Ten Lectures on Cognitive Linguistics and the Unification of Spoken and Signed Languages

453 Pages·2017·17.579 MB·

by  Sherman Wilcox

Ten Lectures on Cognitive Linguistics and the Unification of Spoken and
Signed Languages
Distinguished Lectures in
Cognitive Linguistics
Edited by
Fuyin (Thomas) Li (Beihang University, Beijing)
Guest Editor
Yan Ding (Beijing Jiaotong University)
Editorial Assistants
Jing Du, Hongxia Jia and Lin Yu (doctoral students at Beihang University)
Editorial Board
Jürgen Bohnemeyer (State University of New York at Buffalo) – Alan Cienki
(Vrije Universiteit (VU), Amsterdam, Netherlands and Moscow State
Linguistic University, Russia) – William Croft (University of New Mexico at
Albuquerque, USA) – Ewa Dąbrowska (Northumbria University, UK) –
Gilles Fauconnier (University of California at San Diego, USA) – Dirk Geeraerts
(University of Leuven, Belgium) – Nikolas Gisborne (The University of
Edinburgh, UK) – Cliff Goddard (Griffith University, Australia) – Stefan Gries
(University of California, Santa Barbara, USA) – Laura A. Janda
(University of Tromsø, Norway) – Zoltán Kövecses (Eötvös Loránd University,
Hungary) – George Lakoff (University of California at Berkeley, USA) –
Ronald W. Langacker (University of California at San Diego, USA) – Chris Sinha
(University of Portsmouth, UK) – Leonard Talmy (State University of New York
at Buffalo, USA) – John R. Taylor (University of Otago, New Zealand) –
Mark Turner (Case Western Reserve University, USA) – Sherman Wilcox
(University of New Mexico, USA) – Phillip Wolff (Emory University, USA)
Jeffrey M. Zacks (Washington University, USA)
Distinguished Lectures in Cognitive Linguistics publishes the keynote lectures series given by
prominent international scholars at the China International Forum on Cognitive Linguistics
since 2004. Each volume contains the transcripts of 10 lectures under one theme given by an ac-
knowledged expert on a subject and readers have access to the audio recordings of the lectures
through links in the e-book and QR codes in the printed volume. This series provides a unique
course on the broad subject of Cognitive Linguistics. Speakers include George Lakoff, Ronald
Langacker, Leonard Talmy, Laura Janda, Dirk Geeraerts, Ewa Dąbrowska and many others.
The titles published in this series are listed at brill.com/dlcl
Ten Lectures on Cognitive
Linguistics and the Unification
of Spoken and Signed Languages
By
Sherman Wilcox
LEIDEN | BOSTON
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: Wilcox, Sherman author.
Title: Ten lectures on cognitive linguistics and the unification of spoken
 and signed languages / by Sherman Wilcox.
Description: Leiden ; Boston : Brill, 2018. | Series: Distinguished lectures
 in cognitive linguistics ; 15 | Includes bibliographical references.
Identifiers: LCCN 2017041990 (print) | LCCN 2017046522 (ebook) |
 ISBN 9789004336773 (E-book) | ISBN 9789004336766 (hardback : alk. paper)
Subjects: LCSH: Cognitive grammar. | Sign language.
Classification: LCC P165 (ebook) | LCC P165 .W55 2018 (print) |
 DDC 415.01/835—dc23
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2017041990
Typeface for the Latin, Greek, and Cyrillic scripts: “Brill”. See and download: brill.com/brill-typeface.
issn 2468-4872
isbn 978-90-04-33676-6 (hardback)
isbn 978-90-04-33677-3 (e-book)
Copyright 2018 by Sherman Wilcox. Reproduced with kind permission from the author by Koninklijke Brill
NV, Leiden, The Netherlands.
Koninklijke Brill NV incorporates the imprints Brill, Brill Hes & De Graaf, Brill Nijhoff, Brill Rodopi and
Hotei Publishing.
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, translated, stored in a retrieval system,
or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise,
without prior written permission from the publisher.
Authorization to photocopy items for internal or personal use is granted by Koninklijke Brill NV provided
that the appropriate fees are paid directly to The Copyright Clearance Center, 222 Rosewood Drive, Suite
910, Danvers, MA 01923, USA. Fees are subject to change.
This book is printed on acid-free paper and produced in a sustainable manner.
Contents
Note on Supplementary Material vii
Preface viii
About the Author x
1 Overview of Signed Languages 1
2 Signed Language Linguistics 27
3 Overview of Cognitive Grammar 45
4 Cognitive Iconicity, Conceptual Spaces, Meaning, and Gesture 67
5 Cognitive Grammar and Signed Languages 89
6 Language and Gesture 113
7 Two Routes from Gesture to Language 131
8 Setting Language in Motion 157
9 Dynamic Systems Theory 173
10 Neural Darwinism, Neuroscience, and Cognitive Grammar 195
References 207
Websites for Cognitive Linguistics and CIFCL Speakers 210
Appendix 213

