[parislinguists] conférence métaphore (W. Schulze)

[Stephane Robert]

Dans le cadre des programmes de la Fédération "Typologie et universaux 
linguistiques", le LLACAN (UMR 8135) est heureux d'accueillir  le professeur

                 Wolfgang Schulze
                 de l'Institut de linguistique et typologie
                 de l'Université Ludwig-Maximilian de Munich
                 Web: http://www.ats.uni-muenchen.de/wschulze

         pour sa conférence, LUNDI 14 JUIN à 14 heures
         à la salle des conférences du centre A-G. Haudricourt,
         campus CNRS de Villejuif (Métro Villejuif- Paul Vaillant-Couturier)
         Bâtiment D - rez-de-chaussée
         Plan d'accès: http://www.vjf.cnrs.fr/clt/DocHtml/EnLigne/el3-1.htm


Grammar and Metaphor:
The dynamics of case semantics in two East Caucasian languages


It is a central claim of Cognitive Typology (Schulze 1998, 2000, 2001) that 
cognitive procedures of metaphorization represent a major aspect of the 
ontology of language. Accordingly, any world stimulus (non-verbal or 
verbal) first undergoes a mirroring process mapping experienced (and 
construed) gestalt features onto memory segments and prelinguistic routines 
of verbal communication. This process conditions the 'reduction' of 
properties given in the stimulus (diaresis in terms of Cognitive Typology). 
In a second (nevertheless parallel) procedure, the diaresis output can 
undergo different degrees of metaphorization allowing to apply the 
ontologically restricted system of linguistic knowledge to variations 
within the construction of world stimuli. In Cognitive Typology, 
metaphorization is seen as a necessary condition of conceptualization, not 
confined to 'lexical words', but present in any kind of conceptual 
representation, be it lexical, morphological, structural (or: 
constructional), or positional. Accordingly, metaphorization shows up as a 
procedural continuum that emcompasses both metonymic and metaphorical 
output types (in the strict sense). It can be modeled in terms of a 'Mirror 
Hypthesis' which claims that metaphorization represents an entrenched 
cognitive (experience-based) mirroring routine that is characterized by 
fractal-like processes of inflation in language production and deflation 
processes in language comprehension.

In my talk, I will illustrate the Mirror Hypothesis with the help of data 
from two autochthonous languages of the Eastern Caucasus, namely Aghul and 
Udi. For both languages, I will describe some aspects the semantics of 
(basically locative) case markers in order to show how the Mirror 
Hypothesis can account for both synchronic types of metaphorization (e.g. 
possession is behind, instrument is onto etc.) and diachronic processes of 
ongoing grammaticalization (e.g. possession is motion from source > 
genitive, a/effection is motion towards goal > objective marker/dative). 
Most importantly, the concept of metaphorization will be extended towards a 
preliminary cognitive theory of inference that adds the relation as if to 
that of is (e.g. objective as if agentive etc.).
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