Objectivity, subjectivity and intersubjectivity
Integrating two Cognitive-Functional theories
Subjectivity and intersubjectivity have long been recognized as central to the understanding of the relations between language, mind and society. They arise in an interactive world for the mind of the individual and shape his/her (inter)personal reality. In present-day linguistics, there are two major approaches to subjectivity. One is associated with Langacker and focuses on cognitive construal. The other framework, which was developed by Traugott, zooms in on diachronic changes on the conceptual level. Naturally, diachronic developments are intimately related to synchronic variation and the conceptual content of an utterance hinges on its presentation and perspectivization. This paper, therefore, argues that, rather than being discrepant and treating distinct phenomena, as is widely suggested (e.g. Brisard 2006; Nuyts 2001, 2012), the two frameworks can be reconciled. By so doing, the ensuing discussion yields an integrated view on objectivity and (inter)subjectivity, a view that will be organized around four main arguments.
References (60)
Athanasiadou, Angeliki, Costas Canakis & Bert Cornillie. 2006. Introduction. In Angeliki Athanasiadou, Costas Canakis & Bert Cornillie (eds.), 1–13.
Athanasiadou, Angeliki, Costas Canakis & Bert Cornillie (eds.). 2006. Subjectification: Various paths to subjectivity. Berlin: Mouton.
Benveniste, Émile. 1971. Problems in general linguistics. Coral Gables, Fa: University of Miami Press.
Blank, Andreas & Peter Koch (eds.). 1999. Historical semantics and cognition. Berlin: Mouton.
Breban, Tine. 2006. Grammaticalization and subjectification of the English adjectives of general comparison. In Angeliki Athanasiadou, Costas Canakis & Bert Cornillie (eds.), 241–277.
Breban, Tine. 2010. English adjectives of comparison: Lexical and grammaticalized uses. Berlin: Mouton.
Brisard, Frank. 2006. Logic, subjectivity, and the semantics-pragmatics distinction. In Angeliki, Athanasiadou, Costas Canakis & Bert Cornillie (eds.), 41–74.
Bybee, Joan. 2006. From usage to grammar: The mind’s response to repetition. Language 821. 711–733.
Carey, Kathleen. 1995. Subjectification and the development of the English perfect. In Dieter Stein & Susan Wright (eds.), 83–102.
Cornillie, Bert. 2007. Evidentiality and epistemic modality in Spanish semi-auxiliaries: A cognitive-functional approach. Berlin: Mouton.
Davidse, Kristin, Lieven Vandelanotte & Hubert Cuyckens (eds.). 2013. Subjectification, intersubjectification and grammaticalization. Berlin: Mouton.
De Smet, Hendrik & Jean-Christophe Verstraete. 2006. Coming to terms with subjectivity. Cognitive Linguistics 171. 365–392.
Evans, Vyvyan & Melanie Green. 2006. Cognitive linguistics: An introduction. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press.
Fitzmaurice, Susan. 2004. Subjectivity, intersubjectivity and the historical construction of interlocutor stance: From stance markers to discourse markers. Discourse Studies 61. 427–448.
Geeraerts, Dirk & Hubert Cuyckens. 2007. Introducing cognitive linguistics. In Dirk Geeraerts & Hubert Cuyckens (eds.), Oxford handbook of cognitive linguistics, 3–21. Oxford: OUP.
Ghesquière, Lobke. 2010. On the subjectification and intersubjectificationpaths followed by the adjectives of completeness. In Kristin Davidse, Lieven Vandelanotte & Hubert Cuyckens (eds.), 277–314.
Harder, Peter. 2010. Meaning in mind and society: A Functional contribution to the social turn in cognitive linguistics. Berlin: Mouton.
Hougaard, Anders R. & Gitte R. Hougaard. 2009. Fused bodies: Sense-making as a phenomenon of interacting, knowledgeable, social bodies. In Hanna Pishwa (ed.), 47–78.
Keller, Rudi. 1994. On language change: The invisible hand in language. London: Routledge.
Krawczak, Karolina. 2013. Epiphenomenal semantics: Cognition, context and convention. Frankfurt/Main: Lang.
