Figure and Ground Part 2 APLNG 597C LEJIAO WANG 03/16/2015

4.2 Figure, ground and two metaphors: a cognitive explanation of simple clause patterns  Participants, setting and the stage metaphor e.g. Susan was eating a banana in the kitchen at nine o’clock in the morning. Agent Patient ? ? ?

4.2 Figure, ground and two metaphors: a cognitive explanation of simple clause patterns  Participants, setting and the stage metaphor

4.2 Figure, ground and two metaphors: a cognitive explanation of simple clause patterns  Participants, setting and the stage metaphor Setting of an event: comprehensive and relatively stable. (expressed by adverbials, particular adverbials of space and time) Participants in the event: smaller and mobile and engaged in physical contact and mental interaction. (subjects and objects)

4.2 Figure, ground and two metaphors: a cognitive explanation of simple clause patterns  Participants, setting and the stage metaphor Prominence is not limited to figure and ground. Settings can also be prominent at various degrees. e.g. People drink beer in Munich. Susan lives in Munich. True setting for an action chain. Function as “identifiable ground”.

4.2 Figure, ground and two metaphors: a cognitive explanation of simple clause patterns  Participants, setting and the stage metaphor Image schema for “Susan lives in Munich”: Container schema (container-contained relationship)

4.2 Figure, ground and two metaphors: a cognitive explanation of simple clause patterns  Participants, setting and the stage metaphor Image schema for “Susan lives in Munich”: Container schema (container-contained relationship)

4.2 Figure, ground and two metaphors: a cognitive explanation of simple clause patterns  Participants, setting and the stage metaphor Image schema Setting+participants (container-contained relationship) Participants (action chain, mental interaction) Container schema “Path” schema

4.2 Figure, ground and two metaphors: a cognitive explanation of simple clause patterns  Participants, setting and the stage metaphor High Low Setting function as ground. More tangible setting and more prominent. Not a plain setting, more like a participant, object-like use of the noun phrase.

4.2 Figure, ground and two metaphors: a cognitive explanation of simple clause patterns  Participants, setting and the stage metaphor Setting can also occur as subject e.g. The garden is swarming with bees. Locative setting Syntactic figure/Subject Participant Syntactic ground

4.2 Figure, ground and two metaphors: a cognitive explanation of simple clause patterns  Participants, setting and the stage metaphor Container schema for settings both as subject and object: e.g. The garden is swarming with bees. Susan lives in Munich.

4.2 Figure, ground and two metaphors: a cognitive explanation of simple clause patterns  Prototypical subject vs. schematic subject Prototypical subject: the agent in a transitive clause. Schematic subject: 1. archetypal role of agent 2. first expressed element of an action chain; the upstream element in the energy flow 3. active participant (in mental interaction) 4. syntactic figure (setting)

4.3 Other types of prominence and cognitive processing From a cognitive point of view, most linguistic expressions are based on the perception of objects or situations in the real world. ? What is the cognitive process for this translation from real world stimuli to linguistic expressions? Chaotic assembly of perceptual stimuli (structured into… ) Cognitive unites Then what? …

4.3 Other types of prominence and cognitive processing  How are cognitive units established?  How are these cognitive units translated into the lexical categories underlying individual words?  How are the words combined when a more complex situation is conceptualized and verbalized?

4.3 Other types of prominence and cognitive processing  Cognitive intake, cognitive units and domains Prototypes of certain basic level categories --- Gestalt properties Langacker: each stimulus is evaluated with respect to domains. Domain : contexts for the characterization of a semantic unit (i.e. cognitive unit). Cognitive unit --- figure/PROFILE Domain ---ground/BASE Figure/ground contrast (relational)

4.3 Other types of prominence and cognitive processing  Cognitive intake, cognitive units and domains The most elementary domains: Space and vision, Temperature, Taste, Pressure, Pain and color

4.3 Other types of prominence and cognitive processing  Cognitive intake, cognitive units and domains How do domains function? Domain: space Cognitive unit: circle

4.3 Other types of prominence and cognitive processing  Cognitive intake, cognitive units and domains How do domains function? Step 1: Domain: space Cognitive unit: circle Step 2: Domain: circle Cognitive unit: arc *For “arc”, “circle” is the primary domain (more specific, immediately relevant for arc) Therefore, more specific domains can emerge from the element domains.

