Cognitive English Grammar

Günter Radden and René Dirven
University of Hamburg / University of Duisburg-Essen
Cognitive English Grammar is designed to be used as a textbook in courses of English and general linguistics. It introduces the reader to cognitive linguistic theory and shows that Cognitive Grammar helps us to gain a better understanding of the grammar of English. The notions of motivation and meaningfulness are central to the approach adopted in the book. In four major parts comprising 12 chapters, Cognitive English Grammar integrates recent cognitive approaches into one coherent model, allowing the analysis of the most central constructions of English. Part I presents the cognitive framework: conceptual and linguistic categories, their combination in situations, the cognitive operations applied to them, and the organisation of conceptual structures into linguistic constructions. Part II deals with the category of ‘things’ and their linguistic structuring as nouns and noun phrases. It shows how things are grounded in reality by means of reference, quantified by set and scalar quantifiers, and qualified by modifiers. Part III describes situations as temporal units of various layers: internally, as types of situations; and externally, as located relative to the time of speech and grounded in reality or potentiality. Part IV looks at situations as relational units and their structuring as sentences. Its two chapters are devoted to event schemas and space and metaphorical extensions of space.

Cognitive English Grammar offers a wealth of linguistic data and explanations. The didactic quality is guaranteed by the frequent use of definitions and examples, a glossary of the terms used, overviews and chapter summaries, suggestions for further reading, and study questions. For the Key to Study Questions click here.

[Cognitive Linguistics in Practice, 2]  2007.  xiv, 374 pp.
Publishing status: Available
HardboundAvailable
ISBN 9789027219039 (Eur) | EUR 110.00
ISBN 9781556196638 (USA) | USD 165.00
 
PaperbackAvailable
ISBN 9789027219046 (Eur) | EUR 33.00
ISBN 9781556196645 (USA) | USD 49.95
 
e-BookSold by e-book platforms
ISBN 9789027292339 | EUR 110.00 | USD 165.00
 
Google EditionForthcoming
ISBN 9789027292339 | EUR 33.00 | USD 49.95
 
 

Table of Contents

Preface
vii–ix
Introduction
xi–xiii
Part I. The cognitive framework
1–2
1. Categories in thought and language
3–19
2. Cognitive operations in thought and language
21–39
3. From thought to language: Cognitive Grammar
41–59
Part II. Things: Nouns and noun phrases
61–62
4. Types of things: Nouns
63–86
5. Grounding things: Reference
87–114
6. Quantifying things: Quantifiers
115–139
7. Qualifying things: Modifiers
141–169
Part III. Situations as temporal units: Aspect, tense and modality
171–174
8. Situation types: Aspect
175–199
9. Grounding situations in time: Tense
201–232
10. Grounding situations in potentiality: Modality
233–265
Part IV. Situations as relational units: Sentence structure
267–268
11. Event schemas: Sentence patterns
269–301
12. Space and extensions of space: Complements and adjuncts
303–334
Glossary
335–348
References
349–360
Index
361–374

Quotes

“Em suma, um livro imperdível para os que desejam fazer uma iniciação a um modelo descritivo cognitivo da gramática do inglês.”
Francisco Gomes de Matos, Presidente do Conselho Deliberativo, Associaçã Brasil América, in D.E.L.T.A. Vol. 52:2 (2010)
“The usage-based approach of Cognitive English Grammar not only makes students see the relationship between thought and language, but also - and more importantly - changes their conception about language and grammar in general. As the book offers explanantions for exactly those areas of grammar which are typically difficult and confusing to learn [...], by the end of the textbook (and the course) students come to realize and understand that grammar is indeed meaningful, and this knowledge imparts them with a confidence that is very much needed for any university student either within or outside the EFL classroom.”
Réka Benczes, Eötvös Loránd University, Budapest, in Cognitive Linguistics, 2008
“By molding together major strands of cognitive linguistic theory - such as the Langackerian cognitive grammar, conceptual metaphor theory, mental space theory, and force dynamics among other - the authors have produced a textbook that represents an ideal balance between linguistic theory on the one hand, and selected areas of English grammar on the other hand.”
Réka Benczes, Eötvös Loránd University, Budapest, in Cognitive Linguistics, Vol. 20-2 (2009)
“This is a textbook which can be extremely useful for the teaching of cognitive grammar. It is focused on the grammar of the English language, but it uses all the important notions and research that form the core of cognitive linguistics as a discipline. Despite its purpose as a student textbook, it is extremely comprehensive, with a lot of detail and classifications which are very clearly presented with the help of tables, diagrams and summaries. [...] The result is excellent and unique. It is difficult to find drawbacks.”
Carlos Inchaurralde Besga, Universidad de Zaragoza, in the Annual Review of Cognitive Linguistics, Vol. 6 (2008)
“The biggest asset of this book is that up to now, it is the most comprehensive account of English grammar from a cognitive-linguistic perspective. It is well written, clearly structured, and extremely accessible. It is an excellent introductory work for students who would like to pursue cognitive linguistics studies and a valuable resource for researchers interested in studying various languages in the light of cognitive linguistics.”
Jie Zhang, Pennsylvania State University, on Linguist List 19.1503 , 2008
“A real scholarly and pedagogical feat. It is by no means an easy task to bring together the various strands making up the thriving field of cognitive linguistics into a technically coherent and pedagogically efficient textbook in English descriptive grammar. If you are a lecturer in the subject and have long meant to use Ron Langacker’s Cognitive Grammar and other cognitive-linguistic approaches in your classes but have been held back so far by the need to reduce to course book size the sheer volume and the technical complexity of the specialized literature, this is the textbook you wanted: A systematic, student-friendly yet rigorous treatment of English descriptive grammar from a cognitive-linguistic perspective, rich in attractive illustrations and supplemented with a large number of exercises and study questions, for which a key is provided. I have used the book in my classes and it works. Absolutely recommended.”
Antonio Barcelona, University of Murcia.
“Radden and Dirven have produced an engaging and readable book that successfully addresses a very real need. Using notions of cognitive linguistics, it not only provides a revealing survey of English grammar but makes apparent the conceptual basis of grammatical structure. Despite its non-technical presentation, Cognitive English Grammar shows considerable technical sophistication, covering central topics in reasonable depth and offering some new descriptive insights. This text should prove both useful and illuminating.”
Ronald W. Langacker, University of California at San Diego

Subjects

Benjamins Subject classification

BIC Subject

CFK: Grammar, syntax

BISAC Subject

LAN009000: LANGUAGE ARTS & DISCIPLINES / Linguistics
U.S. Library of Congress Control Number:  2007012165
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