cognitive grammar

A LINGUISTIC theory which sees language as an integral part of cognition, a means whereby cognitive content is given structure; originally called space grammar. In this approach, the basic function of language is to symbolize conceptualization by means of PHONOLOGY. GRAMMAR is seen as an inherently meaningful (or ‘symbolic’) component of the theory, linking SEMANTICS (viewed in conceptualist terms) and phonology. This pairing of FORMS and MEANINGS sets up connections between established (‘entrenched’) patterns of neurological activity (‘units’), which serve as TEMPLATES for categorizing expressions. Each unit (semantic, phonological, symbolic) corresponds to an aspect of STRUCTURE, and WELL-FORMED expressions are ‘conventionally’ constructed using a series of units. Grammatical CLASSES and CONSTRUCTIONS are analyzed as configurations of symbolic structures: a basic distinction is drawn between ‘nominals’ (things, e.g. NOUN PHRASES) and ‘relational expressions’ (relationships, e.g. VERBS, PREPOSITIONS, ADJECTIVES, CLAUSES); grammatical RULES are characterized as abstract ‘constructional schemas’.