Chap.6 总结《CL: An Introduction》 (Vyvyan Evans)

Chap. 6: Embodiment and conceptual structure

• This chapter explores in more detail two of the central principles of cognitive linguistics in Chap.5:
  -the thesis that conceptual structure derives from embodiment, also know as embodied cognition 概念结构来自涉身体验;
  -and the thesis that semantic structure reflects conceptual structure 语义结构反映了概念结构.
• We address the thesis of embodied cognition by presenting the theory of image schemas.
• And we explore the second thesis by examining Talmy’s theory of conceptual structure.

Image schema

• Mark Johnson proposed that: embodied experience give rise to image schemas within the conceptual system. Image schemas derive from sensory and perceptual experience as we interact with and move about in the world.
• Image schemas are emergent. They are not claimed to be innate knowledge structure.
• The term “image” represents imagistic experience relates to and derives from our experience of the external world. image告诉我们，image schema是感知世界而获得的。
  It is important to emphasise that the term “image” encompasses all types of sensory-perceptual experience (rather than mere visual perception).
• The term “schema” means that images schemas are not rich or detailed concepts, but rather abstract concepts consisting of patterns. schema告诉我们，image schema是抽象的，而不是具体的。

Properties of image schema

• 1 Image schemas are pre-conceptual in origin
  -They arise from sensory experiences in the early stages of human development that precede the fromation of concepts. 意象图式的产生是先于概念的产生的。 在人类心智发展的早期，意象图式从经验感知中生成，先于概念的生成。
  -So, images schemas are concepts, 意象图式的本质是概念。
  -But image schemas are a special kind of concepts Because they are the first concepts to emerge in the human mind, because they relate to sensory-perceptual experience, and because they are so fundamental to our way of thinking that we are not consciously aware of them. 但意象图式是一种特殊的概念。因为它们人脑最先形成的概念；它们与人类的经验感知相关联（其他的概念可能是基于意象图式产生，而非基于感知经验产生）；意象图式在我们认知思考时发挥着最基础的作用，因而有时我们意识不到它们的存在（会被忽略）。
  -They are foundations of the conceptual system. 意象图式是后续形成概念系统的基础。
• 2 Image schemas can give rise to more specific concepts
  Image schemas can possess varying degrees of shematicity, where more specific image schemas arise from more fundamental or schematic ones. 意象图式的图式化程度不同，更抽象的图式能够产生更具体的图式下级。
• 3 Image schemas derive from interaction with and observation of the world
  Because image schemas derive from embodied experience, they derive from the way in which we interact with the world.
• 4 Image schemas are inherently meaningful
  Because image schemas derive from interaction with the world, they are inherently meaningful. Embodied experience is inherently meaningful in the sense that embodied experiences have predicatable consequences. 意象图式是具有意义的，并且能够推测一系列后续结果。
• 5 Image schemas are analogue representations
  Image schemas are analogue representations deriving from experience. The term “analogue” means image schemas take a form in the conceptual system that mirrors the sensory experience being represented. Although we try to describe image schemas using words and pictures, they are not represented in the mind in terms of holistic sensory experiences. 意象图式是涉身经验的类比化表征；虽然我们尝试用文字和图片来描述意象图式，但意象图式在我们概念系统中是以真实涉身经验的类比化表征存在的，是被表征的现实的镜像。
• 6 Image schemas can be internally complex
  Image schemas are often comprised of more complex aspects that can be analysed separately. One consequence of internal complexity is that different components of the schema can be referred to. 意象图式具有内部复杂结构，因而结构中的各个方面都能够被强调。
• 7 Image schemas are not the same as mental images
  Mental images are relatively rich in detail; image schemas are schematic and more abstract in nature.
• 8 Image schemas are multi-modal
  Image schemas are multi-modal in that they derive from experiences across different modalities and hence are not specific to a particular sense. Image schemas are abstract patterns arising from a vast range of perceptual experiences and as such are not available to conscious introspection. 意象图式来源于多模态的涉身体验，是抽象的概念，因而我们不能主动的感知它。
• 9 Image schemas are subject to transformation
  Image schemas arise from embodied experience, which is ongoing, they can undergo transformations.
• 10 Image schemas can occur in clusters
  Image schemas can occur in clusters or networks of related image schemas.
  

