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Cognitive Linguistics: An Approach to the Study of Language and Thought

Prof. V. Chandra Sekhar Rao (csrao46@gmail.com)

Professor Emeritus in English, Hyderabad, India, ORCI ID: 0000-0002-3584-1438

Abstract 1
The present paper is an attempt to simplify and comprehend what Cognitive Linguistics deals. It helps the learners,
students of linguistics and teachers of ELT understand the characteristics and phenomena of Cognitive Linguistics,
providing a succinct overview of Cognitive Linguistics. It is an interdisciplinary branch of linguistics and a cluster
of overlapping approaches to the study of language as a mental phenomenon. Linguistics basically focuses on the
sounds, words, grammar rules and rules of a language consisting of phonology (the sound system), morphology (the
structure of words), syntax (the arrangement of words into sentences) and semantics (meanings). Cognitive
linguistics is an integrated model - a collection of comprehensive investigations of a wide range of cognitive and
linguistic phenomena.
Keywords: Cognitive Linguistics, Cognitive Approaches to Grammar, Cognitive Semantics, Symbolic
Thesis, Usage-Based Thesis

Introduction

In the recent times, Cognitive Linguistics has developed into one of the most dynamic and attractive
frameworks within theoretical and descriptive linguistics. The present paper provides a succinct overview
of Cognitive Linguistics.

Cognitive linguistics is regarded as an interdisciplinary branch of linguistics with a combination of

knowledge and investigation adopting from cognitive psychology, neuropsychology and linguistics. It is a
modern school of linguistic thought that originally emerged in the early 1970s out of dissatisfaction; and
it is a cluster of overlapping approaches to the study of language as a mental phenomenon.

Cognitive Linguistics is a method to deal with the study of natural language that began in the late 70s and
early 80s in the work of George Lakoff, Ron Langacker, and Len Talmy. It is emphasizing on language as
an instrument for arranging, handling, and passing on information (Geeraerts and Cuyckens, 2007).

Language is a particular human cognitive capability yet the intellectual processes answerable for the
storage and recovery of linguistic and non-linguistic knowledge are fundamentally the alike. Cognitive
linguistics incorporates various extensively viable hypothetical ways to deal with linguistic importance
and structure sharing a typical premise: the thought that language is a central part of cognition and it
mirrors the relationship of social, psychological, and informative elements which must be perceived with
regards to a sensible perspective on conceptualization and mental processing.

_____________________________________________________________________________________
Cognitive Linguistics: An Approach to the Study of Language and Thought
Prof. V. Chandra Sekhar Rao JRSP-ELT (ISSN: 2456-8104)
 ISSN: 2456-8104 Impact Factor: 4.928 (SJIF)
Vol. 5 | Issue 24 | March 2021 www.jrspelt.com
In the views of Evans and Green (2006) Cognitive linguistics is a relatively new school of linguistics, and
one of the most innovative and exciting approaches to the study of language and thought that has emerged
within the modern field of interdisciplinary study known as cognitive science.

Language and Linguistics

Aristotle defines, “A language is a structured system of communication used by humans. Languages 2

consist of spoken sounds in spoken languages or written elements in written languages. Language is a
speech sound produced by human beings in order to express their ideas, emotions, thoughts, desires and
feelings”. “Language is the inherent capability of the native speakers to understand and form grammatical
sentences” (Chomsky); and Encyclopedia Britannica gives its definition as, “Language is a system of
conventional or written symbols by means of which human beings as members of social groups and
participants in its culture, communicate”.

On the other hand, Linguistics is the methodical investigation of language. It includes a study of language
structure, language importance, and language in setting, just as an investigation of the cultural, social,
historical, and political components that impact language. Linguists conventionally investigate human
language by noticing the connection between sound and meaning.

Stern (1983) defines Linguistics as ‘the science of language’ or ‘the systematic study of language’.
Linguistics is a theoretical science, designed to account for the phenomena of language; and the central
purpose of linguistics is the development of theories on aspects of language and a general theory of
language. Changes in language teaching-learning process mirror the improvement of linguistic theories.