Langacker, Ronald W. 1987. Foundations of cognitive grammar: Theoretical prerequisites. Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press.
Langacker, Ronald W. 1990. Subjectification. Cognitive Linguistics 11. 5–38.
Langacker, Ronald W. 1991. Foundations of cognitive grammar: Descriptive application. Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press.
Langacker, Ronald W. 1999a. Grammar and conceptualization. Berlin: Mouton.
Langacker, Ronald W. 1999b. Losing control: Grammmaticalization, subjectification, and transparency. In Andreas Blank & Peter Koch (eds.), 147–175.
Langacker, Ronald W. 2001. Discourse in cognitive grammar. Cognitive Linguistics 121. 143–188.
Langacker, Ronald W. 2002. Deixis and subjectivity. In Frank Brisard (ed.), Grounding: The Epistemic Footing of Deixis and Reference, 1–28. Berlin: Mouton.
Langacker, Ronald W. 2006. Subjectification, grammaticization and conceptual archetypes. In Angeliki Athanasiadou, Costas Canakis & Bert Cornillie (eds.), 18–40.
Langacker, Ronald W. 2008. Cognitive Grammar: A basic introduction. Oxford: OUP.
Langacker, Ronald W. 2009. Investigations in Cognitive Grammar. Berlin: Mouton.
Langacker, Ronald W. 2011. Grammaticalization and cognitive grammar. In Heiko Narrog & Bernd Heine (eds.), The Oxford handbook of grammaticalization, 79–91. Oxford: OUP.
López-Couso, María José. 2010. Subjectification and intersubjectification. In Andreas H. Jucker & Irma Taavitsainen (eds.), Historical pragmatics, 127–163. Berlin: Mouton.
Narrog, Heiko. 2012b. Modality, subjectivity, and semantic change: A cross-linguistic perspective. Oxford: OUP.
Nuyts, Jan. 2001. Subjectivity as an evidential dimension in epistemic modal expressions. Journal of Pragmatics 331. 383–400.
Paradis, Carita. 2003. Between epistemic modality and degree: The case of really
. In Roberta Facchinetti, Manfred Krug & Frank Palmer (eds.), Modality in contemporary English, 191–220. Berlin: Mouton.
Pishwa, Hanna (ed.). 2009. Social cognition and language. Expression of the social mind. Berlin: Mouton.
Schiffrin, Deborah. 1990. The principle of intersubjectivity in communication and conversation. Semiotica 801. 121–151.
Stein, Dieter & Susan Wright (eds.). 1995. Subjectivity and subjectivisation. Cambridge: CUP.
Tomasello, Michael. 1999. The cultural origins of human cognition. Cambridge: CUP.
Traugott, Elizabeth Closs. 1989. On the rise of epistemic meanings in English: An example of subjectification in semantic change. Language 651. 31–55.
Traugott, Elizabeth Closs. 1995. Subjectification in grammaticalization. In Dieter Stein & Susan Wright (eds.), 31–54.
Traugott, Elizabeth Closs. 1999. The rhetoric of counter-expectation in semantic change. In Andreas Blank & Peter Koch (eds.), 177–196.
Traugott, Elizabeth Closs. 2003. From subjectification to intersubjectification. In Raymond Hickey (ed.), Motives for language change, 124–139. Cambridge: CUP.
Traugott, Elizabeth Closs. 2010. (Inter)subjectivity and (inter)subjectification: A reassessment. In Kristin Davidse, Lieven Vandelanotte & Hubert Cuyckens (eds.), 29–71.
Traugott, Elizabeth Closs & Richard Dasher. 2002. Regularity in semantic change. Cambridge: CUP.
Traugott, Elizabeth Closs & Graeme Trousdale. 2013. Constructionalization and constructional change. Oxford: OUP.
Verhagen, Arie. 1995. Subjectification, syntax and communication. In Dieter Stein & Susan Wright (eds.), 103–128.
Verhagen, Arie. 2005. Constructions of intersubjectivity: Discourse, syntax and cognition. Oxford: OUP.
Cited by (1)
Cited by one other publication
This list is based on CrossRef data as of 2 august 2024. Please note that it may not be complete. Sources presented here have been supplied by the respective publishers.
Any errors therein should be reported to them.