
and experiences of individuals and cultures. The idea that linguistic meaning has a per­
spectivizing function is theoretically elaborated in the philosophical, epistemological posi­
tion taken by Cognitive Linguistics (see Johnson
1987; Lakoff
1987; Geeraerts
1993). The
experientialist
position of Cognitive Linguistics vis-à-vis human knowledge emphasizes 
the view that human reason is determined by our organic embodiment and by our individ­
ual and collective experiences.

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