As the science of language, Linguistics takes account of the sounds, words, grammar rules and rules of a
language consisting of phonology, the sound system, morphology, the structure of words, syntax, the
arrangement of words into sentences, semantics, the methods in which sounds and meanings are
connected, and the lexicon, or intellectual dictionary of words.

Language and Cognition

Before studying Cognitive Linguistics, one should know the interactive functions and involvement of
language and cognition in thinking. It is assumed that language is just used for communication of
completed thoughts. There developed a general hypothesis that language and cognition are two separate
but closely interacting mechanisms. Language accumulates cultural wisdom; cognition develops mental
representations modeling surrounding world and adapts cultural knowledge to concrete circumstances of

_____________________________________________________________________________________
Cognitive Linguistics: An Approach to the Study of Language and Thought
Prof. V. Chandra Sekhar Rao JRSP-ELT (ISSN: 2456-8104)
 ISSN: 2456-8104 Impact Factor: 4.928 (SJIF)
Vol. 5 | Issue 24 | March 2021 www.jrspelt.com
life. Language is acquired from surrounding language “ready-made”. Cognition is developed from
experience.

Cognition includes all conscious and unconscious processes by which knowledge is accumulated, such as
perceiving, recognizing, conceiving, and reasoning. Put differently, cognition is a state or experience of
knowing that can be distinguished from an experience of feeling or willing (Britannica). According to
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Chomsky (1995), there is a difference between language and cognition; these two abilities are separate
and independent. But, Cognitive linguistics emphasizes a single mechanism for both (Croft and Cruse,
2004).

It is accepted that psyche is a piece of brain’s work; and the psyche is tentatively defined as a mixture of
three main cognitive components: sensitivity, memory, and awareness. Language is made by mind, yet,
when articulated, words reappear to the mind, where they are perceived. The cycle from the psyche to the
language and afterward from the language to the mind, is recursive, in that the language created by the
psyche returns to the psyche once again.

Assumptions and Commitments

The assumptions and commitments put up cognitive linguistics a unique enterprise. Cognitive linguists
extensively shared two key commitments: the ‘Generalisation Commitment’ and the ‘Cognitive
Commitment’. These two commitments underlie the direction and approach espoused by practising
cognitive linguists; and the assumptions and methodologies used in the two major branches of the
cognitive linguistics enterprise are cognitive semantics and cognitive approaches to grammar.

Cognitive linguistics is illustrated as an "enterprise" or a "movement” since it is not a particular theory.

To a certain extent, it is an approach assuming a common set of guiding principles, assumptions and
viewpoints. The cognitive linguistics enterprise, according to George Lakoff (1990), is described by
these two key commitments. The ‘Generalisation Commitment’ is a commitment to the characterisation
of general principles that are liable for all characteristics of human language; and the Cognitive
Commitment is a commitment to giving a characterisation of general standards for language that agrees
with what is known about the psyche and mind from different controls.

Cognitive linguistics, a modern school of linguistic is the study of language is frequently isolated into
particular regions, for example, phonology (sound), semantics (word and sentence meaning), pragmatics
(discourse context), morphology (word structure) grammar or syntax (sentence structure), etc. The
Generalisation Commitment prompts the quest for standards of language structure that hold across all
parts of language. In a connected way, the Cognitive Commitment indicates the view that standards of
_____________________________________________________________________________________
Cognitive Linguistics: An Approach to the Study of Language and Thought
Prof. V. Chandra Sekhar Rao JRSP-ELT (ISSN: 2456-8104)
 ISSN: 2456-8104 Impact Factor: 4.928 (SJIF)
Vol. 5 | Issue 24 | March 2021 www.jrspelt.com
linguistic construction ought to reflect what is thought about human cognition from different controls,
especially the other cognitive sciences (philosophy, psychology, artificial intelligence and neuroscience).

Cognitive Semantics

Cognitive semantics considers linguistic meaning to be as an expression of conceptual structure: the

nature and association of psychological representation in the entirety of its lavishness and variety, and this 4
is the thing that makes it a particular way to deal with linguistic meaning.

