Ronald W. Langacker

Ronald W. Langacker

List of John Benjamins publications for which Ronald W. Langacker plays a role.

Journal

Articles

2022. Chapter 1. What could be more fundamental?. Analogy and Contrast in Language: Perspectives from Cognitive Linguistics, Krawczak, Karolina, Barbara Lewandowska-Tomaszczyk and Marcin Grygiel (eds.), pp. 15–46
Contrast and analogy are viewed in the context of a much larger picture. They are traced back to an essential feature of living organisms: their constant engagement in energy-driven activity responsible for maintenance and growth. Structure and regularity inhere in the organization imposed by… read more | Chapter
2022. Cognitive grammar. Handbook of Pragmatics: Manual, Verschueren, Jef and Jan-Ola Östman (eds.), pp. 171–177
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Langacker, Ronald W. 2020. Trees, assemblies, chains, and windows. Construction Grammar across Borders, Torrent, Tiago Timponi, Ely Edison da Silva Matos and Natália Sathler Sigiliano (eds.), pp. 8–55
For describing grammatical organization, metaphors based on a variety of source domains – including trees, networks, chains, paths, and windows – all appear to have some validity. In Cognitive Grammar, they pertain to facets of assemblies, where semantic and phonological structures are connected by… read more | Article
Langacker, Ronald W. 2017. Grounding, semantic functions, and absolute quantifiers. Grammar, usage and discourse: Functional studies offered to Kristin Davidse, Vandelanotte, Lieven, Wout Van Praet and Lieselotte Brems (eds.), pp. 233–248
Absolute quantifiers (e.g. many, few, three) have adjectival uses, but when initial they function as grounding elements: like demonstratives, articles, and relative quantifiers (e.g. all, most, every), they indicate the epistemic status of the nominal referent. This ambivalence is due to their… read more | Article
Langacker, Ronald W. 2017. Evidentiality in Cognitive Grammar. Evidentiality Revisited: Cognitive grammar, functional and discourse-pragmatic perspectives, Marín-Arrese, Juana I., Gerda Haßler and Marta Carretero (eds.), pp. 13–55
A clause serves the intersubjective function of presenting and negotiating a proposition. It both describes an occurrence and gives some indication of its epistemic status. The latter consists primarily in an assessment of whether the occurrence is realized, but may also include the basis for this… read more | Article
The Cognitive Grammar analysis of English nominal quantifiers is re-examined in light of recent theoretical developments: the characterization of grammar as the implementation of semantic functions; and the recognition of strata — baseline and levels of elaboration — as a dimension of structural… read more | Article
Research in Cognitive Grammar divides into two broad phases. The first phase provided an integrated account of lexicon, morphology, and syntax as inherently meaningful structures; it offered a radical alternative to the generative paradigm based on modularity, constituency, and the autonomy of… read more | Article
Langacker, Ronald W. 2014. Foreword. Cognitive Grammar in Literature, Harrison, Chloe, Louise Nuttall, Peter Stockwell and Wenjuan Yuan (eds.), pp. xiii–xiv
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Langacker, Ronald W. 2014. Subordination in a dynamic account of grammar. Contexts of Subordination: Cognitive, typological and discourse perspectives, Visapää, Laura, Jyrki Kalliokoski and Helena Sorva (eds.), pp. 17–72
Subordination is no exception to the rule that basic and general notions are the hardest to characterize. There is in fact no guarantee that it represents a single or unified phenomenon. Rather than a definition, my immediate goal is thus to elucidate and clarify the numerous factors involved. I… read more | Article
Langacker, Ronald W. 2012. 9. Linguistic manifestations of the space-time (dis)analogy. Space and Time in Languages and Cultures: Language, culture, and cognition, Filipović, Luna and Katarzyna M. Jaszczolt (eds.), pp. 191–216
As facets of interpreted experience, space and time are highly variable in their linguistic manifestation. Universal aspects of language structure reflect a more basic level of apprehension. Space and time have a foundational role in grammar. Objects and events, the prototypes for nouns and verbs,… read more | Article
