<abstract xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml">This article inquiries into specific aspects of the relation between conceptual contiguity found in metonymic shifts and the online construction of frames, seen as a dynamic process of construal. It first reviews the theory of metonymy regarding the conceptual, lexical and contextual facets of the phenomenon. It then explores the possibility of extending the conceptual relevance of metonymy beyond the traditional typological approach of metonymic categorization, re-interpreting it as a frame-integration mechanism, or blending, whereby two frames are brought together into an extended ICM. Metonymic blending is formulated as a partial integration between two input spaces discursively driven, whereby an <italic>ad hoc</italic> identification of a referential commonness plays the role of the generic space of the blending. Subsequently, in the light of the assumption that frame-extension is not given categorically but it also includes – beyond its cognitive relevance – an interactional aspect, this analysis draws an interesting link: that between the generic space of metonymic blend, and <italic>common ground</italic>. The latter is precisely what facilitates the metonymic blend, regulating the distance between the integrated frames, at the same time remaining silent as discursively given information.</abstract>

Metonymy and frame integration: Interfacing between concepts and discourse

<abstract xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml">This article seeks to contribute to the body of research on the use of perception verbs in interaction and, more specifically, to enhance the understanding of how participants in courtroom proceedings exploit <italic>you see</italic> to manage the discourse as it unfolds and to negotiate stance. Against the background of earlier work on vision words in interaction, the study looks at parenthetical and non-parenthetical <italic>you see</italic> to reveal both perceptual and cognitive uses, and to identify their local pragmatic effect. As the analysis indicates, in the data at hand, lexical <italic>you see</italic> is more readily recruited than non-lexical <italic>you see</italic>, and it is found chiefly in grammatical and declarative questions. At the same time, it is the clause-initial <italic>you see</italic> that visibly brings out the epistemic tensions between the speakers and serves to contest the addressee’s position. The study corroborates the claim that <italic>you see</italic> is an argumentative marker, whose meaning (and force) depends on its formal properties (position, complementation) and the relationship between the speakers.</abstract>

<italic>But, you see, the problem is …</italic> Perception verbs in courtroom talk: Focus on <italic>you see</italic>

<abstract xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml">This paper presents an inquiry into the cognitive-pragmatic specifics of <italic>To Room Nineteen</italic> by Doris Lessing. Its major goal is to investigate the cognitive means that enable the fulfilment of the writer’s pragmatic aims in the process of literary communication. The research reveals the writer’s aims of raising the problem of women in a patriarchal society and of intensifying manipulative influence upon the reader, which were achieved via the implicit concept of NEUROSIS and the CONTAINER concept used to metaphorically interpret the described events. The investigation proved that the concept of NEUROSIS intensifies psychological manipulation of the reader, ensuring the reader’s engagement in message creation, preserving the reader’s trust regardless of the transference of inaccurate information, etc. It participates in the reader’s neural simulation through nomination of somatisms, retrieval of memories from previous painful experiences, the activation of the “mirroring” phenomenon, etc. Metaphoric modelling provides a psychological manipulation of the reader’s perception through shading and highlighting of the appropriate facets, creating proper associations and establishing specific images. It implements activation of the neural activity, creating imaginative simulation of the reader’s body in action and involving personal cognitive experiences.</abstract>

The writer’s pragmatic aims attainment in Doris Lessing’s <italic>To Room Nineteen</italic>: A cognitive linguistics view

<abstract xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml">This study aims to apply the Gricean theory of conversational cooperation to the example of inferential meaning in the oral speech of children with pragmatic deficit. Firstly, the analysis pays attention to the use of tropic inferences and particularized implicatures in conversation. Secondly, it focuses on the degree of maintenance or flouting with regard to conversational maxims. On average, study participants are 11.15 years old and possess a confirmed clinical diagnosis of Asperger syndrome. Results suggest a rare understanding and production of tropic inferences and particularized implicatures in dialogues, as well as the systematic application of the maxim of quality, the generalized non-fulfilment of the maxim of quantity and different degrees of fulfilment according to the remaining maxims.</abstract>

The construction of cooperative and inferential meaning by children with Asperger syndrome