Cognitive semantics is certainly not an integrated theory. It addresses a way to deal with the investigation
of psyche and its connection with epitomized insight and culture. It continues by utilizing language as a
key methodological instrument for revealing conceptual organisation and structure. As indicated by
Leonard Talmy (2000), cognitive semantics is a study on conceptual content and its association in
language.

Cognitive semantics instigated as an effect opposed to formal theories of meaning obtaining from 20th
century methodical way of thinking and objectivism; however the guiding principles embraced inside
cognitive semantics open up a scope of phenomena for direct exploration that rises above the primary
purpose of takeoff for research in cognitive semantics.

Here are four guiding principles that collectively characterise the collection of approaches that fall within
cognitive semantics (as indicated by Evans and Green, 2006):

 Conceptual structure is embodied.

 Semantic structure is conceptual structure.

 Meaning representation is encyclopaedic.

 Meaning-construction is conceptualisation.

Conceptual structure is embodied: A primary concern for cognitive semanticists is the nature of the
connection between conceptual structure and the outside world of experience perceived by the senses. As
such, cognitive semanticists set out to explore the nature of human communication with and
consciousness of the outside world, and to put up a hypothesis of conceptual structure; it agrees with the
manners by which we experience the world. One idea that has emerged in an attempt to explain the nature
of conceptual organisation on the basis of contact with the bodily world is the epitomized cognition
thesis.

_____________________________________________________________________________________
Cognitive Linguistics: An Approach to the Study of Language and Thought
Prof. V. Chandra Sekhar Rao JRSP-ELT (ISSN: 2456-8104)
 ISSN: 2456-8104 Impact Factor: 4.928 (SJIF)
Vol. 5 | Issue 24 | March 2021 www.jrspelt.com
Semantic Structure is Conceptual Structure: This principle declares that language alludes to concepts in
the psyche of the speaker as opposed to objects in the outside world. All in all, semantic structure (the
meanings traditionally connected with words and other linguistic units) can be associated with concepts.
These usual meanings associated with words are linguistic concepts or lexical concepts: the traditional
form that conceptual structure requires in order to be encoded in language.
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Nonetheless, the claim that semantic structure can be compared with conceptual structure does not imply
that the two are indistinguishable. All things being equal, cognitive semanticists argue that the
implications related with words, for instance, form just a subset of potential concepts. All things
considered, we have a lot of musings, thoughts and sentiments than we can traditionally encode in
language. Notwithstanding, as Langacker (1987) calls attention to, there is no English word that
expectedly encodes this concept (at any rate not in the non-expert jargon of ordinary language). It follows
that the arrangement of lexical ideas is just a subset of the whole arrangement of ideas in the psyche of the
speaker.

Meaning Representation is Encyclopaedic: The third focal principle of cognitive semantics is that
semantic structure is typically encyclopaedic. This implies that words do not address conveniently
bundled groups of significance, however, act as ‘points of access’ to vast repositories of knowledge
relating to a particular concept or conceptual domain (Langacker, 1987). This idea is demonstrated taking
the concept BACHELOR as an example. Undoubtedly, in addition to the fact that we know that particular
sorts of unmarried grown-up guys would not typically be depicted as bachelors; moreover, we have
cultural awareness with respect to the demeanour related with stereotypical bachelors. It is
‘encyclopaedic’ awareness of this type letting us to decipher this generally opposing sentence such as:

‘Your husband is a true bachelor! Andrea, be cautious.’

Here Andrea’s husband (a married man) is described as a bachelor; it seems to be conflicting. Conversely,
our society regards that cultural stereotype of bachelors are sexual predators; so we understand the
expression of the sentence (Your husband is a true bachelor! Andrea, be cautious.); and it is also a caution
to Andrea regarding her husband’s loyalty. Therefore, it explains that the meanings related with words
frequently draw upon complex and sophisticated bodies of knowledge.