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Langacker, Ronald W. 2011. Semantic motivation of the English auxiliary. Motivation in Grammar and the Lexicon, Panther, Klaus-Uwe and Günter Radden (eds.), pp. 29–48
Motivation offers a viable middle ground to extreme positions that are clearly untenable. Here I consider the semantic motivation of grammar, as exemplified by the English auxiliary. Properly characterized in terms of systems of elements serving particular semantic functions, the auxiliary is seen… read more | Article
Langacker, Ronald W. 2011. On the subject of impersonals. Cognitive Linguistics: Convergence and Expansion, Brdar, Mario, Stefan Th. Gries and Milena Žic Fuchs (eds.), pp. 179–218
In accordance with basic principles of Cognitive Grammar, impersonal it (e.g. It’s obvious that he’s angry) is claimed to be meaningful. Three avenues of approach are followed in the characterization of it and the constructions it appears in: a comparison with related constructions; a comparison to… read more | Article
Langacker, Ronald W. 2011. The English present: Temporal coincidence vs. epistemic immediacy. Cognitive Approaches to Tense, Aspect, and Epistemic Modality, Patard, Adeline and Frank Brisard (eds.), pp. 45–86
Two accounts of the English present are outlined and compared: one that treats it as tense, indicating coincidence with the time of speaking; and one that treats it as modality, indicating epistemic immediacy. Well-known problems with a time-based account are overcome in a conceptual semantic… read more | Article
Langacker, Ronald W. 2011. Convergence in cognitive linguistics. Cognitive Linguistics: Convergence and Expansion, Brdar, Mario, Stefan Th. Gries and Milena Žic Fuchs (eds.), pp. 9–16
In contrast to the generative tradition, the overall tendency in cognitive linguistics has been convergent rather than divergent. At the outset it was quite diverse, as it did not stem from any single theory, scholar, or object of description. The passing years have seen the recognition of common… read more | Article
Langacker, Ronald W. 2009. Cognitive grammar. Cognition and Pragmatics, Sandra, Dominiek, Jan-Ola Östman and Jef Verschueren (eds.), pp. 78–85
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Langacker, Ronald W. 2009. Constructions and constructional meaning. New Directions in Cognitive Linguistics, Evans, Vyvyan and Stéphanie Pourcel (eds.), pp. 225–267
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Langacker, Ronald W. 2009. Metonymic grammar. Metonymy and Metaphor in Grammar, Panther, Klaus-Uwe, Linda L. Thornburg and Antonio Barcelona (eds.), pp. 45–71
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Langacker, Ronald W. 2008. 7. Subordination in Cognitive grammar. Asymmetric Events, Lewandowska-Tomaszczyk, Barbara (ed.), pp. 137–149
This paper reexamines the treatment of subordination in Cognitive Grammar. Subordination is not susceptible to simple, categorical description. Understanding it requires the elucidation of numerous factors, with respect to which one can describe its many types, distinguish them from one another,… read more | Article
Langacker, Ronald W. 2008. Metaphoric gesture and cognitive linguistics. Metaphor and Gesture, Cienki, Alan and Cornelia Müller (eds.), pp. 249–251
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Langacker, Ronald W. 2007. Constructing the meanings of personal pronouns. Aspects of Meaning Construction, Radden, Günter, Klaus-Michael Köpcke, Thomas Berg and Peter Siemund (eds.), pp. 171–187
The meanings of personal pronouns are described using basic notions of Cognitive Linguistics. Among these notions are subjective vs. objective construal, profiling, grounding, intersubjectivity, paths of mental access, and conceptual blending. Pronouns are situated with respect to other strategies… read more | Article
Langacker, Ronald W. 2006. Dimensions of defocusing. Voice and Grammatical Relations: In Honor of Masayoshi Shibatani, Tsunoda, Tasaku and Taro Kageyama (eds.), pp. 115–137
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Langacker, Ronald W. 2005. 7. Integration, grammaticization, and constructional meaning. Grammatical Constructions: Back to the roots, Fried, Mirjam and Hans C. Boas (eds.), pp. 157–189
