The Elementary Particles of Distance in Space, Time, Grammar, and Discourse

2015

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With regard to the volume’s central aim of exploring the descriptive potential and explanatory power of the concept of distance, the chapter aims at a unifying taxonomy that is able to account for different phenomena of distance on the level of the language system and its usage at the level of discourse. This goal is pursued in two steps: Firstly, an exemplary analysis of spatial and temporal localization will be used to show that distance, as a metaphorical concept accounting for the additional space between two spatial locations, seen from a third point linked to an evaluator’s stance, is a fundamental as well as a ubiquitous relation which lies at the bottom of linguistic perspectivization and conceptualization in general. Secondly, a comparison of grammatical and discourse distance leads to a matrix of micro-relationships of distance that serve as a descriptive taxonomy for complex configurations of distance on the different levels of linguistic structure. Such a microscopic vie...

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Cognition, 1999

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K. Rudnicka-Szozda & A. Szwedek (Eds.), Cognitive Linguistics in the Making (pp. 331–347). Frankfurt am Main: Peter Lang., 2014

There has been a long lasting debate on the entanglement of space and time in cognition. One way to find some credible information about that relationship is to gather data on the distribution of spatial and temporal representations from linguistic corpora. A context that appears to be well suited to this purpose is the domain of prepositional expressions of distance, since they happen to take both spatial and temporal complements. Using standard reference language corpora for English and Polish, this study demonstrates an overall proportion between spatial and temporal prepositional phrases denoting spatial distance in absolute terms. The data reveal that the preposition away is used more frequently with temporal units to specify distance in space than to express temporal relations, which indicates that in the context of ways separating spatial locations both English and Polish speakers tend to express distance in temporal terms. This paper explores a hypothesis that the outstanding temporality of away-PPs results from the semantic component of motion, which acts as an underlying modulator that shifts conceptualizations of distance from spatial to temporal terms

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P. Pęzik & J. T. Waliński (Eds.), Language, Corpora and Cognition (pp. 129–144). Frankfurt am Main: Peter Lang., 2017

Entanglement of space and time in the human mind is among the most intensely pursued topics in contemporary cognitive science. A linguistic area that seems to be particularly suited to researching this problem is the domain of motion events because in this context expressions of distance can take both spatial and temporal representations. his study demonstrates a proportion between spatial and temporal expressions of distance for the semantic attribute of motion medium based on objectively veriiable frequencies of language patterns found in the National Corpus of Polish. Data obtained in this research show that in this semantic context Polish speakers tend to render distance both in spatial and temporal terms, with spatial representations being used more frequently, but not by a large margin. he results indicate that in the framework of motion events space and time act as complementary to each other, which suggests that they are correlated metonymically, rather than being asymmetrically dependent.

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Waliński, J. T. (2014). Complementarity of Space and Time in Distance Representations: A Cognitive Corpus-based Study, 2nd Ed. Łódź: Łódź , 2014

This book presents a cognitive linguistic study of distance representations carried out using the British National Corpus and the National Corpus of Polish. Corpus­based examination of linguistic expressions of spatial expanse in the semantic context of motion events suggests that as language users we are at certain liberty to choose either spatial or temporal conceptualization of distance according to what suits our subjective profiling needs relevant to a particular situation. From the perspective of research presented in this book, the entanglement of time and space in cognition is a rabbit hole phenomenon that runs deep beyond the ties that bind space to time in motion, on the one hand, and the socio-cultural sedimentation of meaning through commonly used phraseology, on the other. It appears to hinge on a higher-order ontological and epistemological distinction between objects and events, which may influence our spatial-temporal reasoning. Additionally, this book demonstrates a cognitive schema of temporaI horizon emergent from the frequency of expressions denoting temporaI distance found in spontaneous informal conversations. Taken together the research presented in this volume indicates that, at least in certain contexts, space and time can act in a complementary manner in cognition.

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The idea that spatial cognition provides the foundation of linguistic meanings, even highly abstract meanings, has been put forward by a number of linguists in recent years. This book takes this proposal into new dimensions and develops a theoretical framework based on simple geometric principles. All speakers are conceptualisers who have a point of view both in a literal and in an abstract sense, choosing their perspective in space, time and the real world. The book examines the conceptualising properties of verbs, including tense, aspect, modality and transitivity, as well as the conceptual workings of grammatical constructions associated with counterfactuality, other minds and the expression of moral force. It makes links to the cognitive sciences throughout and concludes with a discussion of the relationship between language, brain and mind.

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G. Drożdż (Ed.), Studies in Lexicogrammar: Theory and applications (pp. 229–240). Amsterdam: John Benjamins., 2016

This study demonstrates an overall proportion between spatial and temporal representations of distance for the semantic attribute of motion medium on the basis of objectively verifiable frequencies of language patterns found in the British National Corpus. It demonstrates that in the semantic context of medium-mediated expressions of distance English speakers have a tendency to denote distance in space both in spatial and temporal terms, with temporal representations being used almost as frequently as spatial ones. This study complements earlier findings on the complementarily of spatial and temporal representations of distance in motion events for the semantic attributes of motion manner and instrument. Taken together, the results indicate that in the semantic context of motion events, space and time, are correlated metonymically rather than being asymmetrically dependent.

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M. Deckert & I. Witczak-Plisiecka (Eds.), Language and cognition: meaning across contexts (pp. 61–71). Muenchen: LINCOM., 2016

The entanglement of space and time is among most intensely debated topics in cognitive science. One linguistic context that appears to be well suited to researching this problem is the domain of prepositional expressions of distance, since they happen to take both spatial and temporal complements. Using standard reference language corpora for English and Polish, this study demonstrates an overall proportion between spatial and temporal expressions of distance for selected prepositions. The data show that the preposition away tends to be used relatively more frequently with temporal units to specify distance in space than other prepositions. This paper proposes a hypothesis that the outstanding temporality of away results from the semantic component of motion, which acts as an underlying modulator that shifts conceptualizations of distance from spatial to temporal terms.

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