CfP: Use of Parallel Texts in Cognitive Linguistics Research (ICLC-13, 20-25 July)

[Wei-lun Lu]

We propose a theme session at ICLC-13 (20-25 July 2015, Northumbria
University, UK) that addresses the usefulness of parallel texts as research
material in all subfields of cognitive linguistics, including cognitive
semantics/pragmatics, construction grammar, metaphor/metonymy and
stylistics/cognitive poetics. This session is expected to include scholars
interested not only in cognitive linguistics but also in contrastive
linguistics, linguistic typology, corpus linguistics, and translation
studies.


Different languages provide their users with different words and
constructions for different construals in the same usage event. For
research into cross-linguistic universals and similarities on the one hand,
and language dependent variation on the other, the use of parallel texts
(translations) would seem to constitute an excellent methodological
opportunity: while keeping the usage event the same, we can investigate
differences in construals. Perhaps surprisingly, however, the systematic
use of parallel texts has not received much attention in the field, unlike
other empirical approaches such as monolingual corpus research and
experimentation. There are some fine exceptions (e.g. Rojo and
Ibarretxe-Antuñano 2013; Muskat-Tabakowska 2014; Slobin 1996, 2003;
Tabakowska 1993) which show the promise of this approach, but together
these do not yet constitute a body of knowledge approaching a coherent
insight into what can and cannot be done with parallel texts in cognitive
linguistics.


On the other hand, translation corpora have also received increasing
interest in neighboring disciplines, such as linguistic typology (Cysouw
and Wälchli 2007; Van der Auwera et. al 2005; Verkerk 2014) and corpus
linguistics (Barlow 2008; Xiao and Dai 2014). Therefore, there seems to be
quite some potential in exploring this methodology that cognitive
linguistics can take advantage of, in empirical coverage, in linguistic
theorizing and in connecting to other parts of the field.


The questions that we are interested in include, but are by no means
limited to:

1.   1. Does use of parallel texts enjoy an advantage over other approaches
in answering any theoretically relevant questions in CL? What are the
strengths and weaknesses of using parallel texts?

2.    2. What kind of insight can parallel texts bring to CL that other
types of methodologies cannot?

3.    3. In cases where a functional category (or, to construe it in
another way, a functionally relevant family of constructions) is available
in all the languages involved but mismatches of distribution among the
texts are found, can these be taken as indicative for differences in
construal? How can hypotheses in this area be tested?

4.    4. In cases where a functional category is absent in one of the
languages involved, do we still find a pattern of correspondence in the
texts? How can such patterns be established and validated?

5.   5. How do we account for the level of correspondence in the texts?

We invite proposals of ca. 250 words (excluding references) for theme
session presentations. If interested, please send your proposal to Dr.
Wei-lun Lu (weilunlu at gmail.com) by 10 September. Notification of selection
will be communicated by 15 September. Be advised that accepted authors will
still have to submit their abstracts to the main conference for review.



For more information of the main conference, visit
https://www.northumbria.ac.uk/about-us/news-events/events/2015/07/iclc-13-the-13th-international-cognitive-linguistics-conference/
.



Organizers

Michael BARLOW (University of Auckland)

Wei-lun LU (Masaryk University)

Arie VERHAGEN (Leiden University)



*Selected bibliography*

Aijmer, K. 2008. Parallel and comparable corpora. In: Lüdeling, A. and M.
Kytö (eds.), Corpus Linguistics. An International Handbook. Vol. I.,
275—291. Berlin: de Gruyter Mouton.

Barlow, Michael. 2008. Parallel texts and corpus-based contrastive
analysis, In: Gómez González, M. Mackenzie, L. and Gonzlez Alvarez, E.
(eds.), Current Trends in Contrastive Linguistics: Functional and Cognitive
Perspectives., Benjamins, 101-121.

Cysouw, Michael, and Bernhard Wälchli. (eds.), 2007. Parallel Texts. Using
Translational Equivalents in Linguistic Typology. Theme issue in
Sprachtypologie & Universalienforschung STUF 60.2.

Rojo, Ana and Iraide Ibarretxe-Antuñano (ed.) 2013. Cognitive Linguistics
and Translation Advances in Some Theoretical Models and Applications. Berlin:
De Gruyter.

Slobin, D. I. 1996. Two ways to travel: Verbs of motion in English and
Spanish. In M. Shibatani & S. A. Thompson (Eds.), Grammatical
constructions: Their form and meaning (pp. 195-220). Oxford: Clarendon
Press.

Slobin, Dan I. 2003. Language and thought online: Cognitive consequences of
linguistic relativity. Language in mind: Advances in the study of language
and thought, D. Gentner and S. Goldin-Meadow eds., 157-192. Cambridge, MA:
MIT Press.

Tabakowska, Elżbieta. 1993. Cognitive Linguistics and poetics of
translation. Tübingen: Gunter Narr Verlag.

Muskat-Tabakowska, Elżbieta. 2014. Lewis Carroll’s *Alice* in grammatical
wonderlands. Cognitive Grammar in Literature, Harrison, Chloe, Louise
Nuttall, Peter Stockwell and Wenjuan Yuan (eds.), 101–116. Amsterdam: John
Benjamin.

Van der Auwera, Johan, E. Schalley and Jan Nuyts. 2005. Epistemic
possibility in a Slavonic parallel corpus - a pilot study. Modality in
Slavonic Languages, New Perspectives. ed. by B. Hansen & P. Karlik.
München: Sagner, 201-17.

Verkerk, Annemarie. 2014. The evolutionary dynamics of motion event
encoding. Nijmegen: MPI Series in Psycholinguistics.

Xiao, Richard, and Dai Guangrong. 2014. Lexical and grammatical properties
of Translational Chinese: translation universal hypotheses reevaluated from
the Chinese perspective. Corpus Linguistics and Linguistic Theory 10 (1),
11-55.