Analogy as Structure and Process

Approaches in linguistics, cognitive psychology and philosophy of science

Esa Itkonen | University of Turku

Hardbound – Available

ISBN 9789027223661 | EUR 110.00 | USD 165.00

e-Book –

ISBN 9789027294012 | EUR 110.00 | USD 165.00

The concept of analogy is of central concern to modern cognitive scientists, whereas it has been largely neglected in linguistics in the past four decades. The goal of this thought-provoking book is (1) to introduce a cognitively and linguistically viable notion of analogy; and (2) to re-establish and build on traditional linguistic analogy-based research.
As a starting point, a general definition of analogy is offered that makes the distinction between analogy-as-structure and analogy-as-process.
Chapter 2 deals with analogy as used in traditional linguistics. It demonstrates how phonology, morphology, syntax, semantics, and diachronic linguistics make use of analogy and discusses linguistic domains in which analogy does or did not work. The appendix gives a description of a computer program, which performs such instances of analogy-based syntactic analysis as have long been claimed impossible.
Chapter 3 supports the ultimate (non-modular) ‘unity of the mind’ and discusses the existence of pervasive analogies between language and such cognitive domains as vision, music, and logic.
The final chapter presents evidence for the view that the cosmology of every culture is based on analogy.
At a more abstract level, the role of analogy in scientific change is scrutinized, resulting in a meta-analogy between myth and science.

[Human Cognitive Processing, 14] 2005. xiv, 249 pp.

Publishing status: Available
Published online on 1 July 2008

https://doi.org/10.1075/hcp.14

Table of Contents

Preface | p. ix

Introduction | pp. xi–xiii

1. The concept of analogy | pp. 1–66

2. Analogy inside linguistics | pp. 67–127

3. Analogy and/or overlap between language and other cognitive domains | pp. 129–163

4. Analogy (mainly) outside linguistics | pp. 165–197

5. Concluding remarks | pp. 199–202

Appendix | pp. 203–220

Notes | pp. 221–227

Name index | pp. 243–245

Subject index | pp. 247–249

“Itkonen's views of analogy make a real summa of this concept while opening a multitude of new epistemological and methodological perspectives for research in linguistics.”

Thomas Verjans, Universite Paris 4-Sorbonne, in ICLA-review, February 2008.

“I commend the book to the attention of its intended audience, which is not limited to linguists: cognitive scientists and philosophers interested in epistemology would also be likely to find it worth their while.”

Michael B. Kac, University of Minnesota, in Studies in Language, Vol. 32:4 (2008)

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