Meaning construction is conceptualization: the fourth principle of cognitive semantics indicates that
language itself does not encode meaning. Alternatively, words (and other linguistic units) are just
‘prompts’ for the building of meaning. As per this view, meaning is built at the conceptual level: meaning
development is likened with conceptualization, a a powerful cycle whereby linguistic units act as prompts

_____________________________________________________________________________________
Cognitive Linguistics: An Approach to the Study of Language and Thought
Prof. V. Chandra Sekhar Rao JRSP-ELT (ISSN: 2456-8104)
 ISSN: 2456-8104 Impact Factor: 4.928 (SJIF)
Vol. 5 | Issue 24 | March 2021 www.jrspelt.com
for a range of conceptual operations and the enlistment of background knowledge. Basing on this view
that meaning is a course of action instead of a discrete ‘thing’ that can be bundled by language. Meaning
development draws upon encyclopaedic knowledge, and entails inferencing methodologies connecting to
various parts of conceptual structure, organization and packaging (Sweetser, 1999).

Cognitive Approaches to Grammar

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Cognitive Grammar is the name of a specific cognitive theory of grammar which Ronald Langacker
(1987) developed. Cognitive approaches to grammar are an assortment of approaches amalgamated by
theoretical assumptions opposed to a single unified theory. Contrasting to cognitive semantics, cognitive
approaches to grammar focus directly upon the linguistic structure. Moreover, because the symbolic
thesis, focal to all cognitive approaches to grammar, entails that sound, meaning and grammar are
inextricably linked; and the statements that comprise the theories apply, in principle, to all these aspects
of language.

As it is observed that cognitive linguistics is a collection of approaches opposed to a single unified

framework, this is particularly evident in the cognitive approaches to the study of grammar. After all,
cognitive linguists, emphasizing on grammatical change, attempted to elucidate the process of
grammaticalisation, whereby open-class elements steadily transform into closed-class elements. All these
trails of investigation are combined by certain shared assumptions. Here are the two central guiding
assumptions of a cognitive approach to grammar:

 The symbolic thesis

 The usage-based thesis

The symbolic thesis: the symbolic thesis, the first guiding assumption holds that the primary unit of
grammar is a form-meaning pairing or symbolic unit; it is called a ‘symbolic assembly’ in Langacker’s
Cognitive Grammar framework or a ‘construction’ in construction grammar approaches. According to
Langacker, the symbolic unit consists of two poles such as, a semantic pole (meaning) and a phonological
pole (sound). The thought that language has a basically symbolic function and that the primary unit of
grammar is the symbolic unit has its origins in Saussure’s hypothesis of language. As indicated by the
Swiss linguist Ferdinand de Saussure (1857–1913), the ‘father of modern linguistics’, language is a
symbolic framework wherein the linguistic expression (sign) comprises of a planning between a concept
(signified) and an acoustic signal (signifier), where both signified and signifier are mental entities. The
cognitive model assumes the thought of the Saussurean symbol, in which the semantic pole represents to
the ‘signified’ and the phonological pole to the ‘signifier’.
_____________________________________________________________________________________
Cognitive Linguistics: An Approach to the Study of Language and Thought
Prof. V. Chandra Sekhar Rao JRSP-ELT (ISSN: 2456-8104)
 ISSN: 2456-8104 Impact Factor: 4.928 (SJIF)
Vol. 5 | Issue 24 | March 2021 www.jrspelt.com
For example, the idea RAT is the semantic pole of a symbolic unit. The phonological pole is the speaker’s
awareness of the string of speech sounds, representing to the concept RAT, such as: /ræt/, (IPA) symbols
given by the International Phonetic Alphabet.

The ‘phonological’ pole should therefore be understood in different manners, based on the means of
communication. The espousal of the symbolic thesis has a significant consequence for a model of
7
grammar; as it is the basic unit and the symbolic unit, meaning attains focal status in the cognitive model.

