In the North Scandinavian area of investigation, which is in focus in this dissertation, seal-hunting has been an important means of livelihood from prehistoric times up to the present. The Swedish-speaking seal-hunters' conceptual system for seal during the 20th century is analysed here. The analysis is mainly based on oral recorded interviews with hunters from the coastal areas around the Gulf of Bothnia – from Norrbotten and Västerbotten in Sweden, and Österbotten in Finland. A cognitive perspective is applied in the analysis, in which focus is on the hunters' knowledge of the seal with the purpose of investigating the construction of the hunters' conceptual system for seal. The dissertation's theoretical starting-point is taken in cognitive linguistics and cognitive anthropology. The investigated vocabulary contains 150 different words for seal. The analysis also includes the cultural and ecological context of the hunt. The hunters' conceptual system for seal is characterised by breadth and variation. There is regional variation in the construction of the conceptual system in the investigated area. In addition to that there is also variation with regard to different hunting seasons, something which is apparent both in the vocabulary and in the structure of the conceptual system. The summer and autumn hunt was not particularly complicated and there was consequently no need for categorising the seal. During this season a limited conceptual system with more general terms was used, which included all seals that were hunted at that time. The late winter and early summer hunt, on the other hand, required an immense amount of knowledge, for example with regard to ecology. In that connection the hunters used an extended conceptual system for seal. The analysis of the conceptual system of the late winter and early summer hunt is based on three different scenarios in which the categories for seal direct the actions of the hunters – in locating the seals in the ice environment, in the hunters' actions during the hunt and in the utilisation of the seal as a resource. A number of categories for seal which were used during the late winter and early spring hunt are the same in the whole area of investigation and can be said to constitute a cognitive and communicative basic level. / digitalisering@umu

Made available in DSpace on 2014-12-17T15:07:13Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 KarlianeFN.pdf: 2687270 bytes, checksum: 030c127f4ec27d1e8f2d78a1475b9ddf (MD5) Previous issue date: 2007-06-01 / Apresentamos, neste trabalho, com base na sem?ntica cognitiva, uma an?lise do significado, em contexto, dos auxiliares modais poder, precisar e dever. Analisamos 120 textos produzidos por candidatos ao vestibular e por alunos do ensino fundamental, como resposta da quest?o n?mero tr?s da prova discursiva de L?ngua Portuguesa do vestibular 2005 da UFRN, que pede aos candidatos para explicitar a diferen?a de sentido entre tr?s frases, observando o uso desses tr?s verbos. Consideramos que um item lexical n?o ? incorporado a uma representa??o ling??stica sem?ntica fixa, limitada e ?nica, mas antes, ? ligado a uma representa??o ling??stica sem?ntica flex?vel e aberta que prov? acesso a muitas concep??es e sistemas conceituais dependente de cada contexto determinado. Com base em seu significado, um item lexical evoca um grupo de dom?nios cognitivos, que por sua vez, apresentam um determinado conte?do conceitual. Isto implica em afirmar que a rede de significados lexicais vai variar conforme o conhecimento de mundo de cada um (LANGACKER, 2000). A relev?ncia deste trabalho ? proporcionar uma contribui??o para a descri??o sem?ntica do portugu?s / We present, in this work, based on cognitive semantics, an analysis of the meaning in context of the modal auxiliaries can, need and must. We analysed 120 texts produced by applicants for university entrance examinations and primary school students as answer to question number three of the Portuguese Language discursive test, in the entrance examinations for UFRN, that asked the candidates to explicit the difference in meaning between three sentences, observing the use of those three verbs. We consider that a lexical item is not incorporated by a steady semantic structure, limited and unique, but instead, it is linked to an open and flexible linguistic semantic representation that provides access to many conceptions and conceptual systems depending on each determined context. Based on its meaning, a lexical item evokes a group of cognitive domains, which present a determined conceptual content. This makes possible to affirm that the net of lexical meanings will vary according to the world knowledge each one has (LANGACKER, 2000). The relevance of this work is provide a understanding of the semantic decription of portuguese

