Basic, image-schematic and abstract domains

If concepts presuppose the domains against which they are understood, it follows that there is a hierarchy of complexity leading ultimately to domains that do not presuppose anything else. In other words, conceptual structure must ultimately be based on knowledge that is not dependent upon other aspects of conceptual organisation, otherwise the system would suffer from the problem of circularity. Domains that are not understood in terms of other domains are the basic domains we introduced above. However, given that cognitive linguists reject the idea that concepts are innately given, since this view runs counter to the cognitive theses of experientialism and emergentism, it is important to establish the origins of these basic domains. Of course, Langacker argues that basic domains derive from pre-conceptual experience, such as sensory-perceptual experience, which forms the basis of more complex knowledge domains.

In order to illustrate the theory of domains and look at how they are related, let’s consider a specific example of a hierarchy of complexity. Consider the word knuckle. This relates to a lexical concept that is understood with respect to the domain HAND. In turn, the lexical concept HAND is understood with respect to the domain ARM. The lexical concept ARM is understood with respect to the domain BODY, and the lexical concept BODY is understood more generally in terms of (three-dimensional) SPACE. However, it is difficult to envisage another domain in terms of which we understand SPACE. After all, SPACE is a domain that derives directly from sensory experience of the world, such as visual perception and our experience of motion and touch. Therefore SPACE appears not to be understood in terms of a further conceptual domain but in terms of fundamental pre-conceptual experience. This hierarchy of complexity is illustrated in Figure 7.5. Because SPACE is presupposed by all the concepts above it, it is situated at the lowest point in the hierarchy; because KNUCKLE requires knowledge of a greater number of domains, it is placed at the highest point in this hierarchy.

According to Langacker, then, basic domains derive from directly embodied experiences that are pre-conceptual in nature. This means that such experiences derive either from subjective or ‘internal’ embodied experiences like emotion, consciousness or awareness of the passage of time, or from sensory perceptual experiences which relate to information derived from the external world. Subjective experiences and sensory-perceptual experiences are both directly embodied pre-conceptual experiences; once experienced, they are rep resented as concepts at the conceptual level. Of course, the reader will have noticed that this discussion is reminiscent of the discussion of image schemas that was presented in Chapter 6. Let’s consider, then, how image schemas relate to Langacker’s theory of domains.

Firstly, we consider in more detail what might count as basic domains and what kinds of subjective and sensory experiences might give rise to these domains. We begin with the sensory experiences that relate to the external world. Vision contributes to at least two basic domains: COLOUR and SPACE. The word ‘contribute’ is important here, particularly as it relates to the domain of SPACE. After all, people who are blind or partially sighted still develop concepts relating to SPACE. This means that other sensory capacities also contribute to this domain, including touch, and kinaesthetic perception (the ability to perceive self-motion). Other basic domains include PITCH (arising from hearing experience) and TEMPERATURE, PRESSURE and PAIN (arising from touch experience). All these domains are directly tied to sensory experience and do not presuppose other conceptual domains.

 Experiences that are subjective in nature give rise to a basic domain (or domains) relating to EMOTION and TIME, among others. A (non-exhaustive) inventory of basic domains is shown in Table 7.4.

 Based on our discussion so far, we can identify three attributes associated with basic domains. These are summarised in Table 7.5.

Let’s now consider how basic domains relate to image schemas. As we saw in the previous chapter, image schemas, like basic domains, are conceptual representations that are directly tied to pre-conceptual experience. Moreover, a large number of lexical concepts appear to presuppose image schemas, also a characteristic of domains. For example, the CONTAINER image schema appears to underlie a number of lexical concepts that we have discussed so far through out this book. This suggests that the CONTAINER schema might be equivalent to a domain. However, Clausner and Croft (1999) argue that image schemas, while deriving from sensory experience, are not quite the same thing as basic domains. For example, they argue that the CONTAINER image schema is a relatively complex knowledge structure, which is based on the basic domain SPACE and another image schema MATERIAL OBJECT. Therefore the CONTAINER schema does not relate to a level of least complexity and, according to this criterion, is not equivalent to a basic domain.

A second distinction between basic domains and image schemas relates to the idea that image schemas are abstracted from recurrent patterns of experience. It follows that image schemas are likely to contribute to the domain matrices of a wide range of concepts (a domain matrix is the network of domains that underlies a concept). In contrast, basic domains need not occur in a wide range of domain matrices. For example, compare the image schema MATERIALOBJECT with the basic domain TEMPERATURE. Because MATERIAL OBJECT derives from experience of material objects, it will contribute to the domain matrix of all material objects: CAR, DESK, TABLE, CHAIR, VASE, TREE, BUILDING and so on. However, TEMPERATURE contributes to the domain matrices of a more restricted set of concepts: THERMOMETER, HOT, COLD and so on. Therefore, basic domains can have a narrower distribution within the conceptual system than image schemas.

A third distinction between basic domains and image schemas concerns the idea that all image schemas are imagistic in nature: they derive from sensory experience and therefore have image content. However, while some basic domains like SPACE and TEMPERATURE also have image content because they are based on pre-conceptual sensory experience, other basic domains like TIME are ultimately derived from subjective (introspective) experience and are not intrinsically imagistic in nature. This does not mean, however, that basic domains that arise from subjective experience cannot be conceptualised in terms of image content. For example, as we have seen, various emotional STATES can be structured in terms of the CONTAINER schema, as a result of conceptual metaphor. We will explore this idea further in Chapter 9. The distinctions between basic domains and image schemas are summarised in Table 7.6.

 In sum, an assumption central to cognitive semantics is that all human thought is ultimately grounded in basic domains and image schemas. However, as Langacker observes, ‘for the most part this grounding is indirect, being mediated by chains of intermediate concepts’ (Langacker 1987: 149–50). These intermediate concepts, which correspond to the non-bold type domains in Figure 7.5, are abstract domains. As we have seen, an abstract domain is one that presupposes other domains ranked lower on the complexity hierarchy.

اخر الاخبار

اخبار العتبة العباسية المقدسة

قسم الشؤون الطبية يقدم الخدمات الصحية والعلاجية لزائري مدينة سامراء

العتبة العباسية المقدسة تقدم خدماتها لزائري مرقد الإمامين العسكريين (عليهما السلام) في سامراء

المجمَع العلمي ووفد وزارة التربية يبحثان سبل التعاون المشترك

قسم الشؤون الفكرية يصدر العدد 192 من مجلة الرياحين للأطفال

المزيد

الآخبار الصحية

كنز غذائي على طبقك.. ماذا تفعل السبانخ بجسمك؟

ما لا يتوقعه أحد.. "سر غذائي" في الجبن الدسم

لتحسين الهضم والنوم.. هذا أفضل وقت لتناول العشاء

10 طرق بسيطة وغير مألوفة لحرق المزيد من السعرات يوميا

المزيد

الآخبار التكنلوجية

سابقة بعالم الطيران.. طائرة تقرر الهبوط بنفسها بعد ظرف طارئ

"الإنفلونزا الخارقة" تكتسح دول العالم.. وتثير قلقا كبيرا

مرحلة ما قبل الأعراض.. دواء جديد يستهدف "شرارة" الزهايمر

إزالة ثاني أكسيد الكربون من الغلاف الجوي.. ما دور المحيطات والبحار؟

المزيد

مواضيع ذات صلة

The perceptual basis of knowledge representation

Active zones

Profile/base organization

Other characteristics of domains

What is a domain

The theory of domains

Consequences of adopting a frame-based model

Speech event frames

The COMMERCIAL EVENT frame

Frames in cognitive psychology

What is a semantic frame?

Frame semantics