<abstract xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml">To predict syntactic complexity in second/foreign language writing, some studies have advocated the use of T-unit and clausal subordination measures while others have argued for the use of phrase-based measures. This study seeks to identify syntactic features that can be regarded as discriminators among different levels of writing quality. For this purpose, a corpus of argumentative essays by EFL learners was compiled and then the essays were rated and placed into three groups of high-rated, mid-rated, and low-rated essays. The corpus was then coded and analysed for both phrasal and clausal features. The phrasal features were manually coded based on the development scheme hypothesized by Biber, Gray and Poonpon (2011) for academic writing, and the clausal features were analysed using the online L2 Syntactic Complexity Analyzer developed by Lu (2010). A separate ANOVA test was used to compare the three groups of essays for each of the phrasal and clausal features. The findings of the current study demonstrated that subordination and dependent clauses were not good indicators of different writing qualities in our corpus. Also, the pattern of noun phrase complexity predicted by Biber et al. (2011) was not observed across argumentative essays from three different levels of writing quality.</abstract>

Exploring syntactic complexity and its relationship with writing quality in EFL argumentative essays

AHEAD OF PRINT

Volume 24 (2023): Issue 2 (December 2023)

Volume 24 (2023): Issue 1 (June 2023)

Volume 23 (2022): Issue 2 (December 2022)

Volume 23 (2022): Issue 1 (June 2022)

Volume 22 (2021): Issue 2 (December 2021)

Volume 22 (2021): Issue 1 (June 2021)

Volume 21 (2020): Issue 2 (December 2020)

Volume 21 (2020): Issue 1 (June 2020)

Volume 20 (2019): Issue 2 (December 2019)

Volume 20 (2019): Issue 1 (June 2019)

Volume 19 (2018): Issue 2 (December 2018)

Volume 19 (2018): Issue 1 (June 2018)

Volume 18 (2017): Issue 2 (December 2017)

Volume 18 (2017): Issue 1 (June 2017)

Volume 17 (2016): Issue 2 (December 2016)

Volume 17 (2016): Issue 1 (June 2016)

Volume 16 (2015): Issue 1 (December 2015)

Volume 15 (2015): Issue 1 (June 2015)

Volume 14 (2014): Issue 1 (December 2014)

Volume 13 (2014): Issue 1 (June 2014)

Topics in Linguistics

 Topics in Linguistics is a double-blind, peer-reviewed international scientific journal issued twice a year by the Department of English and American Studies, the Faculty of Arts, at the Constantine the Philosopher University in Nitra.  The journal aims to foster interdisciplinary, cross-linguistic and cross-cultural approaches to language research. Topics in Linguistics seeks to publish high-quality, original papers which adopt diverse theoretical and methodological perspectives in exploring a wide range of current issues in linguistic studies. Although papers on world languages are considered, we especially encourage submissions dealing with the majority and minority languages spoken in Europe.  Subject areas of study include, but are not limited to:   general linguistics (phonology, morphology, syntax, semantics, pragmatics)  interfaces with general linguistics (neurolinguistics, psycholinguistics, sociolinguistics, computational linguistics)  cognitive linguistics  comparative linguistics  corpus linguistics  applied linguistics  stylistics  (critical) discourse analysis  intercultural communication   Topics in Linguistics is published in English. Authors are requested to submit their papers (doc. format) anonymously. The authors will receive an automatic confirmation email and are notified within one month of submission of the results of the initial screening of their manuscript.From Volume 13, 2014 onwards, Topics in Linguistics has been published by De Gruyter Open (now Sciendo). Since 2016 Topics in Linguistics has been an electronic-only journal.  Acceptance Rate (2020-2021)   11.85%   Archiving  Sciendo archives the contents of this journal in Portico - digital long-term preservation service of scholarly books, journals and collections.  Plagiarism Policy  The editorial board is participating in a growing community of Similarity Check System's users in order to ensure that the content published is original and trustworthy. Similarity Check is a medium that allows for comprehensive manuscripts screening, aimed to eliminate plagiarism and provide a high standard and quality peer-review process. 

Topics in Linguistics

Volume 20 (2019): Issue 1 (June 2019)

Metonymy and frame integration: Interfacing between concepts and discourse

But, you see, the problem is … Perception verbs in courtroom talk: Focus on you see

The writer’s pragmatic aims attainment in Doris Lessing’s To Room Nineteen: A cognitive linguistics view

The construction of cooperative and inferential meaning by children with Asperger syndrome

Exploring syntactic complexity and its relationship with writing quality in EFL argumentative essays

Suche

Alle Bände und Hefte dieser Zeitschrift