The present study is based on conceptual metaphor theory (CMT), which Lakoff and Johnson introduced in 1980. Data were taken from the Corpus of Contemporary American English (COCA), and three phrases (a long road, bumpy road and fork in the road) were investigated, in order to see how far the conceptual metaphor theory can be corroborated using authentic data. Journey was taken as the source domain of the three phrases. After analysis it was found that altogether 79% were metaphorical tokens, 18% were literal uses and 3% ‘other’ uses of the three phrases. In the metaphorical tokens of the three phrases six conceptual metaphors were identified and the most common conceptual metaphor was LONG-TERM PURPOSEFUL (LABOURIOUS) ACTIVITIES ARE JOURNEYS which made up 63% of all metaphorical tokens. The conceptual metaphor RECOVERING FROM PHYSICAL ILLNESS (OR GRIEF) OR PHYSICAL (OR MENTAL) SUFFERING IS A JOURNEY was only found in metaphorical tokens of the phrase a long road. The study shows that CMT can be used to explain the majority of the tokens in the corpus. However, one conceptual metaphor often mentioned in previous accounts, LOVE IS A JOURNEY, turned out to be quite rare. / Studien baseras på Lakoff och Johnsons teori om konceptuella metaforer som introducerades 1980. Materialet är hämtat från Corpus of Contemporary American English (COCA), där tre fraser undersöktes (a long road, bumpy road, fork in the road), för att se i vilken mån teorin om konceptualla metaforer kan beläggas i autentiskt material. Journey (dvs. resa)var källdomänen för de tre fraserna. Analysen visade att totalt 79 % av de undersökta fraserna var metaforiska, i 18 % användes fraserna i bokstavlig mening, och 3 % klassificerades som ”annat”. Sex konceptuella metaforer identifierades; den vanligaste visade sig vara LÅNGSIKTIGA MÅLINRIKTADE (ARBETSKRÄVANDE) AKTIVITETER ÄR RESOR vilket utgjorde 63 % av alla token. Den konceptuella metaforen ATT TILLFRISKNA FRÅN FYSISK SJUKDOM (ELLER SORG) ELLER FYSISKT (ELLER MENTALT) LIDANDE ÄR EN RESA påträffades bara i frasen a long road. Studien visar att teorin om konceptuella metaforer kan användas för att förklara majoriteten av träffarna i korpusen. Det visade sig emellertid att en konceptuell metafor som ofta nämns i tidigare beskrivningar, KÄRLEKEN ÄR EN RESA, var ovanlig i materialet.

Cognitive linguists posit that language as a system of meaning is closely related to cognition and to the associated perceptual and physiological structures of the body. From the cognitive semantic viewpoint, cognitive processes underpin and motivate linguistic phenomena such as categorisation, polysemy, metaphor, metonymy and image schemas. The pedagogical implication of the cognitive semantic perspective is that understanding these cognitive motivations facilitates language learning. This dissertation uses an applied cognitive semantic approach to `make sense' of a traditional knowledge system, Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM). TCM views human physiology as a holistic and dynamic system that exemplifies the same principles as the cosmos-environment. TCM models result in a categorisation of physiological phenomena based on a complex system of experiential and cosmological correspondences. I suggest that the holistic epistemology of cognitive linguistics is well suited to an understanding of these holistic models. From a pedagogical viewpoint, I argue that an analysis of the cognitive motivations which underpin TCM categorisations and the polysemy of some key TCM terms can help the student make sense of TCM as a meaningful system of thought and practice. Both the theoretical and applied approaches explored in this dissertation should have relevance to other traditional knowledge systems, particularly traditional medical systems. / Linguistics / M.A. (Linguistics)

In Swedish dialects we find the terms ris,skäver and skärva referring to illnesses in children. The words are also parts of various compounds which refer to variants of the illnesses. The terms are linguistic expressions denoting two folk categories of illnesses, RIS and SKÄVER/SKÄRVA. These categories are investigated from a cognitive semantic perspective. The cognitive perspective argues that we organize our understanding of reality by using Idealized Cognitive Models (ICM) based on our physical, mental and emotional experiences of the world. The aim is twofold: to demonstrate the bases on which an experienced illness is placed in a certain category, and to show how a folk conception of illness is reflected in the word formation strategies. The word formation strategies emanate from notions of characteristic symptoms, and from notions of causes of illnesses. Both categories, RIS and SKÄVER/SKÄRVA, are based on a number of ICM's. The category RIS is a radial structure, which means that the category is held together although its members have no structural criteria in common. The category SKÄVER/SKÄRVA is a concentrating structure, meaning that all members share all structural criteria. There is a strong connection between word formation strategies and the structures of the categories. Terms related to symptoms refer to members of a category which are part of a radial structure, while terms related to causes refer to members of a category which are part of a concentrating structure. This can be explained by two of the basic assumptions of cognitive semantics: semantic content is structred and symbolized overtly on the surface form of a language and categories are conventional, based on cultural assumptions about the world. / digitalisering@umu

