The Oxford Handbook of Cognitive Linguistics Part 44. In the past decade, Cognitive Linguistics has developed into one of the most dynamic and attractive frameworks within theoretical and descriptive linguistics The Oxford Handbook of Cognitive Linguistics is a major new reference that presents a comprehensive overview of the main theoretical concepts and descriptive/theoretical models of Cognitive Linguistics, and covers its various subfields, theoretical as well as applied. | 400 WILLy VAN LANGENDGNCK 1 a. I don t know if it is true. Question b. If it is true I ll eat my hat. Protasis 2 a. Had you known you would have done otherwise. Protasis b. Had you known Question The subordinate clauses in 1 can both be paraphrased as either it is not true or it is those in 2 as either you had not known or you had . According to Langacker 1987 57 1991 the mechanisms at work in the domain of lexical items are also applied to grammatical categories . nouns and relations . subjects a view that condemns autonomous syntax since each category must then have a sense. This can be achieved by adopting the principle of schematicity 4 whereby isomorphism is exploited to its At the same time however motivation may play a role. Motivation is defined by Haiman 1985 11 as follows By motivation I have in mind the property whereby diagrams exhibit the same relationship among their parts as their referents do among their parts. Most cases of diagrammatic iconicity are of this motivational type. For instance the schema so often used in Cognitive Linguistics is in fact an example of motivational diagrammatic iconicity in linguistics on schematicity see Tuggy this volume chapter 4 . Ideally diagrams should show both isomorphism and motivation. However the reason to use a diagram is precisely to simplify. As life is short and memory finite so it is often only the essential attributes of the objects diagrams denote that are reproduced. Hence a diagram often shows more isomorphism than motivation or conversely more motivation than isomorphism even if both are always present to some . Iconicity and Markedness Semantic Markedness and the Prototypical Speaker In linguistics motivational iconicity has mostly to do with markedness. This concept is often captured in the slogan The more form the more meaning. 7 The more marked complex the form of a sign or of a constellation of signs the more marked complex the meaning will be. This markedness .
