Michael Pleyer
English Department, Universität Heidelberg Heidelberg Graduate School for Humanities and Social Sciences [email protected] Stefan Hartmann
Deutsches Institut, Johannes Gutenberg-Universität Mainz [email protected]
Assessing the Development of Construal Operations in Corpora
Overview
1. How to define construal?
2. How does construal relate to constructions?
3. Is the concept of construal operationalizable in corpus linguistics?
4. If yes, how?
5. Where to go from here?
• “Linguistic meaning involves both conceptual content and the construal imposed on that content.” (Langacker 2008: 44)
• CONSTRUAL • structuring of conceptual content in a specific manner and from a
certain perspective (foregrounding, backgrounding, assigning salience)
• invocation and selection of cognitive domains that serve as the basis for the meaning of a construction/expression
Langacker 2008: 44
Conceptual Content & Construal
Taylor 2002
• Specificity
• Perspective
• Prominence
• Dynamicity
• Config. Structure
• Perspective
• Attention
• Force Dynamics
• Attention / salience
• Judgment / comparison
• Perspective / Situatedness
• Constitution / Gestalt
Typologies of Construal Operations:
Langacker 2007 Talmy 1988a,b, 2000 Croft & Cruse 2004
(cf. also Verhagen 2007; Evans & Green 2006)
Overview
1. How to define construal?
2. How does construal relate to constructions?
3. Is the concept of construal operationalizable in corpus linguistics?
4. If yes, how?
5. Where to go from here?
Construal and Constructions • Linguistic constructions reflect cognitive construal patterns and
conceptual categorizations • constructions can be seen as prompts for the dynamic construal of
conceptualizations and conceptual categories • linguistic constructions shape and perspectivise the
conceptualisations they evoke in specific ways
e.g. Ambridge & Lieven 2011; Beckner et al. 2009; Behrens 2009; Clark 2009; Diessel 2004; 2013; Ibbotson 2011; Lieven 2009; 2010; Tomasello 2003,2006; Tomasello & Lieven 2008
“What children eventually learn is a network of related constructions in which the same event is construed from different perspectives so that speakers can choose the construction that is most appropriate to realize their communicative intention in a particular situation” (Diessel 2013: 357)
*CHI: Mummy has broken these (Thomas-Corpus, 2-11-00)
Subject-Verb-Object-Construction (Transitive Connstruction)
*CHI: the ceiling got cracked. (Thomas-Corpus, 2-10-6)
Passive Construction
*CHI: these balloon is [*] broken (Thomas-Corpus, 2-11-00)
Subject-Copula-Complement-Construction
Construal & Constructions
Construal and Constructions
lexical/ contentful
grammatical/ procedural
conceptual content
construal
atomic and specific
complex and (mostly)
schematic
(cf. Traugott & Trousdale 2013; Croft 2001; Langacker 2008)
Construal and Constructions: Morphology • Morphology plays an important role in construing conceptual content • e.g. progressive -ing
(from Ibbotson, Lieven & Tomasello 2013)
Construal and Constructions: Morphology • Cook-Gumperz & Kyratzis (2001): In pretend play, progressive
constructions (e.g. I’m making soup or pretend I’m making food) are tied to children taking an involved viewpoint on the action in which they themselves are part of and engaged in the pretending activity.
• Ibbotson, Lieven & Tomasello (2013): In child-directed speech, progressive forms are used in situations in which the event described by the verb is just unfolding
*MOT: Thomas going to have a little sleep ? *CHI: yeah . *MOT: no . *MOT: aah . *CHI: 0 [=! pretends to snore] . *MOT: are you sleeping ? *MOT: is Thomas tired ?
*CHI: &m bye . %com: as he rolls away *MOT: bye+bye . *CHI: a@p this ? *MOT: it's you rolling round . *CHI: 0 [=! babbles] . *MOT: are you rolling ?
Thomas-Corpus (2-00-12)
