On Ronald Langacker’s Semanticocentrism

Authors

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.17851/2237-2083.32.1.312-336

Keywords:

Ronald Langacker’s semanticocentrism, Noam Chomsky’s syntactocentrism, Ray Jackendoff’s parallel architecture, Biolinguistics

Abstract

Ray Jackendoff understands that Noam Chomsky’s linguistic models distort the nature of language due to its ‘syntactocentrism.’ Coined by Jackendoff, this term means Chomsky’s assumption that the syntactic component of language is central while the phonological and semantic components are merely interpretive. Jackendoff also states that since the 1970s many researchers have made a mistake opposite to Chomsky’s, by denying that syntax has a relevant role in grammar. Considering such a scenario, this paper analyzes Ronald Langacker’s cognitive grammar, in which syntax is replaced by semantics as the central linguistic component. The goal is to show how Langacker misrepresented language structure by doing so.

References

AARTS, B.; DENISON, D.; KEIZER, E.; POPOVA, G. (eds.). Fuzzy grammar: a reader. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2004.

ADGER, D. More misrepresentation: a response to Behme and Evans 2015. Lingua, v. 162, p. 160-166, 2015. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.lingua.2015.05.005

ARNAUD, A.; LANCELOT, C. The Port-Royal Grammar: General and Rational Grammar. The Hague, Paris: Mouton, 1975.

ARONOFF, M.; REES-MILLER, J. The handbook of linguistics. 3rd ed. Malden: Blackwell, 2006.

BARON-COHEN, S. Social and pragmatic deficits in autism: cognitive or affective? Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, v. 18, n.3, p. 379-402, 1988. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02212194

BARON-COHEN, S. Mindblindness: an essay on autism and theory of mind. Cambridge: MIT Press, 1995.

BARON-COHEN, S.; LESLIE, A. M.; FRITH, U. Does the autistic child have a “theory of mind”? Cognition, v. 21, n. 1, p. 37-46, 1985. DOI: 10.1016/0010-0277(85)90022-8

BICKERTON, D. Some problems for biolinguistics. Biolinguistics, v. 8, p. 73-96, 2014. DOI: https://doi.org/10.5964/bioling.8993

BISHOP, D. V. The underlying nature of specific language impairment. Child Psychology & Psychiatry & Allied Disciplines, v. 33, n. 1, p. 3-66, 1992. DOI: 10.1111/j.1469-7610.1992.tb00858.x.

BOECKX, C.; GROHMANN, K. K. The Cambridge handbook of biolinguistics. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2013.

CELA-CONDE, C.; MARTY, G. Noam Chomsky’s Minimalist Program and the Philosophy of Mind. Syntax, v. 1, n. 1, p. 19-36, 1998. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/1467-9612.00002

CHAMPAGNE-LAVAU, M.; JOANETTE, Y. Pragmatics, theory of mind and executive functions after a right-hemisphere lesion: different patterns of deficits. Journal of Neurolinguistics, v. 22, n. 5, p. 413-426, 2009. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jneuroling.2009.02.002

CHOMSKY, N. Aspects of the theory of syntax: 50th anniversary edition. Cambridge: MIT Press, 2015.

CHOMSKY, N. Biolinguistic explorations: design, development, evolution. International Journal of Philosophical Studies, v. 15, n. 1, p. 1-21, 2007a. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/09672550601143078

CHOMSKY, N. Deep Structure, Surface Structure, and Semantic Interpretation. In: JAKOBSON, R.; KAWAMOTO, S. (Eds.). Studies in General and Oriental Linguistics Presented to Shiro Hattori on the Occasion of his Sixtieth Birthday. Tokyo: TEC Co. Ltd., 1970. p. 52-91.

CHOMSKY, N. Knowledge of language: its nature, origin, and use. Westport: Praeger Publishers, 1986.

CHOMSKY, N. Lectures on government and binding. Dordrecht: Foris, 1981.