Note on Supplementary Material
All original audio-recordings and other supplementary material such as any
hand-outs and powerpoint presentations for the lecture series, have been
made available online and are referenced via unique DOI numbers on the
website www.figshare.com. They may be accessed via a QR code for the print
version of this book, in the e-book both the QR code and dynamic links will be
available which can be accessed by a mouse-click.
The material can be accessed on figshare.com through a PC internet brows-
er or via mobile devices such as a smartphone or tablet. To listen to the audio-
recording on hand-held devices, the QR code that appears at the beginning of
each chapter should be scanned with a smart phone or tablet. A QR reader/
scanner and audio player should be installed on these devices. Alternatively,
for the e-book version, one can simply click on the QR code provided to be
redirected to the appropriate website.
This book has been made with the intent that the book and the audio, are
both available and usable as separate entities. Both are complemented by the
availability of the actual files of the presentations and material provided as
hand-outs at the time these lectures have been given. All rights and permission
remain with the authors of the respective works, the audio-recording and sup-
plementary material are made available in Open Access via a CC-BY-NC license
and are reproduced with kind permission from the authors. The recordings are
courtesy of the China International Forum on Cognitive Linguistics (http://
cifcl.buaa.edu.cn), funded by the Beihang University Grant for International
Outstanding Scholars.
The complete collection of lectures by Sherman Wilcox can be
accessed via this QR code and the following dynamic link:
https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.c.3726490.
© Sherman Wilcox. Reproduced with kind permission from the author by Koninklijke
Brill nv, Leiden, 2018 | doi 10.1163/9789004336773
Preface
The present text, entitled Ten Lectures on Cognitive Linguistics and the
Unification of Spoken and Signed Languages, is a transcribed version of the lec-
tures given by Professor Sherman Wilcox, in October, 2012, as the forum speak-
er for the 11th Chinese International Forum on Cognitive Linguistics.
The China International Forum on Cognitive Linguistics (http://cifcl.buaa.
edu.cn) provides a forum for eminent international scholars to give lectures to
Chinese audiences. It is a continuing program organized by several prestigious
universities in Beijing. The following is a list of organizers for CIFCL 11.
Main organizer:
Li Fuyin (Thomas): PhD/Professor, Beihang University
Co-organizers:
Liu Shisheng: PhD/Professor, Tsinghua University
Gao Yihong: PhD/Professor, Peking University
Shi Baohui: PhD/Professor, Beijing Forestry University
Ding Yan: PhD, Beijing Jiaotong University
Professor Sherman Wilcox’s lecture series was mainly supported by the Beihang
Grant for International Outstanding Scientists for 2012 (Project number: Z1267,
Project organizer: Thomas Fuyin Li).
The text is published, accompanied by its videodisc counterpart and Chinese
guide, as one of the Eminent Linguists Lecture Series. The transcription of the
video, proofreading of the text, writing of the Chinese guide, and publication
of the work in its present book form has involved many people’s strenuous in-
puts. The initial drafts were completed by the following postgraduate students,
in the order from lecture 1 to 10: Jin Hui, Zhu Shaoding, Hu Xiaofang, Li Heng,
Bo Shaoying, Ren Longbo, Liujia, Liu Yunfeng, Liu Yuling, and He Yuanyun.
Deng Yu and Yu Lin had revisions for the whole text. Li Heng had revisions for
the Chinese Guide. Then, we, the editors, did the word-by-word and line-by-
line revisions. To improve the readability of the text, we have deleted the false
starts, repetitions, fillers like now, so, you know, OK, and so on, again, of course, if
you like, sort of, etc. Occasionally, the written version needs an additional word
to be clear, a word that was not actually spoken in the lecture. We have added
such words within single brackets […]. To make the written version readable,
even without watching the film, and we’ve also added a few “stage directions,”
in italics also within single brackets: […]. The stage direction describes what
PREFACE ix
the speaker was doing, such as pointing at a slide, showing an object, etc. The
speaker, professor Sherman Wilcox did the final revisions. The published ver-
sion is the final version approved by the speaker.
The publication of this book is sponsored by the Humanities and Social
Sciences Research Program Funds of the Chinese Ministry of Education
(Number: 09YJA740010), and the China Social Science Foundation Grant
(Number:13BYY012).
Thomas Fuyin Li
Beihang University (BUAA)
[email protected]
Yan Ding
Beijing Jiaotong University (BJTU)
[email protected]