<p>Based on current research in historical and cognitive linguistics this thesis examines the German semantic field <fromm> (<pious>), partly contrasting it with its Swedish correspondent <from>. Starting at the time of Old High German the analysis follows the historical development of word and concept, exploring how attitudes to the Christian religion are verbalised in different ages. One important assumption is that ideas and attitudes are accessible to us through the lexicalised items of a language.</p><p>The thesis is part of the interlingual research project “Ethical concepts and mental cultures”, which, by applying a pluralistic method, examines various ethical fields, and assumes as central the oppositions a/o (action directed to others vs. to oneself), right/wrong (virtues vs. vices) and too much/too little vs. the ideal mean.</p><p>This study shows that true piety, in order to be classified as a virtue, has to include both trust and critical thinking in equal proportions and that if either of the two outweighs the other the virtue will become a vice. Furthermore, it is shown that a shift in meaning has taken place from ‘profitable’ or ‘advantageous’ in Old High German, through ‘excellent’, ‘righteous’, ‘virtuous’ into ‘religious’, with Luther’s usage as the critical factor in giving the word its religious meaning. As a result of Secularisation and Individualisation negative connotations have developed in modern German usage which do not seem to exist to the same extent in modern Swedish. This is confirmed by two corpus studies, evaluating the usage of <i>fromm/from</i> in German and Swedish newspaper texts, according to which <i>fromm</i> tends to be transferred to profane contexts, meaning for example ‘hypocritical’, ‘uncritically credulous’ and ‘uncritically obedient’ more frequently than its Swedish equivalent.</p><p>Based on results from socio-psychological research the study also identifies some strategies that speakers employ in order to mark distance or adherence to a group of believers or non-believers, for example metaphors (i.a. GOOD IS UP ÷ BAD IS DOWN) or stereotypes, which are often used to ridicule, criticise or insult a member of another group in order to strengthen the speaker’s own social identity.</p>

Based on current research in historical and cognitive linguistics this thesis examines the German semantic field &lt;fromm&gt; (&lt;pious&gt;), partly contrasting it with its Swedish correspondent &lt;from&gt;. Starting at the time of Old High German the analysis follows the historical development of word and concept, exploring how attitudes to the Christian religion are verbalised in different ages. One important assumption is that ideas and attitudes are accessible to us through the lexicalised items of a language. The thesis is part of the interlingual research project “Ethical concepts and mental cultures”, which, by applying a pluralistic method, examines various ethical fields, and assumes as central the oppositions a/o (action directed to others vs. to oneself), right/wrong (virtues vs. vices) and too much/too little vs. the ideal mean. This study shows that true piety, in order to be classified as a virtue, has to include both trust and critical thinking in equal proportions and that if either of the two outweighs the other the virtue will become a vice. Furthermore, it is shown that a shift in meaning has taken place from ‘profitable’ or ‘advantageous’ in Old High German, through ‘excellent’, ‘righteous’, ‘virtuous’ into ‘religious’, with Luther’s usage as the critical factor in giving the word its religious meaning. As a result of Secularisation and Individualisation negative connotations have developed in modern German usage which do not seem to exist to the same extent in modern Swedish. This is confirmed by two corpus studies, evaluating the usage of fromm/from in German and Swedish newspaper texts, according to which fromm tends to be transferred to profane contexts, meaning for example ‘hypocritical’, ‘uncritically credulous’ and ‘uncritically obedient’ more frequently than its Swedish equivalent. Based on results from socio-psychological research the study also identifies some strategies that speakers employ in order to mark distance or adherence to a group of believers or non-believers, for example metaphors (i.a. GOOD IS UP ÷ BAD IS DOWN) or stereotypes, which are often used to ridicule, criticise or insult a member of another group in order to strengthen the speaker’s own social identity.

