Article published in:
Aspects of Meaning ConstructionEdited by Günter Radden, Klaus-Michael Köpcke, Thomas Berg and Peter Siemund
[Not in series 136] 2007
► pp. 171–187
Constructing the meanings of personal pronouns
Ronald W. Langacker | University of California San Diego
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 of nominal grounding. It is explained how personal pronouns can be used impersonally, and the meaning of impersonalit is characterized. Special attention is devoted to I and you. Their abstracted conceptual meanings invoke very basic cognitive models pertaining to the ground, a speech event, and subject vs. object of conception. With these models as inputs, the pronouns’ meanings are constructed through successive levels of blending. The crucial factor is intersubjectivity.
Keywords: blending, definiteness, delimitation, grounding, impersonal, intersubjectivity, nominal structure, pronoun, proper name, reference point, subject/object of conception, vantage point
Published online: 11 April 2007
https://doi.org/10.1075/z.136.12lan
https://doi.org/10.1075/z.136.12lan
Cited by
Cited by 38 other publications
No author info given
No author info given
No author info given
No author info given
No author info given
No author info given
No author info given
No author info given
No author info given
No author info given
Browse, Sam
Cappellaro, Chiara
Giovanelli, Marcello
Giovanelli, Marcello
Giovanelli, Marcello
Haddad, Youssef A.
Hamilton, Craig A.
Harrison, Chloe
Harrison, Chloe, Louise Nuttall, Peter Stockwell & Wenjuan Yuan
Kleinke, Sonja & Birte Bös
Korostenskienė, Julija
Krawczak, Karolina
Kwiatkowska, Alina
Langacker, Ronald W.
Lu, Yanying
Neary, Clara
Nuttall, Louise
Oakley, Todd
Pincombe, Mike
Pleyer, Michael & Christian W. Schneider
Prażmo, Ewelina
Päivärinta, Anne
Smiley, Patricia A., Lillian Ku Chang & Anne K. Allhoff
Stockwell, Peter
Tabakowska, Elżbieta
Yuan, Wenjuan
This list is based on CrossRef data as of 11 may 2022. Please note that it may not be complete. Sources presented here have been supplied by the respective publishers. Any errors therein should be reported to them.