4.3 Other types of prominence and cognitive processing  Cognitive intake, cognitive units and domains Sometimes different domains can be evoked simultaneously and form a matrix for the cognitive unit: Body : space, temperature, color, etc. can be used together to profile the cognitive unit body.

4.3 Other types of prominence and cognitive processing  Cognitive intake, cognitive units and domains ! “These elementary domains are not ‘derived’ or ‘abstracted’ from the meaning of individual words, but they are ‘basic’ in the sense that they represent basic human experiences and not reducible to other, more fundamental, domains. (In other words, they are the cognitive tools with which we approach and master the world.) ”

4.3 Other types of prominence and cognitive processing  Cognitive intake, cognitive units and domains  How are cognitive units established? A: The matrix of domains is the base (or ground) against which cognitive units are profiled (as figure).

4.3 Other types of prominence and cognitive processing  Profiling objects, persons and relations: the emergence of word classes Chaotic assembly of perceptual stimuli (structured into… ) Cognitive unites Cognitive categories … (translate into…) Choice of word classes Not determine linguistic expressions yet (knuckle: knock, knuckle…)

4.3 Other types of prominence and cognitive processing  Profiling objects, persons and relations: the emergence of word classes (Cognitive unit) Cognitive categories Cognitive relations (adv., adj., v., prep.) A whole cognitive rigion (n. pron. nominal phrases) e.g. on togetherness The three men were together. (adv.) The three men have many common views. (adj.) The group share their views. (v.) Nominal profile Relational profile

4.3 Other types of prominence and cognitive processing  Profiling objects, persons and relations: the emergence of word classes Relational profiles: Relation profiles have an internal figure/ground organization. Prep: out, up, into… Motion verbs: left, climb, enter Denoting a moving trajector (figure) and a stationary landmark (ground).

4.3 Other types of prominence and cognitive processing  Profiling objects, persons and relations: the emergence of word classes Why are identical trajector/landmark relationships expressed in two ways by verbs and prepositions? Determined by our ability to scan the cognitive input.

4.3 Other types of prominence and cognitive processing  Profiling objects, persons and relations: the emergence of word classes  How are these cognitive units translated into the lexical categories underlying individual words? A: By choosing different word classes.

4.3 Other types of prominence and cognitive processing  Scanning and word class distinction Summary scanning: the facets of a situation, as reflected in a cognitive unit, are examined one after the other, the data are added up, … assembled in the observer’s mind as a whole, as a single “gestalt”. Sequential scanning: the relevant cognitive units are examined successively, but the data are only added up for a certain stage of the event. (stage after stage)

4.3 Other types of prominence and cognitive processing  Scanning and word class distinction Summary scanning: nominal profiles (n., pron., nominal phrases) certain relational profiles (prep., adj.) Sequential scanning: temporal relations (finite verbs)

4.3 Other types of prominence and cognitive processing  Scanning and word class distinction Summary Scanning (results) Sequential Scanning (stages)

4.3 Other types of prominence and cognitive processing  Syntactic figure and ground revisited  How are the words combined when a more complex situation is conceptualized and verbalized? A: 1. role archetypes, action chains and mental interactions between participants. 2. settings can be included as container for a participant.

4.3 Other types of prominence and cognitive processing  Syntactic figure and ground revisited

4.3 Other types of prominence and cognitive processing  Syntactic figure and ground revisited Chaotic assembly of perceptual stimuli (structured into… ) Cognitive unites Cognitive categories (translate into…) (Choice of word classes) Process of selection (between participants and settings) Cognitive processing

4.3 Other types of prominence and cognitive processing  Viewing arrangement 3 principles guiding cognitive processing:  Prominence  Specificity: the level at which we interact with the world around us (superordinate level, basic level, subordinate level)  Viewing arrangement (Persective): take into account the relationship between onstage event and offstage observer.

4.3 Other types of prominence and cognitive processing  Viewing arrangement Egocentric view arrangement: The relationship between the speaker/hearer and the event is made explicit. (expressed by first and second person pronoun, deictic items this, here, now…)

Thank you !