Cognitive Grammar

Abstract

As you may have guessed from the title, this book presents the linguistic theory known as Cognitive Grammar (CG). Research in CG began in 1976, and the basic framework of the theory has now existed for over a quarter century. Under the rubric “space grammar”, it was fi rst extensively described in Langacker 1982, whose numerous and unfortunately rather crudely drawn diagrams must have startled and dismayed the readers of Language. The most comprehensive statement of the theory resides in the hulking two-volume mass called Foundations of Cognitive Grammar (Langacker 1987, 1991). More accessible—or easier to lift at any rate—is Concept Image and Symbol (Langacker 1990), a collection of articles tailored as a single text. A second collection of this sort is Grammar and Conceptualization (Langacker 1999a). For ease of reference, these four books are cited here as FCG1, FCG2, CIS, and GC.