Image schema and abstract thought 意象图式与抽象思维

• To take metaphor as an example. Conceptual structure is in part organised in terms of metaphor system, which is characterised by related sets of conventional associations or mappings between concrete and abstract domains.
  The importance of image schemas is that they can provide the concrete basis for these metaphoric mappings. 例如，隐喻是一种概念结构化的方式；而隐喻即是具体域与抽象域之间的投射。意象图式的重要性体现在其可以为隐喻投射提供具体的基础。
  The image schema is based on our everyday interaction with concrete objects, and it generalises what is common to objects. The image schema can be mapped onto an abstract entity which lacks these properties. For example, the image schema OBJECT and an abstract entity inflation. 由于意象图式是从我们如具体事物的互动而形成的，其概括了这些事物的共有特征；意象图式进一步可以被投射在抽象的事物上，赋予该事物其本不具有的特征。如，将OBJECT这一意象图式投射在通货膨胀这一抽象事物上，赋予了其作为一个物体的应具有的特征。

Conceptual structure

• In this section, we explore the thesis that semantic structure encodes and externalises conceptual structure. We do this by looking at how language system provides meaning based on concepts derived from embodiment. 之前我们探讨了概念结构与涉身经验。在这一部分，我们要探讨语义结构与概念结构，探索语言结构是如何基于涉身的概念结构而提供了语义。
  -Talmy has argued that one of the ways that language reflects conceptual representation is by providing structural meaning, also known as schematic meaning. This kind of meaning relates to structural properties of referents (the entities that language describes) and scenes (the situations that these entities are involved in). Talmy提出，语言反映概念表征的其中一种方式是提供概念意义，也叫做图示化意义。概念意义/图示化意义是关于referents(物)和scenes(情景)的意义。

Semantic structure

• -Linguistic expressions refer to entities or describe situations or scenes.
  -The way language conveys entities and scenes is by reflecting or encoding the language user’s Cognitive Representation (CR) or conceptual system.
  -CR is made up of two systems, conceptual structuring system and the conceptual content system. The meaning associated with the conceptual structuring system is highly schematic in nature, while the meaning associated with the conceptual content system is rich and highly detailed. 人类的概念系统，或称概念表征(CR)，有两个子系统组成，概念结构系统(conceptual structuring system)和概念内容系统(conceptual content system)。

• The semantic structure system is also divided into two subsystems, the open-class semantic system and the closed-class system. This distinction will be more insightfully viewed in terms of distinct points on a continuum.

Schematic systems

• According to Talmy, the conceptual structureing system is based upon a limited number of large-scale schematic systems. 概念结构系统是基于有限数量的大型图式系统的。
  -There are four key schematic systems identified by Talmy: the Cogfigurational System; the Perspectival System; the Attentional System; and the Force-Dynamics System. 这里列出了其中四个关键图式系统。
  -1.The Configurational System: the Configurational System structures the temporal and spatial properties associated with a scene, such as the division of a scene into parts and participants. Schematic systems like the Configurational System can be further dividied into shematic categories.
  -2.The Perspectival System: the Perspectival System specifies the perspective from which one views a scene.
  -3.The Attentional System: This system specifies how the speaker intends the hearer to direct his or her attention towards the entities that participate in a particular scene. Recall that, it is the internal complexity of the image schema that enables attention to be focused on distinct subparts.
  -4.The Force-Dynamics System: This system relates to the way in which objects are conceived relative to the exertion of force. The Force-Dynamics System derives from kinaesthesia and somesthesia. It does not just relate to physical force, but can also relate to psychological force.