Overview
1. How to define construal?
2. How does construal relate to constructions
3. Is the concept of construal operationalizable in corpus linguistics?
4. If yes, how?
5. Where to go from here?
Meibauer (1995, 1997), Meibauer et al. (2004): Acquisition of -er-nominals • Comprehension study: Ten test items with four pictures each (one
OBJECT, one PERSON) • 56 preschool children from 3;0-6;5
ung-Nominalization
• weakly productive nominalization pattern deriving nouns from verbs
• e.g. landen ‘to land’ > Landung ‘landing
• many lexicalized items
Lemma Freq
Zeitung ‘newspaper’ 71
Wohnung ‘flat’ 69
Richtung ‘direction’ 57
Anleitung ‘manual’ 49
Heizung ‘heating device’ 49
Achtung ‘attention’ 44
Packung ‘package’ 28
Ladung ‘load / charge’ 24
Kupplung ‘gearshift’ 22
Ordnung ‘order’ 20
Most frequent ung-nominals in CDS
Source: CHILDES (all German transcripts), MUT/MOT tier
ung-nominals in children’s speech
1;1
1-2
;5
2;6
-2;1
1
3;0
-3;5
3;6
-3;1
1
4;0
-4;5
4;6
-4;1
1
5;0
-5;5
5;6
-5;1
1
Zeitung
Heizung
Ladung
Anleitung
Richtung
Lüftung
Packung
Wohnung
deitung (Caroline, 1;9.14)
zeikung (Caroline, 2;1.28)
lesen (.) Zeitung (Leo, 2;0.13)
was is(t) eine Zeitung ? (Leo, 2;10.29)
ung-nominals in children’s speech
1;1
1-2
;5
2;6
-2;1
1
3;0
-3;5
3;6
-3;1
1
4;0
-4;5
4;6
-4;1
1
5;0
-5;5
5;6
-5;1
1
Zeitung
Heizung
Ladung
Anleitung
Richtung
Lüftung
Packung
Wohnung
Leo [x 2] malt Lüftung (Leo, 2;3.0)
‚Leo paints ventilation‘
*CHI: das Fahrrad hat auch Lüftung . [+
diary] (Leo, 2;5.17)
%exp: das Fahrrad hat, im Gegensatz zu
einem anderen Fahrrad im Keller, keinen
Platten, sondern in beiden Reifen genug
Luft .
ung-nominals in children’s speech
1;1
1-2
;5
2;6
-2;1
1
3;0
-3;5
3;6
-3;1
1
4;0
-4;5
4;6
-4;1
1
5;0
-5;5
5;6
-5;1
1
ung-nominals in children’s speech
1;1
1-2
;5
2;6
-2;1
1
3;0
-3;5
3;6
-3;1
1
4;0
-4;5
4;6
-4;1
1
5;0
-5;5
5;6
-5;1
1
Wohnung
Achtung
Richtung
Zeitung
Heizung
Anleitung
Verpackung
Packung
Ausstellung
Mechthild hat ihre Stimmung verloren.
‚Mechthild has lost her voice‘ (Leo,
2;8.21)
*CHI: und da ist Fliege ss@o [x 9] .
*CHI: da wird immer tiefer .
*MUT: ss@o [x 9] .
*CHI: +< da wird immer tiefer . +< bis es
die La(n)dung gibt . (Leo, 2;10.14)
ung-nominals in children’s speech
1;1
1-2
;5
2;6
-2;1
1
3;0
-3;5
3;6
-3;1
1
4;0
-4;5
4;6
-4;1
1
5;0
-5;5
5;6
-5;1
1
*CHI: eine einzige Ente . [+ diary]
%exp: als CHI eine einzelne Ente auf dem
Fluss sieht .
*CHI: ohne Spritzerung ! [+ diary]
%exp: als die Robbe ohne zu spritzen
wieder in das Wasser eintauchen .
(le020714) Leo, 02;07.14
Wohnung
Achtung
Richtung
Zeitung
Heizung
Anleitung
Verpackung
Packung
Ausstellung
ung-nominals in children’s speech
1;1
1-2
;5
2;6
-2;1
1
3;0
-3;5
3;6
-3;1
1
4;0
-4;5
4;6
-4;1
1
5;0
-5;5
5;6
-5;1
1
*CHI: ne dis (.) seine Beschützung (.) guck
(.) . (Caroline, 2;9.29)
‚No, this is his protection. Look‘
Wohnung
Achtung
Richtung
Zeitung
Heizung
Anleitung
Verpackung
Packung
Ausstellung
ung-nominals in children’s speech
1;1
1-2
;5
2;6
-2;1
1
3;0
-3;5
3;6
-3;1
1
4;0
-4;5
4;6
-4;1
1
5;0
-5;5
5;6
-5;1
1
ung-nominals in children’s speech
1;1
1-2
;5
2;6
-2;1
1
3;0
-3;5
3;6
-3;1
1
4;0
-4;5
4;6
-4;1
1
5;0
-5;5
5;6
-5;1
1
Zeitung
Anleitung
Richtung
Wohnung
Fernbedienung
Achtung
Kupplung
Packung
Ausstellung
Heizung
*MUT: was is(t) das da ?
*CHI: das is(t) die Zumachen von was .
*CHI: das die Zumachung von meinen
Satellitenauto . (Leo, 3;8.20)
ung-nominals in children’s speech
1;1
1-2
;5
2;6
-2;1
1
3;0
-3;5
3;6
-3;1
1
4;0
-4;5
4;6
-4;1
1
5;0
-5;5
5;6
-5;1
1
Zeitung
Anleitung
Richtung
Wohnung
Fernbedienung
Achtung
Kupplung
Packung
Ausstellung
Heizung
*CHI: da [//] hier mach ich
Bauklötzchen+Herstellung .
*MUT: wie werden Bauklötzchen denn
hergestellt ?
