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  • Cognitive and communicative approaches to linguistic analysis ed. by Ellen Contini-Morava, Robert S. Kirsner, and Betsy Rodríguez-Bachiller
  • Sandra Cristina Becker
Cognitive and communicative approaches to linguistic analysis. Ed. by Ellen Contini-Morava, Robert S. Kirsner, and Betsy Rodríguez-Bachiller. (Studies in functional and structural linguistics 51.) Amsterdam: John Benjamins, 2004. Pp. 388. ISBN 1588115666. $150 (Hb).

This volume reflects an important attempt to promote a dialogue between representatives of cognitive linguistics and various sign-based linguists—Columbia School (CS) and others. The Sixth International Columbia School Conference held at Rutgers University in October 1999 presented talks that are revised and expanded in this book. Divided into four parts, this book presents fifteen articles written by eighteen contributors.

Part 1 is composed of two chapters that focus on cognitive linguistics. Ronald Langacker, in ‘Cognitive grammar and double subject constructions’, outlines in detail the basic principles of cognitive grammar (CG) and sheds some light on similar and divergent points between CG and CS. Although the author clearly disagrees with fundamental tenets of the CS doctrine, he admits there are grounds for broader agreement. Langacker also remarks that the analyses proposed in CS are insightful and revealing and considers it part of cognitive linguistics. In Ch. 2 Michael Smith addresses ‘Cataphoric pronouns as mental space designators’.

Sign-based analyses are the focus of Part 2. Wallis Reid, in ‘Monosemy, homonymy and polysemy’, [End Page 912] providesa vigorous defense of the semiotic model. Mark J. Elson draws attention to form and grammatical meaning in Ch. 4. Joseph Davis deals with the problematic notion of strategy in ‘The gap between meaning and message’. Davis also claims that CS must evaluate its analytical procedures.

Part 3 provides five analyses on the level of the classic linguistic sign. Zhuo Jing’s ‘The giveness of background’ and Bob de Jonge’s ‘The relevance of relevance in linguistic analysis’ are both good examples of the CS approach to linguistic analysis. In ‘Sign-based analysis of English pronouns in conjoined expressions’, Nancy Stern focuses on the meaning of -self forms. Noah Oron and Yishai Tobin’s contribution, ‘Semantic oppositions in the Hebrew verb system’, essentially shows their attempt to provide a unified calculus of meaning in language. In Ch. 10, Kumiko Ichihashi-Nakayama provides a detailed account of functions of Hualapaian morphemes framed by grammaticalization theory.

Part 4, the final section of this volume, has remarkable contributions involving phonology. In Ch. 11, Shabana Hameed calls attention to the interaction of physiology and communication. In Ch. 12, Yishai Tobin presents ‘Between phonology and lexicon’ and postulates a functional connection between phonological roots and lexical systems. Ricardo Otheguy, Betsy Rodríguez-Bachiller, and Eulalia Canals offer a cross-language comparison in ‘Length of the extra-information phrase as a predictor of word order’. Francisco OCAMPO’s ‘Word-order variation in spoken Spanish in constructions with a verb, a direct object and an adverb’ focuses on complexities that spoken language data provide. The fact that syntax is ‘the most creative dominion of linguistic production’ (376) is highlighted in ‘Estrategias discursivas como parámetros para el análisis lingüístico’ by Angelita Martinez.

Altogether the volume constitutes a fine collection of essays that enables the reader to appreciate some glimpses of how a dialogue between ‘maximalist’ and minimalist theoretical frames was held. It seems that, despite the fact that cognitive linguistics and Columbia School share some theoretical grounds, there is still room for consistent disagreement.

Sandra Cristina Becker
Federal University of Minas Gerais
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