The aim of this study is to develop a more effective translation technique analysis of the Peshitta to Ezekiel text that would contribute to the textual studies of Ezekiel. In order to help provide such an effective analysis on translation technique, the methodology employed is the comparative analysis of texts, which incorporates the theory from Cognitive Semantics called Frame Semantics. This theory views units of meaning in text or speech contexts at the level of semantic frames and is therefore most ideal in view of the idiomatic nature of the Peshitta translation. By applying this theory, the frames in the Hebrew source text of the translator were compared to those in the translator’s target Syriac text, to see whether there were correspondences between the two frames. In chapter 3, the GIVING frames evoked by נתן (nātan) were studied and it was found that most of the frames in the Hebrew text corresponded well with those in the Syriac target text. The exception is mainly those frames in which there might have been textual difficulties in the source text. Similar observations were made in chapter 4 for the ARRIVING frames evoked by the Hebrew verb בוא (bō). However, nouns associated with the frame MISDEEDS presented some problems, mainly as to their use in the Hebrew source text. The use of these nouns could have affected the translator’s understanding of such categories, leading to their inconsistent representation in the target text. Nevertheless, it can be indicated that the translator demonstrated a relatively good understanding of the use of the nouns in the Hebrew text. Overall, the translation of the Peshitta to Ezekiel was made at the approximate level of semantic frames, displaying a translation technique that should be very useful for the textual studies of the Book of Ezekiel. / PhD (Semitic Languages), North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2013

The aim of this study is to develop a more effective translation technique analysis of the Peshitta to Ezekiel text that would contribute to the textual studies of Ezekiel. In order to help provide such an effective analysis on translation technique, the methodology employed is the comparative analysis of texts, which incorporates the theory from Cognitive Semantics called Frame Semantics. This theory views units of meaning in text or speech contexts at the level of semantic frames and is therefore most ideal in view of the idiomatic nature of the Peshitta translation. By applying this theory, the frames in the Hebrew source text of the translator were compared to those in the translator’s target Syriac text, to see whether there were correspondences between the two frames. In chapter 3, the GIVING frames evoked by נתן (nātan) were studied and it was found that most of the frames in the Hebrew text corresponded well with those in the Syriac target text. The exception is mainly those frames in which there might have been textual difficulties in the source text. Similar observations were made in chapter 4 for the ARRIVING frames evoked by the Hebrew verb בוא (bō). However, nouns associated with the frame MISDEEDS presented some problems, mainly as to their use in the Hebrew source text. The use of these nouns could have affected the translator’s understanding of such categories, leading to their inconsistent representation in the target text. Nevertheless, it can be indicated that the translator demonstrated a relatively good understanding of the use of the nouns in the Hebrew text. Overall, the translation of the Peshitta to Ezekiel was made at the approximate level of semantic frames, displaying a translation technique that should be very useful for the textual studies of the Book of Ezekiel. / PhD (Semitic Languages), North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2013

Cognitive linguists posit that language as a system of meaning is closely related to cognition and to the associated perceptual and physiological structures of the body. From the cognitive semantic viewpoint, cognitive processes underpin and motivate linguistic phenomena such as categorisation, polysemy, metaphor, metonymy and image schemas. The pedagogical implication of the cognitive semantic perspective is that understanding these cognitive motivations facilitates language learning. This dissertation uses an applied cognitive semantic approach to `make sense' of a traditional knowledge system, Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM). TCM views human physiology as a holistic and dynamic system that exemplifies the same principles as the cosmos-environment. TCM models result in a categorisation of physiological phenomena based on a complex system of experiential and cosmological correspondences. I suggest that the holistic epistemology of cognitive linguistics is well suited to an understanding of these holistic models. From a pedagogical viewpoint, I argue that an analysis of the cognitive motivations which underpin TCM categorisations and the polysemy of some key TCM terms can help the student make sense of TCM as a meaningful system of thought and practice. Both the theoretical and applied approaches explored in this dissertation should have relevance to other traditional knowledge systems, particularly traditional medical systems. / Linguistics and Modern Languages / M.A. (Linguistics)