CHOMSKY, N. Of minds and language. Biolinguistics, v. 1, p. 9-27, 2007b. DOI: https://doi.org/10.5964/bioling.8585

CHOMSKY, N. On language: Chomsky’s classic works Language and responsibility and Reflections on language. New York, London: The New Press, 2007c.

CHOMSKY, N. Rules and representations. New York: Columbia University Press, 1980.

CHOMSKY, N. Syntactic structures. 2nd ed. Berlin, New York: Mouton de Gruyter, 2002.

CHOMSKY, N. The Minimalist Program. Cambridge, Mass.: MIT Press, 1995.

CHOMSKY, N.; HALLE, M. The sound pattern of English. New York: Harper & Row, 1968.

CORBETT, G. G. Gender. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1991.

CRAIN, S. Language acquisition in the absence of experience. Behavioral and Brain Science, v. 14, p. 597-650, 1991.

CRAIN, S. The emergence of meaning. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2012.

CRAIN, S.; NAKAYAMA, M. Structure dependence in grammar formation. Language, v. 63, n. 3, p. 522-543, 1987. DOI: https://doi.org/10.2307/415004

CRAIN, S.; PIETROSKI, P. Nature, nurture and Universal Grammar. Linguistics and Philosophy, v. 24, n. 2, p. 139-185, 2001. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1005694100138

CRAIN, S.; THORNTON, R. Investigations in universal grammar: a guide to experiments on the acquisition of syntax and semantics. Cambridge: MIT Press, 2012.

CROFT, W. The structure of events and the structure of language. In: TOMASELLO, M. (Ed.). The new psychology of language: cognitive and functional approaches to language structure. Mahwah; London: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Publishers, 1998. p. 67-92.

CROFT, W. Radical construction grammar: syntactic theory in typological perspective. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2001.

CURTISS, S. Dissociations between language and cognition: cases and implications. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, v. 2, n. 1, p. 15-30, 1981. DOI: 10.1007/BF01531338.

CURTISS, S. Revisiting modularity: using language as a window to the mind. In: PIATELLI-PALMARINI, M.; BERWICK, R. C. (eds). Rich languages from poor inputs. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2013. p. 68-90.

CURTISS, S.; YAMADA, J. Selectively intact grammatical development in a retarded child. UCLA Working Papers in Cognitive Linguistics, v. 3, p. 61-91, 1981.

CURTISS, S.; FROMKIN, V.; KRASHEN, S.; RIGLER, D.; RIGLER, M. The linguistic development of Genie. Language, v. 50, n. 3, p. 528-554, 1974. DOI: https://doi.org/10.2307/412222.

DE AGUIAR, V.; PAOLAZZI, C. L.; MICELI, G. Tdcs in post-stroke aphasia: the role of stimulation parameters, behavioral treatment and patient characteristics. Cortex, v. 63, p. 296-316, 2015. Doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cortex.2014.08.015

FILLMORE, C. J. The mechanisms of “construction grammar”. Berkeley Linguistics Society, v. 14, p. 35-55, 1988.

FODOR, J. The modularity of mind: an essay on faculty psychology. Cambridge: MIT Press, 1983.

FREEMAN, M. H. Cognitive linguistic approaches to literary studies. In: GEERAERTS, D.; CUYCKENS, H. (eds.). The Oxford handbook of cognitive linguistics. New York; Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2007. p. 1175-1202.

FROMKIN, V.; KRASHEN, S.; CURTISS, S.; RIGLER, D.; RIGLER, M. The development of language in Genie: a case of language acquisition beyond “critical period”. Brain and Language, v. 1, n. 1, p. 81-107, 1974. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/0093-934X(74)90027-3

GEERAERTS, D. Cognitive grammar and the history of lexical semantics. In: RUDZKA, B. (ed.). Topics in cognitive linguistics. Amsterdam: Benjamins, 1988. p. 647-677.

