Master of Arts, Case Western Reserve University, 2020, Cognitive Linguistics

Morphological analysis is most often the first step of natural language processing. Difficulty in analyzing words from a lexical standpoint can be compounded in the Arabic language. This paper will model select Arabic adjectives of degree to examine their root form and how those words can be conceptualized differently based on differences in semantic knowledge, cognitive semantics and the symbolic thesis. These differences occur when compared to the same words modeled using the English language.

Committee: Mark Turner (Advisor) Subjects: Linguistics

Master of Arts, Case Western Reserve University, 2018, Cognitive Linguistics

Moral communication by nature involves individuals of diverse viewpoints. The underlying viewpoint of a speaker may be readily visible in grammatical constructions, particularly the resultative construction. Roe v Wade being a significant and controversial landmark case in American legal history, the case was selected for examination of construction grammar in moral argumentation. The resultative construction was found to reveal an underlying default state of being, or presupposition, with regard to the resulting state of the object in question. This state is achieved through the implied state prior to the resultative construction's transformative usage. Roe v Wade possesses several resultative constructions describing significant transformative events in the legal sense, outlining when abortion was made a crime and when statutes were declared void. The transformative nature of the resultative construction creates a significant impact in legal discourse, which this thesis seeks to uncover and outline fully.

Committee: Todd Oakley (Advisor) Subjects: Cognitive Psychology; Linguistics

Master of Arts, Case Western Reserve University, 0, Cognitive Linguistics

A corner stone of grounded cognition and concept empiricism, the perceptual basis of concepts states that concepts are modality-specific representations derived from experience. While many studies have offered accounts on the perceptual basis of concrete concepts, accounts on abstract concepts have been somewhat lacking in comparison. This thesis explores the perceptual basis of abstract concepts by looking into polysemy networks in language, which contain senses that overlap in the conceptual constructs they evoke. By examining the overlap between a concrete sense and an abstract sense that extends from the former, this thesis sheds light on how abstract constructs can be derived from concrete constructs, which in turn can be readily derived from modality-specific experience. In addition, this thesis combines the Cognitive Grammar framework and the Perceptual Symbol System framework to account for the structures of the conceptual constructs in question and how they can be represented in a perceptually-based manner.

Committee: Todd Oakley Ph.D. (Committee Chair); Vera Tobin Ph.D. (Committee Member); Mark Turner Ph.D. (Committee Member) Subjects: Cognitive Psychology; Linguistics

Master of Arts, Case Western Reserve University, 2024, Cognitive Linguistics

This corpus-based study investigates how adult L2 learners' L1 and proficiency level affect their usage of classifiers in Mandarin Chinese. The study focuses on learners from 6 different L1 groups (English, French, German, Japanese, Korean and Thai). Each token of the classifier is annotated as one of the following: (1) Correct, (2) Missing, (3) Overgeneralization of the general classifier 个 ge, (4) Misuse of a specific classifier, and (6) Other. The results show that (1) learners' L1 and proficiency levels are related to their probability of correctly using the classifier, (2) learners with different L1s tend to make different types of errors. Learners show better performance when referring to objects that are typical examples of the specific classifier, which is aligned with the prototype category theory. Based on the above results, a Cognitive Linguistics instructional material for three sets of Mandarin classifiers is designed and presented.

Committee: Yasuhiro Shirai (Committee Chair); Todd Oakley (Committee Member); Vera Tobin (Committee Member) Subjects: Linguistics

Master of Arts, Case Western Reserve University, 2022, Cognitive Linguistics

Given the role of distributional semantics in child language acquisition, adult linguistic development, and the conceptualization of abstract entities, the present investigation seeks to explore if the variable frequency of linguistic utterances across clusters of users in a social network can be correlated with divergent interpretations of an ostensibly shared concept within a discursive community. Are differing rates of linguistic entrenchment within a community a marker of divergent conceptualization? To begin to address this question, this present pilot study details the socio-cognitive processes underlying entrenchment of language and concepts, and develops a method for studying divergent conceptualization in the online social media network Twitter.

