30.2571, Qs: Cognitive-Pragmatic Modeling of Individual-Public Meaning Relation: The Case of Nominalised Abstract Concepts

[The LINGUIST List]

LINGUIST List: Vol-30-2571. Thu Jun 27 2019. ISSN: 1069 - 4875.

Subject: 30.2571, Qs: Cognitive-Pragmatic Modeling of Individual-Public Meaning Relation: The Case of Nominalised Abstract Concepts

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Date: Thu, 27 Jun 2019 00:17:23
From: Vladan Sutanovac [vladan.sutanovac at univie.ac.at]
Subject: Cognitive-Pragmatic Modeling of Individual-Public Meaning Relation: The Case of Nominalised Abstract Concepts

 
General project description:
 
Our DFG SFB 991 project D02 examines the relation between the psychological
level of describing the cognition of individuals and the intersubjective level
on which language (and scientific understanding) operate. More concretely, it
seeks to clarify the link between the individual mental representations of
language users and the public meaning of linguistic expressions. This link
will be established by means of frames; the recursive structure of frames
allows the representation of one and the same thing at different levels of
granularity. The underlying idea of D02 is to conceive public meaning as a
generalization from individual mental representations. 

The specifics and the goal of this empirical study:
 
This study seeks to bring novel insights into the nature of the relationship
between the psychological (subjective) level of describing individual
cognition and the intersubjective level at which language operates. More
specifically, it focuses on advancing the overall understanding by clarifying
the link between individual mental representations of language users and
public meaning of linguistic expressions. By bringing together the empirical
practice (Sutanovac, PhD thesis) with the theoretical work by Vosgerau &
Petersen (2015), this study looks into the practical grounds for the thesis
that rich structures of individuals’ representations overlap in the sense that
they share a common core. In other words, whether public meaning can be
conceived of as a generalisation from individual mental representations. 
To test the thesis with language users - here, German respondents, a novel
explanatory method is introduced - Concept Explication Tool (Sutanovac, 2018
[AMPRA-4 Graduate Student Award for an original and innovative contribution to
the field of contemporary Pragatics]). Within CET, the, aforementioned, link
is established by NSM-frames (situated semantic explications) as a productive
format for describing both mental representations and (linguistic) meaning
(after Barsalou 1992; and Goddard 2012). In the context of everyday
interaction, NSM-frames are intended to represent the cognitive reality of
ordinary language users. In this sense, they stand for prototypical cognitive
scenarios that serve as a standard reference point linking a concept together
with prototypical thoughts associated with it and with its everyday (language)
use. 
The central idea underlying CET is that of an integrated empirical means for
explicating and modeling meaning creation in ordinary language, at different
levels of granularity.  This particular study focuses on demonstrating the
explanatory-modeling potential of CET at the lower level of granularity, i.e.
with the meaning of smaller units. Namely, words on the linguistic level and
concepts on the mental level (belonging to three distinct classes of German
abstract nouns denoting complex emotions [Freude, Angst, Schadenfreude],
mental processes [Vorstellung] and social relations [Familie, Aufsichtsrat]),
for which the link between public meaning and individual mental
representations has rarely been systematically discussed and empirically
investigated. Thus, making this a valuable contribution to resolving one of
the longstanding problems of systematically relating the intersubjective
(public) meaning to the content of individual mental representation
(subjective level of representing entities), thus far, especially in the
Gricean tradition, restricted to the meaning of utterances of whole sentences.

Questionnaire link --> https://www.soscisurvey.de/dfg991D02/

Thanks Heaps in advance to everyone! 
And cheers!

Vladan & Gottfried

For any queries you might have, I stand at your disposal at any time, just
ship your E-letters to vladan.sutanovac at univie.ac.at
 

Linguistic Field(s): Anthropological Linguistics
                     Cognitive Science
                     Pragmatics
                     Semantics
                     Sociolinguistics

Subject Language(s): German (deu)

Language Family(ies): German



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