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Langacker, Ronald W. 2004. Remarks on nominal grounding. Grounding and headedness in the noun phrase, Verstraete, Jean-Christophe (ed.), pp. 77–113
The problems posed by nominal structure and nominal reference are notoriously subtle and complex. Though fairly extensive, their treatment in Cognitive Grammar (CG) has thus far been partial, preliminary, and scattered in numerous publications. The synthesis attempted here can hardly overcome the… read more | Article
Langacker, Ronald W. 2004. Form, meaning, and behavior: The Cognitive Grammar analysis of double subject constructions. Cognitive and Communicative Approaches to Linguistic Analysis, Contini-Morava, Ellen, Robert S. Kirsner and Betsy Rodríguez-Bachiller (eds.), pp. 21–60
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Langacker, Ronald W. 2003. Extreme subjectification: English tense and modals. Motivation in Language: Studies in honor of Günter Radden, Cuyckens, Hubert, Thomas Berg, René Dirven † and Klaus-Uwe Panther (eds.), pp. 3–26
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Langacker, Ronald W. 2002. 10. The limits of continuity: Discreteness in cognitive semantics. Unfolding Perceptual Continua, Albertazzi, Liliana (ed.), pp. 241–254
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This opening essay delineates the conceptual structure of cognitive linguistics and provides a reference framework for the other essays, which address and develop particular aspects of the theory. The two principal conceptual points emphasised by the author are the non-reducibility of linguistic… read more | Chapter
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Langacker, Ronald W. 1997. Generics and habituals. On Conditionals Again, Athanasiadou, Angeliki and René Dirven † (eds.), pp. 191 ff.
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Langacker, Ronald W. 1997. A Dynamic Account of Grammatical Function. Essays on Language Function and Language Type: Dedicated to T. Givón, Bybee, Joan L., John Haiman and Sandra A. Thompson (eds.), pp. 249 ff.
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Langacker, Ronald W. 1996. Conceptual Grouping and Pronominal Anaphora. Studies in Anaphora, Fox, Barbara A. (ed.), pp. 333 ff.
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Langacker, Ronald W. 1995. Viewing in cognition and grammar. Alternative Linguistics: Descriptive and theoretical modes, Davis, Philip W. (ed.), pp. 153 ff.
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Langacker, Ronald W. 1995. Cognitive grammar. Handbook of Pragmatics: Manual, Verschueren, Jef, Jan-Ola Östman and Jan Blommaert † (eds.), pp. 105–111
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Langacker, Ronald W. 1994. Culture, cognition, and grammar. Language Contact and Language Conflict, Pütz, Martin (ed.), pp. 25–53
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Langacker, Ronald W. 1994. The limits of continuity: discreteness in cognitive semantics. Continuity in Linguistic Semantics, Fuchs, Catherine and Bernard Victorri (eds.), pp. 9 ff.
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Langacker, Ronald W. 1991. 8. Cognitive Grammar. Linguistic Theory and Grammatical Description: Nine Current Approaches, Droste, Flip G. and John E. Joseph (eds.), pp. 275 ff.
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Langacker, Ronald W. 1988. A view of linguistic semantics. Topics in Cognitive Linguistics, Rudzka-Ostyn, Brygida (ed.), pp. 49 ff.
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Langacker, Ronald W. 1988. An overview of cognitive grammar. Topics in Cognitive Linguistics, Rudzka-Ostyn, Brygida (ed.), pp. 3 ff.
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Langacker, Ronald W. 1988. A usage-based model. Topics in Cognitive Linguistics, Rudzka-Ostyn, Brygida (ed.), pp. 127 ff.
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Langacker, Ronald W. 1988. The nature of grammatical valence. Topics in Cognitive Linguistics, Rudzka-Ostyn, Brygida (ed.), pp. 91 ff.
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Langacker, Ronald W. 1982. Remarks on English Aspect. Tense-Aspect: Between semantics & pragmatics, Hopper, Paul J. (ed.), pp. 265 ff.
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