GEERAERTS, D. Hundred years of lexical semantics. In: 1º Encontro Internacional de Linguística Cognitiva. Atas… Porto, p. 123-154, 1999.

GEERAERTS, D. Introduction: a rough guide to cognitive linguistics. In: GEERAERTS, D. (ed.). Cognitive linguistics: basic readings. Berlin; New York: Mouton de Gruyter, 2006. p. 1-28.

GEERAERTS, D. The theoretical and descriptive development of lexical semantics. In: BEHRENS, L.; ZAEFFERER, D. (eds.). The lexicon in focus: competition and convergence in current lexicology. Bern: Peter Lang Verlag, 2002. p. 23-42.

GEERAERTS, D; CUYCKENS, H. Introducing cognitive linguistics. In: GEERAERTS, D.; CUYCKENS, H. (eds.). The Oxford handbook of cognitive linguistics. New York; Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2007. p. 3-21.

GIVÓN, T. Bio-linguistics: The Santa Barbara Lectures. Amsterdam: John Benjamins, 2002.

GIVÓN, T. On understanding grammar. New York; San Francisco; London: Academic Press, 1979.

GOLDBERG, A. E. Constructions: a construction grammar approach to argument structure. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1995.

GOLDBERG, A. E. Constructions at work: the nature of generalization in language. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2006.

GOLDBERG, A. E. Patterns of experience in patterns of language. In: TOMASELLO, M. (Ed.). The new psychology of language: cognitive and functional approaches to language structure. Mahwah; London: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Publishers, 1998. p. 203-219.

GREENBERG, J. H. How does a language acquire gender markers? In: GREENBERG, J. H. (Ed.). Universals of human language. Vol. 3, Word Structure. Stanford: Stanford University Press, 1978. p. 47-82.

HARDER, P. Cognitive linguistics and philosophy. In: GEERAERTS, D; CUYCKENS, H. (eds.). The Oxford handbook of cognitive linguistics. New York; Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2007. p. 1241-1265.

HARRIS, R. A. The linguistics wars. New York; Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1993.

JACKENDOFF, R. Foundations of language: brain, meaning, grammar, evolution. Oxford; New York: Oxford University Press, 2003.

JACKENDOFF, R. Language, consciousness, culture: essays on mental structure. Cambridge, Mass: MIT Press, 2007.

JACKENDOFF, R. Patterns in the mind: language and human nature. New York: Harvester Wheatsheaf, 1993.

JACKENDOFF, R. Semantic interpretation in generative grammar. Cambridge: MIT Press, 1972.

JACKENDOFF, R. The architecture of the language faculty. Cambridge: MIT Press, 1997.

JENKINS, L. Biolinguistics: a historical perspective. In: BOECKY, C.; GROHMANN, K. K. The Cambridge handbook of biolinguistics. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2013. P. 4-11.

KATZ, J.; POSTAL, P. An integrated theory of linguistic descriptions. Cambridge: MIT Press, 1964.

LAKOFF, G.; JOHNSON, M. Afterword. In: LAKOFF, G.; JOHNSON, M. Metaphors we live by. Chicago; London: The University of Chicago Press, 2003a. p. 243-274.

LAKOFF, G.; JOHNSON, M. Metaphors we live by. London: The University of Chicago Press, 2003b.

LANGACKER, R. W. (2007). Cognitive grammar. In: Geeraerts, Dirk; Cuyckens, Hubert (eds.). The Oxford handbook of cognitive linguistics. Oxford: Oxford University Press. p. 421-462.

LANGACKER, R. W. Cognitive grammar: a basic introduction. Oxford; New York: Oxford University Press, 2008.

LANGACKER, R. W. Cognitive grammar. In: HEINE, B.; NARROG, H. (eds.). The Oxford handbook of linguistic analysis. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2010. p. 87-109.

LANGACKER, R. W. Concept, image, and symbol: the cognitive basis of grammar. Berlin; New York: Mouton de Gruyter, 1991a.

