Language Structure and Cognition

Course Information
TitleΔομή της Γλώσσας και Νόηση / Language Structure and Cognition
CodeΓλ 522
FacultyPhilosophy
SchoolEnglish Language and Literature
Cycle / Level2nd / Postgraduate
Teaching PeriodWinter/Spring
CommonNo
StatusActive
Course ID600016479

Programme of Study: PMS THEŌRĪTIKĪS KAI EFARMOSMENĪS GLŌSSOLOGIAS

Registered students: 13
OrientationAttendance TypeSemesterYearECTS
GLŌSSOLOGIACompulsory Course2110

Class Information
Academic Year2021 – 2022
Class PeriodSpring
Faculty Instructors
Weekly Hours3
Total Hours39
Class ID
600206003
Course Type 2016-2020
  • Scientific Area
Course Type 2011-2015
Specific Foundation / Core
Mode of Delivery
  • Face to face
Digital Course Content
Language of Instruction
  • English (Instruction, Examination)
Learning Outcomes
Acquire familiarity with the the framework of Cognitive Linguistics Be able to critically evaluate it with other frameworks Be able to apply cognitive linguistic tools to the study of areas of language Undertake independent research on given topics
General Competences
  • Apply knowledge in practice
  • Work autonomously
  • Work in teams
  • Generate new research ideas
  • Appreciate diversity and multiculturality
  • Demonstrate social, professional and ethical commitment and sensitivity to gender issues
  • Be critical and self-critical
  • Advance free, creative and causative thinking
Course Content (Syllabus)
The aim of the course is on the one hand to widen the students’ understanding of the framework of Cognitive Linguistics and on the other hand to deepen into the fact that the semantics associated with various syntactic constructions is directly associated with the construction as a whole rather than with the lexicosemantic structure of individual entities. What does it mean to take a constructional approach to grammar? Most crucial is the Construction Grammar definition of construction as encompassing all pairings of form and meaning. Words, non-word morphemes, idioms and other grammatical structures are all constructions, because they contribute form and meaning to an utterance (Goldberg 2006: 5). A construction-based theory of grammar allows us to investigate meaning in non-metaphoric and metaphoric language on the basis of the semantics of grammatical constructions themselves. Meaning, for most formalist theories of grammar, is contributed by the lexicon and slotted into purely formal syntactic structures. However, all construction grammars assign both form and meaning to constructions. That is, these theories recognize that not all meaning comes from the lexicon, and that grammatical constructions may also contribute meaning to a phrase or sentence. (see Lakoff 1987; Fillmore, Kay & O’Connor 1988; Goldberg 1995, 2006; Fillmore & Kay 1999; Croft 2001).
Keywords
Cognitive Linguistics, Figurative language, Grammatical Constructions
Educational Material Types
  • Notes
  • Slide presentations
  • Book
Course Organization
ActivitiesWorkloadECTSIndividualTeamworkErasmus
Lectures782.8
Seminars
Written assigments1284.7
Total2067.5
Student Assessment
Description
There is a small-scale assignment presented in class discussing a particular topic of Cognitive Linguistics. The final assignment (3000 words) is under supervision.
Student Assessment methods
  • Written Assignment (Formative, Summative)
  • Performance / Staging (Formative, Summative)
Bibliography
Additional bibliography for study
Croft, W. (2001). Radical Construction Grammar: syntactic theory in typological perspective. Oxford: OUP. Evans, V., B. Bergen, J. Zinken. (2007) The Cognitive Linguistics Reader. Equinox Pub. Fillmore, Charles J. and Paul Kay. (1999). Grammatical constructions and linguistic generalizations: The What’s X Doing Y? construction. Language 75: 1-33. Fillmore, Charles J., Paul Kay and Catherine O’Connor. 1988. Regularity and idiomaticity in grammatical constructions: The case of let alone. Language 64: 501-538. Geeraerts, D. (2006). Cognitive Linguistics: Basic Readings. CLR 34. Mouton de Gruyter. Geeraerts, D and H. Cuyckens (eds.) (2007). The Oxford Handbook of Cognitive Linguistics. OUP. Goldberg, A. E. (1995). Constructions: A construction grammar approach to argument structure. Chicago: The University of Chicago Press. Goldberg, A. E. (2006). Constructions at work: The nature of generalization in language. Oxford: OUP. Lakoff, G. (1987). Women, Fire, and dangerous things: What categories reveal about the mind. University of Chicago Press. Taylor, J. (1995). Linguistic Categorization. OUP. Ungerer, F. and H.-J. Schmid. (2006). An Introduction to Cognitive Linguistics. Longman.
Last Update
18-02-2019