Committee: Vera Tobin (Committee Chair); Todd Oakley (Committee Member); Mark Turner (Committee Member) Subjects: Linguistics; Multimedia Communications; Social Psychology

Doctor of Philosophy, The Ohio State University, 2020, Music

This dissertation presents empirical investigations of the cognitive linguistics of musical instrument timbre qualia and explores applications of these results to musical analysis. First, interviews and rating tasks, based on imagined instrument timbres, are used to build a 20-dimensional model of timbre qualia. The final model includes the dimensions airy/breathy, brassy/metallic, direct/loud, focused/compact, hollow, muted/veiled, nasal/reedy, open, percussive, pure/clear, raspy/grainy, resonant/vibrant, ringing/long decay, rumbling/low, shrill/noisy, soft/singing, sparkling/brilliant, sustained/even, watery/fluid, and woody. Further analysis of the interview transcripts and comparison with previous studies in timbre semantics suggests five primary response strategies for describing timbre: Adjectival description, Qualia-metaphor, Onomatopoeia, Mimesis, and Association. Next, the 20-dimensional model is used in a rating task to generate Timbre Trait Profiles for 34 Western orchestral instruments. These profiles contain ratings for each of the 20 dimensions and are intended for use in musical analysis. Timbre varies not only from instrument to instrument, but also within instruments due to the manipulation of parameters such as pitch, intensity, and articulation. Accordingly, timbral variations with pitch/register and dynamics are mapped for two instruments, the oboe and the French horn, using rating tasks. While some shared trends in dimension variance are observed between the two instruments (e.g. ratings of rumbling/low increase as pitch decreases), much of the timbral variation is apparently idiosyncratic, as is the amount of variation for each instrument on a given dimension. Next, three studies are reported investigating the relationship between timbre linguistics and cross-modal matching of instrumental timbre to color. Participants' ratings of timbres on the cross-modal terms high, low, bright, dark, small, big, light (in weight), heavy, happy, and sad (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: Daniel Shanahan (Advisor); David Huron (Committee Member); Zachary Wallmark (Committee Member); Anna Gawboy (Committee Member); David Clampitt (Committee Member) Subjects: Music

Master of Arts, Case Western Reserve University, 2015, Cognitive Linguistics

Schizophrenia is a widely-studied, yet still fairly mysterious and debilitating mental disorder. The complexity and variety of symptoms, behaviors, and etiological hypotheses of schizophrenia make it tough to study formally, because it can often appear to have no form at all. Between patients and even within patients, schizophrenia can manifest in a range of different ways. Schizophrenia study lies at the center of both cognition and language, for as a formal thought disorder, schizophrenia often affects the way sufferers speak in distinct ways. The current study looks to resolve and connect various disparate theories of schizophrenia on three levels: neurophysiological, behavioral, and linguistic. Ideally, a connection (or at least a series of connections) can be made that will offer an explanation of linguistic behaviors of schizophrenia that incorporates evidence and theories at the levels of neural architecture and chemistry, behavior and cognition, and ultimately speech. Finally, we will move into a specific application of what we have learned by proposing a hypothetical experiment that could potentially advance the field of cognitive linguistics, specifically focusing on the process of salience attribution.

Committee: Mark Turner PhD (Committee Chair); Todd Oakley PhD (Committee Member); Fey Parrill PhD (Committee Member) Subjects: Linguistics

Doctor of Philosophy, The Ohio State University, 2015, History of Art

At first glance the ancient world may seem an odd place to study concepts of virtuality, but I believe that looking at the art and architecture of the ancient Romans through the modern lens of the virtual can provide surprising insights into how these spaces were viewed, experienced, and understood by their ancient users and may elucidate a further factor in the development of Roman painting beyond mere changes in aesthetic taste. Using a reexamined definition of the “virtual” that divorces it from a reliance on the digital and modern technology, I will investigate how ancient spaces were used to create environments that were intended to transport the viewer to another often distant or fantastic place, to a virtual “elsewhere.” In explaining how these Roman spaces worked to effect such “transportation” through their architectural forms and decorative schemata, I have had recourse to two primary theoretical frameworks. The first is the burgeoning sub-field of cognitive linguistics known as Text-world Theory, which attempts to provide an understanding of how humans universally process discourse through the creation of mental “worlds” into which they project themselves, a projection which I believe forms the basis of virtual experience. The second is the work of French philosopher Gilles Deleuze, in particular his discussion of framing in his first book on cinema, and his idea of the hors-champ or the out-of-field, that which is outside of any bounding frame. For Deleuze, as a set of elements becomes ever more bounded and closed the out-of-field can imbue a it with a certain metaphysical duration, with what he terms a fourth dimension of “time” and a fifth of “spirit.” Thus a (nearly) closed set acquires a certain trans-spatial existence. My dissertation research suggests that the architecture and decorative programs of many Roman houses created just such not-quite-closed sets, and that as a result they appealed to the viewer's “spirit,” engaging him in (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: Mark Fullerton (Advisor); Timothy McNiven (Committee Member); Kristina Paulsen (Committee Member) Subjects: Archaeology; Art History; Classical Studies; Linguistics

Master of Arts, Case Western Reserve University, 2015, Cognitive Linguistics

Unlike medical conditions for which biologically--based diagnostic tools and treatments exist, the diagnosis and treatment of Major Depressive Disorder (MDD) usually requires face--to--face communication. Therefore, the diagnosis and treatment of MDD is based in language. However, clinicians receive little to no training in analyzing language. This study demonstrates how analyzing language has the potential to enhance therapeutic treatments for MDD. It presents a conceptual metaphor (CM) analysis of the metaphors that people with and without MDD use to describe emotions. Analyzing the metaphors that people use to describe emotions will help us learn more about how people conceptualize emotions, and, more broadly, how they think about themselves and the world around them.

