HOMEWORK 5

Cognitive Linguistics

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Part [1]

In this case for the description of the image, 1(a) is more acceptabe than 1(b). This happens because we tend to consider the Indian roller as the figure and the window ledge as the ground thereby paying more attention to it. Human mind has the tendency to focus it's attention on that part of the image on which it can make predictions and finds more interesting. The Indian Roller has a greater tendency to move, make noise or act than the window ledge and thereby we start treating it as the figure and the window ledge as the background which in turn makes us consider 1(a) to be more favourable than 1(b).

Even though in this case, both the sentences are syntactically correct, we tend to favour 1(a). If language would have been autonomous in nature (as proposed by Chomsky) and not arriving from general cognitive rules, both the sentence would have been equally favourable. But since, human figure/ground perception, memory, attention, emotion, social interaction, context dependent knowledge etc. affects the way he/she favours a particular expression for the same event, it can be strongly emphasized that language is more or less derived from general cognitive rules.

Part [2] - (Complex Predicates)

[A]

Set 1

- Language(s) spoken in first 5 years: Hindi
- Parent's mother tongues: Hindi
- Where they lived the first 5 years, and beyond: Sawai Madhopur, Rajasthan
- Schooling in hindi till what class: Class 12

[B]

Few of the examples and the differences as given by the user are as follows:-

Set 1

Kal sham ko Ayush Patna ke liye nikal gaya.
Ye sunte hi main ghar se nikal pada.

Mujhe dekhte hi Vishal bol pada ki meri copy uske paas hai.
Woh marte marte bol utha - "Inquilab Zindabad".

Set 2

Rahul Calcutta ke liye nikal gaya.
Ramesh Delhi ke liye raat ko hi nikal pada tha.

Rahul achanak se bol utha ki use kitaabe kitni pasand hain.
Main kyun bol pada ?

[C]

When we look at the various situations where the light verb "Utha" is used, complex predicates like "Jhoom Utha", "Chehak Utha", "Kaanp Utha" etc. come into the picture. The heavy verb in all of these cases signifies a high level of activity and energy. The light verb "Utha" extends the level of energy the heavy verbs show. Since "Utha" in general means picking up, it is generally used with heavy verbs showing high energy.

SUMIT VERMA| Y9605 | SE367