From a cognitive viewpoint, the study of grammar is regarded as the analysis of the complete range of
units making up a language from the lexical to the grammatical. For instance, the grammatical structure of
a sentence is paired with its own (schematic) meaning in the similar manner that words like RAT
correspond to pairings of form and (content) meaning. For example, observe the following sentences:

(a) Katharine amuses John. (Active voice)

(b) John is amused by Katharine. (Passive voice)

Sentence (b) is the passive construction in which the PATIENT is placed in subject position (before the
verb). The sentence is also marked with a passive verb string, here is amused. The generalised form of the
passive construction is illustrated as:

(c) PATIENT ‘passive verb string’ by AGENT

Here the meaning is emphasised on the PATIENT (John) opposed to the AGENT (Katharine). The
thought that grammatical components are intrinsically meaningful is a significant theme in cognitive
approaches to grammar.

The Usage-Based Thesis: The second guiding assumption of the cognitive approach to grammar is the
usage-based thesis; it holds that the psychological grammar of the speaker (awareness of language) is
shaped by the thought of symbolic units from positioned occurrences of language use. A significant result
of embracing the usage-based thesis is that there is no principled distinction between awareness of
language and utilization of language, since knowledge rises up out of utilization. From this point of view,
knowledge of language is knowledge of how language is utilized.

Conclusion

Cognitive linguistics is considered an interdisciplinary branch of linguistics adopting from cognitive

psychology and neuropsychology. It is a method to deal with the study of natural language specifically
focusing on language as an instrument for arranging, handling, and passing on information (Geeraerts and

_____________________________________________________________________________________
Cognitive Linguistics: An Approach to the Study of Language and Thought
Prof. V. Chandra Sekhar Rao JRSP-ELT (ISSN: 2456-8104)
 ISSN: 2456-8104 Impact Factor: 4.928 (SJIF)
Vol. 5 | Issue 24 | March 2021 www.jrspelt.com
Cuyckens, 2007). Cognitive linguistics is a relatively new school of linguistics, and one of the most
innovative and exciting approaches to the study of language and thought (Evans and Green, 2006).
Linguistics fundamentally focuses on the sounds, words, grammar rules and rules of a language
consisting of phonology (the sound system), morphology (the structure of words), syntax (the
arrangement of words into sentences) and semantics (meanings).
8
The two central commitments of the cognitive linguistics enterprise: the ‘Generalisation Commitment’
and the ‘Cognitive Commitment’ have given rise to an integrated approach to linguistic and conceptual
organization. Therefore, Cognitive linguistics adopted the integrated model which is a collection of
detailed investigations of a wide range of cognitive and linguistic phenomena. This has been particularly
evident in cognitive semantics and cognitive approaches to grammar.

References

Evans, Vyvyan and Green, Melanie (2006). Cognitive Linguistics: An Introduction, Edinburgh University Press.
Geeraerts, Dirk And Cuyckens, Hubert (2007). The Oxford Handbook of Cognitive Linguistics. Oxford University
Press.
ICLA (2021). Cognitive Linguistics: Historical Background. www.cognitivelinguistics.org/en/about-cognitive-
linguistics
Ielanguages (2020). An Introduction to the Study of Language. ielanguages.com/what-is-linguistics.html
Lakoff, George (1990) ‘The invariance hypothesis: is abstract reason based on imageschemas?’, Cognitive
Linguistics, 1, 1, 39–74.
Mathewson, S. T. (2020). LINGUISTICS - Cognitive Linguistics. Encyclopedia of Life Support Systems (EOLSS).
www.eolss.net/Sample-Chapters/C04/E6-91-12.pdf
Nordquist, Richard ( 2020). Cognitive Linguistics:Glossary of Grammatical and Rhetorical Terms.
www.thoughtco.com/what-is-cognitive-linguistics-1689861
Perlovsky, L., and Sakai, Kuniyoshi L. (2014). Language and Cognition.
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Robinson, Peter and Ellis, Nick (2008). Handbook of cognitive linguistics and second language acquisition.
Routledge, 270 Madison Ave, New York, NY.
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Stern, H. H. (1983).Fundamental Concepts of Language Teaching, Oxford, Oxford University Press.
Team Leverage Edu (2020). Branches of Linguistics. leverageedu.com/blog/branches-of-linguistics/

_____________________________________________________________________________________
Cognitive Linguistics: An Approach to the Study of Language and Thought
Prof. V. Chandra Sekhar Rao JRSP-ELT (ISSN: 2456-8104)