Committee: Fey Parrill (Advisor) Subjects: Clinical Psychology; Linguistics

Master of Arts, Case Western Reserve University, 2015, Cognitive Linguistics

This thesis expands and applies Shifman's (2013) communication oriented typology for memes and uses conceptual blending theory to show that the “Keep Calm and Carry On” internet meme is altered in predictable patterns. Based on this analysis, we conducted a survey study seeking to answer: 1. How do the dimensions of the taxonomy work together in order to create humor and understanding? 2. What is the minimal number of changes that can be made to a parody while still allowing it to make sense? 3. Does how well a person “gets” an internet meme predict humor ratings? The results indicate that people's ratings of funniness are highly dependent on whether or not the person feels they have understood or “gotten” the meme. Beyond this, the results varied widely between the memes studied and tended to fall into six distinct categories based on whether or not participants “got” the meme.

Committee: Fey Parrill (Committee Chair); Mark Turner (Committee Member); Vera Tobin (Committee Member) Subjects: Cognitive Psychology; Linguistics

Master of Arts, Case Western Reserve University, 2015, Cognitive Linguistics

Social media has emerged as an ideal medium for the creation of online spaces that promote discussion and the sharing of ideas between individuals. For cultural institutions, this medium can help bring together community members to further the aim of the institution: the education of community members and preservation of local history (Levin 2007; Rosenberg 2011; Karp 1992). However, restrictions on time, staff, and funding, as well as self-reported anxiety (KSHS 10/28; 11/18) around the use of social media lead to online spaces that are distant, awkward, or threatening, to which few or no community members will contribute. This paper examines issues of institutional face creation through a case study with the Kansas Historical Society. Utilizing Penelope Brown and Stephen Levinson's Politeness Theory (1987), as well as Paul Grice's Cooperative Principle (1989), I argue that individual anxieties bleed into online spaces and negatively affect the Society's ability to connect with community members in a meaningful way.

Committee: Todd Oakley (Advisor); William Deal (Committee Member); Mark Turner (Committee Member) Subjects: Linguistics

Master of Arts, Case Western Reserve University, 2014, Cognitive Linguistics

Latin authors of the classical period used sub rarely and purposefully in a temporal construction like a polarity item with the dichotomous nouns nox and lux to convey the relative quantity of atmospheric light at dusk and dawn, implying a scale at its minimum value within an absolute frame of reference. This construction comes out of the spatial semantics of sub as “under” through a manipulation of metaphor, directional mappings from vertical to horizontal axes, and up-down and center-periphery image schemata. Beginning with the embodied experience of the sky as “above”, projections onto topological features such a mountains allows for negative and inceptive uses of sub for pragmatic scalar construal and implicature.

Committee: Mark Turner (Advisor); Florin Berindeanu (Committee Member); Vera Tobin (Committee Member); Todd Oakley (Committee Member) Subjects: Classical Studies; Cognitive Psychology; Language; Linguistics

Master of Arts, Case Western Reserve University, 2014, Cognitive Linguistics

Traditional semantic and pragmatic accounts of hate speech do not account for the simultaneity of certain phrases being both complimentary and incredibly offensive. My account seeks to operationalize perlocutionary-based theories of hate speech in terms of cognitive linguistics, through mental spaces theory and common ground. My thesis concerns some curious cases which show how using intention alone as a basis for interpreting the semantics and pragmatics of speech fails to account for certain speech acts which are simultaneously complimentary and offensive. My analysis shall focus on the cognitive linguistic aspects of the construction "you're not like other"; where X is a sociological category (Black people, Women, Muslims, etc.). This analysis will show that previous methods of semantically and pragmatically analyzing hate speech are inadequate in capturing the full contextual features and mental states of the interlocutors, and that my interpretation is more representative of reality.