*CHI: 0 [% lautiert] erst kommen die
Bauklötzchen in einen Ofen .
*CHI: dann nochmal in einen Ofen .
*CHI: und dann in einen ganz heißen Ofen .
*MUT: ui@o [x 7] . (Leo, 03;10.13)
ung-nominals in children’s speech
1;1
1-2
;5
2;6
-2;1
1
3;0
-3;5
3;6
-3;1
1
4;0
-4;5
4;6
-4;1
1
5;0
-5;5
5;6
-5;1
1
Zeitung
Anleitung
Richtung
Wohnung
Fernbedienung
Achtung
Kupplung
Packung
Ausstellung
Heizung
*CHI: da kam die Fee , und hat gesagt wenn
ihr so arm seid dürft ihr euch drei Wünsche
(.) wünschen , und die soll(e)n in die
Füllung geh(e)n . (Simone, 3;9.18)
ung-nominals in children’s speech
1;1
1-2
;5
2;6
-2;1
1
3;0
-3;5
3;6
-3;1
1
4;0
-4;5
4;6
-4;1
1
5;0
-5;5
5;6
-5;1
1
ung-nominals in children’s speech
1;1
1-2
;5
2;6
-2;1
1
3;0
-3;5
3;6
-3;1
1
4;0
-4;5
4;6
-4;1
1
5;0
-5;5
5;6
-5;1
1
Anleitung
Zeitung
Richtung
Kupplung
Wohnung
Packung
Achtung
Ordnung
Heizung
Zeichnung
*CHI: da .
*CHI: und hier will ich 'n Weg zur
Erschreckung mal zum Geist .
*CHI: zum einen Geist machen . (Leo,
04;03.08)
Overview
1. How to define construal?
2. How does construal relate to constructions?
3. Is the concept of construal operationalizable in corpus linguistics?
4. If yes, how?
5. Where to go from here?
Language is a complex adaptive system, whose global emergent structure arises out of the dynamic local interactions of a multiplicity of factors on different levels of analysis and on
different timescales (Beckner et al. 2009; Kirby 2012; Kirby et al. 2007, Steels 2011)
The Ontogenetic Timescale: Individual
Learning
The Glossogenetic Timescale: Social/Cultural
Transmission
The Phylogenetic Timescale: Biological
Evolution
Kirby 2012, Kirby & Hurford 2002
Construal Operations as Basis of Linguistic Innovation and Language Change
(Croft & Cruse’s “comparison”) Analogy
• “Structural analogy is the psychological mechanism that underlies the creation of novel forms in both language acquisition and diachronic change” (Diessel 2012: 1610)
classification of both forms and meanings Categorization
• dynamic form-concept-mapping
• Acquisition: “Discovery” of adult meanings; Change: pragmatic inferences
determines availability of construal options Entrenchment
• Frequent linguistic entities more deeply entrenched in memory deeply entrenched entities less likely to be regularized by analogy (e.g. Bybee 1985, Nübling 2000)
Where to go from here? • Drawing parallels to socio-cognitive development • Converging evidence from corpus and experimental data • More detailed understanding of the syntax-lexicon continuum (cf.
Pulvermüller et al. 2013) • How does construal relate to general cognitive capacities such as e.g.
perspective-taking, figure/ground alignment, etc.
Construal operations and their acquistion are based on general
cognitive processes
Sociopragmatic Processes
Cognitive Capacities
“If linguistic construal operations are truly cognitive, then they should be related to, or identical with, general cognitive processes that are
postulated by psychologists.” (Croft & Cruse 2004: 45 )
Pointing and Construal
Cooperative pointing thus creates different
conceptualizations or construals of things. These
presage the ability of linguistic creatures to place one and the same entity under alternative
different ‚descriptions‘ or ‚aspectual shapes‘. (Tomasello
2014: 57)
Development of Perspective
Understanding Animate Action
(looking)
Understanding Pursuit of
Goals (seeing)
Understanding
Choice of Plans (attending)
motivation to share psychological states
dyadic engagement
(shared emotions & behavior)
triadic engagement
(shared goals & perceptions)
collaborative engagement
(joint intentions & attention)
(from Tomasello et al. 2005: 689)
3 months 9 months 14 months
Level 0 Perspective-
Taking
Level 1 Perspective
Taking
Development of Perspective-Taking
Sharing perspectives
Experiential Perspective
Taking
(Flavell 1992, Moll & Meltzoff 2010, 2011, Moll & Kadipasaoglu 2013)
~12 months ~14-19 months
~24-30 months
~3 years ~4-5 years
Level 1A Perspective Taking
Level 1B Perspective Taking
Level 2 Perspective Taking
Level 2A Perspective
Taking
Level 2B Perspective
Taking
L1 Visual Perspective
Taking: Understanding
‘What
L2 Visual Perspective
Taking: Understanding
How
Confronting and Reflecting on Perspectives/
“Theory of Mind”