LANGACKER, R. W. Conceptualization, Symbolization, and Grammar. In: TOMASELLO, M. (Ed.). The New Psychology of Language. Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum, 1998. p. 1-39.

LANGACKER, R. W. Essentials of cognitive grammar. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2013.

LANGACKER, R. W. Foundations of cognitive grammar. Volume 1: Theoretical prerequisites. Stanford: Stanford University Press, 1987.

LANGACKER, R. W. Foundations of cognitive grammar. Volume 2: Descriptive application. Stanford: Stanford University Press, 1991b.

LANGACKER, R. W. Grammar and Conceptualization. Berlin; New York: Mouton de Gruyter, 1999.

LANGACKER, R. W. Levels of reality. Lublin Studies in Modern Languages and Literature, v. 47, n. 1, p. 11-36, 2023. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.17951/lsmll.2023.47.1.11-36

LANGACKER, R. W. On grammatical categories. Journal of Cognitive Linguistics, v. 1, p. 44-79, 2015.

LANGACKER, R. W. The integration of grammar and grammatical change. Indian Linguistics, v. 42, p. 82-135, 1981.

LENNEBERG, E. H. Biological foundations of language. New York: Wiley & Sons, 1967.

LEONARD, L. B. Children with Specific Language Impairment. 2nd ed. Cambridge: MIT Press, 2014.

LOMLOMDJIAN, C.; MÚMERA, C. P.; LOW, D. M.; TERPILUK, V.; SOLÍS, P.; ABUSAMRA, V.; KOCHEN, S. The right hemisphere’s contribution to discourse processing: a study in temporal lobe epilepsy. Brain and Language, v. 171, p. 31-41, 2017. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bandl.2017.04.001

MARCUS, G. F.; RABAGLIA, C. D.; RABAGLIATI, H. Modularity and descent-with-modification. In: BOECKX, C.; GROHMANN, K. K. (eds.). The Cambridge handbook of biolinguistics. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2013. p. 326-340.

MARSHALL, J. C. Foreword. In: YAMADA, J. E. Laura: a case for the modularity of language. Cambridge, Mass: MIT Press, 1990. p. vii-xi.

MILLOTTE, S.; CAUVET, E.; BRUSINI, P.; CHRISTOPHE, A. Discovering word forms and word meanings: the role of phrasal prosody and function words. In: BOECKX, C.; GROHMANN, K. K. (eds.). The Cambridge handbook of biolinguistics. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2013. p. 86-93.

NEWMEYER, F. J. Generative linguistics: a historical perspective. London; New York: Routledge, 1996.

NATHAN, G. Phonemes as mental categories. In: TWELFTH ANNUAL MEETING OF THE BERKELEY LINGUISTICS SOCIETY, Berkeley, 1986. Proceedings…. Berkeley, p. 212-223, 1986.

NATHAN, G. Phonology. In: GEERAERTS, D.; CUYCKENS, H. (eds.). The Oxford handbook of cognitive linguistics. New York; Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2007. p. 611-631.

NATHAN, G. Phonology: a cognitive grammar introduction. Amsterdam; Philadelphia: John Benjamins, 2008.

NERLICH, B.; CLARKE, D. D. Cognitive linguistics and the history of linguistics. In: GEERAERTS, D.; CUYCKENS, H. (eds.). The Oxford handbook of cognitive linguistics. New York; Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2007. p. 589-607.

NERLICH, B.; CLARKE, D. D. Mind, meaning, and metaphor: the philosophy and psychology of metaphor in nineteenth-century Germany. History of the Human Sciences, v. 14, p. 39-61, 2001. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/09526950122120952

NERLICH, B.; CLARKE, D. D. Semantic fields and frames: historical explorations of the interface between language, action and cognition. Journal of Pragmatics, v. 32, n. 2, p. 125-150, 2000. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/S0378-2166(99)00042-9

NESSET, T. Abstract phonology in a concrete model. Berlin/ New York: Mouton de Gruyter, 2008.