Committee: Todd Oakley Ph.D (Committee Chair); Vera Tobin Ph.D (Committee Member); Mark Turner Ph.D (Committee Member) Subjects: Language; Linguistics; Sociolinguistics

Master of Arts in English, Youngstown State University, 2008, Department of Languages

This thesis adds to the field of Applied Cognitive Linguistics by testing empirically the effectiveness of Cognitive Grammar L1 pedagogy (particularly with English and/or composition classrooms). Using the cognitive linguistics theory of boundedness, which explains both the count/mass distinction and the perfective and progressive tenses, students are given either Traditional Grammar instruction or Cognitive Grammar instruction and are then tested on explicit measures. Their performance is gauged by multiple comparisons over a period of several weeks. Moreover, these models of instruction are built within the framework of the grammar mini-lesson supported by Calkins (1986) and Weaver (1996). Hence, both are in line with current thinking about the role of grammar in the composition classroom. This thesis does not make the case for teaching grammar, but instead makes the case for the use of Cognitive Grammar pedagogy over Traditional Grammar pedagogy. That is, if grammar is taught at all, the cognitive method should be used.

Committee: Steven Brown PhD (Committee Chair); Salvatore Attardo PhD (Committee Member); Kevin Ball PhD (Committee Member) Subjects: Linguistics; Teaching

PHD, Kent State University, 2012, College of Education, Health and Human Services / School of Teaching, Learning and Curriculum Studies

The purpose of this study was to determine the metaphors used by students to describe mathematical problem solving. This study focused on identifying how students interpret and perceive mathematical problem solving via conceptual metaphors (Lakoff and Johnson, 2003). These perceptions and interpretations were coded and analyzed qualitatively and quantitatively in search for a coherent structure embedded in the student¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿s experiences with problem solving. The participants for this study were 14 students of honors geometry and both honors geometry teachers at a suburban high school in Ohio. The students were interviewed for 10-30 minutes after completing one of three honors geometry common assessments agreed upon by both teachers. Students were interviewed more than once independent of prior interviews if appropriate to the interview criteria. A total of 22 independent student interviews were collected. Both teachers were interviewed before grading each assessment, totaling 6 teacher interviews. The design of the study revolved around Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA) of semi-structured interviews. Specifically, IPA was applied through Conceptual Metaphor Theory (CMT) to identify the metaphors students used in solving mathematics problems. CMT coded participants¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿ language by interpreting the conceptual metaphor involved. A conceptual metaphor is a mapping from a target domain to a source domain. This research qualitatively identified and verified the source domains associated with the target domain of problem solving. The frequency and popularity of each source domain was tallied for numerical analyses. A quantitative analysis verified the significance of the source domains and identified correlations between these domains. Data collection and analysis were validated internally via correlations with the student¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿s score and T-tests variance between teachers. The results confirmed that the metaphors used (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: Anne Reynolds PhD (Committee Chair); Michael Mikusa PhD (Committee Co-Chair); Scott Courtney PhD (Committee Member); Morely Davidson PhD (Committee Member) Subjects: Mathematics Education

Master of Arts, Case Western Reserve University, 2011, Cognitive Linguistics

Cognitive Linguistic Theory posits that language is usage-based and dependent upon shared cognitive processes. As such, language development is partially reliant upon understanding the communicative intent of speakers as well as overall cognitive development. Children diagnosed with a Specific Language Impairment (SLI) do not have an identifiable sensory, motor, or cognitive cause for their language difficulties yet remain at risk for additional language delays. One such delay is with phonological awareness development, an ability that typically becomes observable in 4-year-olds and relies heavily on dynamic categorization and understanding of part-whole relationships. Furthermore, learning that objects have composite parts and properties is often facilitated by an established joint attention between speaker and listener. The interplay between attention, categorization, and part-whole skills in young children with SLI warrants investigation in order to better understand SLI's underlying causes and possible therapeutic improvements.

Committee: Todd Oakley PhD (Committee Chair); Mark Turner PhD (Committee Member); Ciccia Angela PhD (Committee Member) Subjects: Linguistics

Master of Arts, Case Western Reserve University, 2011, Cognitive Linguistics

Embodiment, or the way that the world and human interactions with it help to shape cognition and language, is a central topic in cognitive linguistics. Rohrer (2006) writes of three dogmas of embodiment. One of these dogmas is viewing “embodiment as an eliminative reductionism”. Specifically, Rohrer cautions against reducing the study of embodiment and cognitive linguistics to solely the biophysical world, at the expense of the sociocultural world. Rohrer also suggests using converging evidence from cross-disciplinary methodologies to help resolve the dogmas. This thesis takes the concept RUN and situates it both in a sociocultural context and a neurophysiological context. By building idealized cognitive models from language data from Tarahumara, Basque, and English as well as considering the sociocultural world of a language community, RUN is compared across environments and used to determine cultural effects on concepts that from afar seem purely physical in nature.

Committee: Todd Oakley (Committee Chair); Mark Turner (Committee Member); Per Aage Brandt (Committee Member) Subjects: Linguistics