| 1. |
- Zlatev, Jordan, et al.
(författare)
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Embodiment, language and mimesis
- 2007
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Ingår i: Body, Language, Mind. Vol 1: Embodiment. - 1861-4132. ; , s. 297-337
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Bokkapitel (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- The present focus on embodiment in cognitive science undervalues concepts such as convention/norm, representation and consciousness. I argue that these concepts constitute essential properties of language, and this makes it problematic for “embodiment theories” to account for human language and cognition. These difficulties are illustrated by examining a particular, highly influential approach to embodied cognition, that of Lakoff and Johnson (1999), and exposing the problematic character of the notion of the “cognitive unconscious”. To attempt a reconciliation between embodiment and language, I turn to the concept of (bodily) mimesis, and propose the notion of mimetic schema as a mediator between the individual human body and collective language.
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| 2. |
- Zlatev, Jordan, et al.
(författare)
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Stages and transitions in children’s semiotic development
- 2009
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Ingår i: Studies in Language and Cognition. ; , s. 380-401
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Bokkapitel (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Stage models were prevalent in developmental psychology in the past, but have recently been subjected to much criticism. We propose “rehabilitation”, defining semiotic stage as a (not necessarily stable) period characterized by the clear establishment of a novel semiotic capacity, which may “dominate” the communication of the child at this stage, but does not replace capacities from previous stages. This is spelled out by adopting one particular model of semiotic development – the Mimesis Hierarchy (Zlatev 2008a, 2008b) – and presenting comparative and developmental data from 6 children in Sweden and Thailand, between 18 and 27 months of age, analyzing their acts of bodily communication (ABCs) in relation to their emerging linguistic capacities. The results show evidence for a transition around 20 months, when children display the use of (stable) signs, shared with their community, in both the linguistic and gestural modalities, but do not yet systematically combine them. Only towards the end of the period under study does this begin to occur on a more routine basis. Implications are drawn for the continuous debate “insight” vs. gradual development in ontogeny, suggesting a compromise.
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| 3. |
- Zlatev, Jordan, et al.
(författare)
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The coevolution of intersubjectivity and bodily mimesis
- 2008
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Ingår i: The Shared Mind: Perspectives on Intersubjectivity. - Amsterdam : John Benjamins Publishing Company. - 1566-7774. - 9789027239006 - 9789027239068 - 9789027291011 ; 12, s. 215-244
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Bokkapitel (refereegranskat)
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| 4. |
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| 5. |
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Studies in language and cognition
- 2009
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Samlingsverk (redaktörskap) (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Using a plethora of concepts, theories and methods, the theoretical and empirical studies described in this volume are united in their approach of treating language not in isolation (e.g. as a “module”), but as both based on structures and processes of cognition, and at the same time as affecting the human mind. The book is organized in 7 parts, corresponding to some of the major fields in language research today: (a) linguistic meta-theory and general issues, (b) lexical meaning, (c) metaphor, (d) grammar, (e) pragmatics, (f) gesture and bodily communication, and (g) historical linguistics. At the same time, the non-modular approach to language adopted by the authors is reflected by the fact that there are no strict boundaries between the parts. Thus, the book is a valuable contribution to the growing interdisciplinary field of Language and Cognition.
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| 6. |
- Toyota, Junichi, et al.
(författare)
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On the evolutionary history of 'yes' and 'no'
- 2009
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Ingår i: Studies in language and cognition. - 9781443801744 ; , s. 485-498
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Bokkapitel (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Small words like ‘yes’ and ‘no’ play an important part in our daily communication, but do we clearly know where they come from? Their origin is rather mysterious. We do not know if we need these words at all, since some languages manage without them. For instance, speakers of Celtic languages answer affirmatively and negatively by repeating verbs. However, functional motivations to have ‘yes’ and ‘no’ are obvious, since they are economical, and even those languages without obvious ‘yes’ and ‘no’ terms tend to form some sort of informational verbal signs corresponding to them. Our hypothesis is that in an initial stage ‘no’ is derived from a negation marker, and then becomes an independent word. Since the negative answer can be given with ‘no’, its affirmative counterpart is required. A number of features in linguistic structures are organized in binary pairs, and this is one such case. By revealing the history of ‘yes’ and ‘no’, one can detect one aspect of cognitive evolution in human communication, in a sense that the ever-growing demands for effective communication forced speakers to invent a new tactic based on a binary opposition to allow smoother communication.
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| 7. |
- Sonesson, Göran, et al.
(författare)
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From the meaning of embodiment to the embodiment of meaning : A study in phenomenological selDiotics
- 2008
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Ingår i: Body, Language and Mind : Volume 1: Embodiment - Volume 1: Embodiment. - 1861-4132. - 9783110207507 - 9783110193275 ; 35.1, s. 85-128
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Bokkapitel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Unlike much of the contemporary discussion of embodiment, phenomenology is really involved with the body as a kind of meaning appearing to consciousness; and it does not only attend to the body of the biological organism, but also to the kind of organism-independent artefacts which are required by some sign systems. Because it is concerned with meaning, phenomenology is akin to semiotics. From the point of view of the latter discipline, however, signs must be distinguished from other meanings, and clear criteria are needed for doing so. At least one such criterion can by found in the work of Piaget: differentiation. Meaning in the more general sense of organisation and selection is at the basis of the common sense world, and thus accounts for what is known in Cognitive Linguistics as "image schemas". Cognitive Linguistics, just as biosemiotics, ignores this important distinction. Moreover, some cognitive linguists seem to deny the distinction between organism and environment, which must prevail if "image schemas" are to be acquired, along the lines of earlier conceptions of schematisation. On the basis of these considerations, a developmental sequence can be suggested going from schemas to signs and organism-independent artefacts.
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| 8. |
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| 9. |
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| 10. |
- Johansson, Sverker, et al.
(författare)
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Why don't chimps talk and humans sing like canaries?
- 2006
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Ingår i: Behavioral and Brain Sciences. - 1469-1825 .- 0140-525X. ; 29:3, s. 287-288
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Tidskriftsartikel (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- We focus on two problems with the evolutionary scenario proposed: (1) It bypasses the question of the origins of the communicative and semiotic features that make language distinct from, say, pleasant but meaningless sounds. (2) It does little to explain the absence of language in, for example, chimpanzees: Most of the selection pressures invoked apply just as strongly to chimps. We suggest how these problems could possibly be amended.
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