NUYTS, J. Cognitive linguistics and functional linguistics. In: GEERAERTS, D.; CUYCKENS, H. (eds.). The Oxford handbook of cognitive linguistics. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2007. p. 543-565.

PARRET, H. Discussing language. The Hague: Mouton, 1974.

PAUL, H. Principles of the History of Language. London: Sonnenschein, 1888.

PIATTELLI-PALMARINI, M. Biolinguistics yesterday, today, and tomorrow. In: BOECKX, C.; GROHMANN, K. K. (eds.). The Cambridge handbook of biolinguistics. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2013. p. 12-21.

PIATTELLI-PALMARINI, M.; BERWICK, R. C. (eds). Rich languages from poor inputs. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2013.

PINKER, S. Language learnability and language development. Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1984.

PINKER, S. Learnability and cognition: the acquisition of verb-argument structure. Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1989.

POSTAL, P. The best theory. In: PETERS, S. (ed.). Goals of linguistic theory. Englewood Cliffs: Prentice-Hall, 1972. p. 131-170.

SEUREN, P. A. M. Chomsky’s minimalism. New York: Oxford University Press, 2004.

SILVA, A. A linguística cognitiva: uma breve introdução a um novo paradigma em linguística. Revista Portuguesa de Humanidades, v. 1, n. 1-2, p. 59-101, 1997.

SILVA, G. (forthcoming). Toward the union of generative grammar, cognitive linguistics and emergentism in biolinguistics.

SINANOVIC, Osman; MRKONNJIC, Z.; ZUKIC, S; VIDOVIC, M.; IMMAMOVIC, K. Post-stroke language disorders. Acta Clinica Croatia, v. 50, n. 1, p. 79-94, 2001.

SMITH, N.; TSIMPLI, I.-M. The mind of a savant: language learning and modularity. Oxford; Cambridge, Mass: Blackwell, 1995.

TALMY, L. Toward a cognitive semantics. Cambridge, Massachusetts: MIT Press, 2v, 2000.

TAYLOR, J. R. Cognitive linguistics and autonomous linguistics. In: GEERAERTS, D.; CUYCKENS, H. (eds.). The Oxford Handbook of cognitive linguistics. New York; Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2007. p. 566-588.

TAYLOR, J. R. Linguistic categorization. 3rd ed. Oxford; New York: Oxford University Press, 2003.

TRAXLER, M. J.; GERNSBACHER, M. A. (eds.). Handbook of psycholinguistics. 2nd ed. Amsterdam; Boston: Elsevier/Academic Press, 2006.

UNGERER, F.; SCHMID, H.-J. An introduction to cognitive linguistics. London; New York: Longman, 1996.

UNTERBECK, B.; RISSANEN, M.; NEVALAINEN, T.; SAARI, M. (eds). Gender in grammar and cognition. Berlin; New York: Mouton de Gruyter, 2000.

VIHMAN, M.; CROFT, W. Phonological development: toward a “radical” templatic phonology. Linguistics, v. 45, n. 4, p. 683-725, 2007. Doi: https://doi.org/10.1515/LING.2007.021

WILLIAMS, C.; WRIGHT, B. How to live with Autism and Asperger Syndrome: practical strategies for parents and professionals. London, Philadelphia: Jessica Kingsley Publishers, 2004.

YAMADA, J. E. Laura: a case for the modularity of language. Cambridge, Mass: MIT Press, 1990.

Downloads

Published

2024-11-05

Issue

Vol. 32 No. 1 (2024): Revista de Estudos da Linguagem

Section

Artigos

How to Cite

On Ronald Langacker’s Semanticocentrism. Revista de Estudos da Linguagem, [S. l.], v. 32, n. 1, p. 312–336, 2024. DOI: 10.17851/2237-2083.32.1.312-336. Disponível em: https://periodicos.ufmg.br/index.php/relin/article/view/55714. Acesso em: 26 dec. 2024.