Ten Lectures on the Basics of Cognitive Grammar (Distinguished Lectures in Cognitive Linguistics #3) (Hardcover)
These lectures provide a basic introduction to the linguistic theory known as Cognitive Grammar. It is argued that a conceptualist semantics, well motivated in its own terms, provides the basis for a symbolic view of grammar. Consisting in the structuring and symbolization of conceptual content, grammar is inherently meaningful, and basic grammatical notions have conceptual characterizations. An account is given of grammatical categories, markings, and constructions. A number of central topics are examined in detail, including subjects, possessives, locatives, voice, and impersonals.
Ronald Langacker, Ph.D. (1966), University of Illinois, was Professor of Linguistics at the University of California, San Diego, until his retirement in 2003. He has published extensively in cognitive linguists and formulated the theory known as Cognitive Grammar.