Embodiment: Selected Issues in Phenomenology and Cognitive Linguistics 3301-JF2625-1ST
The first cognitive turn in linguistics aimed to characterize language as the product of a rational mind. Theories of that era formulated rules of symbolic logic governing syntactic structures, semantic categories, and pragmatic inferences. The second cognitive turn did not question the initial premise, but redefined what a rational mind actually is. Not a computer running on symbols but a meaning-making process that is embodied in a dynamic, living environment.
Some of the inspiration came from phenomenology, a philosophy and method developed by Edmund Husserl at the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries. Husserl argued that the science of his day faced a crisis because its obsession with naturalist description barred human subjectivity from the realm of serious inquiry. As a counterforce, phenomenology would examine how domains of experience such as sensuality, imagination, empathy, and history form the backbone of reason. For Husserl and his successors subjectivities are not distortions of an objective reality; they are the only reality through which the world is given to us.
This perspective invites linguists to rebuild their categories of description. If the mind is embodied, then lexicon and grammar must flow from the world of lived experience. Extensive research in cognitive linguistics now demonstrates that the relationships between linguistic forms and meanings are motivated by the structures of human perception and our physical interaction with the environment.
In line with the phenomenological tradition, during the course students will be encouraged to reflect on how they inhabit the world as sentient bodies. We will explore how our physical presence facilitates communication, consider which areas of experience are more direct than others, and question whether linguistic communication is, at its core, a mediated or immediate encounter.
The course begins with a discussion of key ideas in cognitive linguistics and phenomenology. Students select the remainder of the syllabus in a vote. They select three topics from the following options.
Introduction:
body image / body schema distinction
intentionality, and intersubjectivity
basic-level categories, image schemas and primary metaphors
metonymy and perceptual salience
iconicity in language
Option 1 Sensory linguistics
Strategies of communicating sensual experience
Hierarchy of sensual experience
Synesthesia
Option 2 Embodied metaphor
Metaphorical creativity
Variation in embodied metaphor expression
Conceptualizing discomfort and pain; Bodily dys-appearence
Option 3 Co-speech gesture
Multimodality and co-expression
Gestural semiotics
Gesture as thought; the ex-bodied mind
Option 4 Time
Phenomenology of temporal experience
Event-structure of the English language
Conceptualizing time in terms of space
Course coordinators
Type of course
Mode
Learning outcomes
Knowledge
The graduate has familiarity with:
- K_W01 advanced terminology, theory and research methods corresponding to the state of the art in the discipline of linguistics, especially cognitive linguistics and phenomenology in accordance with their chosen specialization (and educational path) within the domain of English Studies
- K_W09 concepts and principles concerning the protection of intellectual property and copyright
Abilities
The graduate is able to:
- K_U01 apply advanced terminology, theory and research methods corresponding to the state of the art in the discipline of linguistics, especially cognitive linguistics and phenomenology, in accordance with their chosen specialization (and educational path) within the domain of English Studies
- K_U09 apply the concepts and principles of intellectual property protection and copyright law
Social competences
The graduate is ready to:
- K_K01 critically appraise their knowledge and content obtained from various sources, especially in the context of cognitive linguistics
- K_K02 recognize the importance of knowledge in solving cognitive and practical problems; consult experts when required
*** Applies to students who began their studies in the year 2022/2023 ***
Knowledge
Students will be able to:
K_W02 discuss key terminology, well established methods and theories of linguistics, literary studies and culture studies within English studies and especially cognitive linguistics
K_W03 describe methodology and recent developments in English linguistics, especially from the perspective of phenomenology and cognitive linguistics
K_W05 list and discuss the characteristics of English grammar, syntax, phonology, phonetics, morphology and pragmatics on an advanced level
K_W07 explain principles of designing linguistic studies, with special focus on selecting appropriate methods and tools in formulating research questions and testing research hypotheses in cognitive linguistics
Abilities
Students will be able to:
K_U01 employ the terminology and methodological tools from linguistics, literary studies and culture studies
K_U02 employ the methodology of linguistics within English studies, respecting the ethical norms and copyright law
K_U04 implement knowledge to describe a problem and identify means to solve it, thereby completing a project in linguistics, with focus on phenomenology and cognitive linguistics
K_U11 design one’s own development
Social competences
Students will be ready to:
K_K02 undertake life-long learning and personal development, applying skills and competences to select subjects and projects optimally suiting one’s personal interests
K_K03 value responsibility for one’s own work and respect the work of others, adhering to the professional and ethical norms in various projects and other activities undertaken at work, voluntary services, etc.
Assessment criteria
- presentations (verification of outcomes: W, U, K).
- written assignments and oral contributions (verification of outcomes: W, U, K).
Bibliography
Di Paolo, E. A., Cuffari, E. C., & Jaegher, H. de. (2018). Linguistic bodies: The continuity between life and language. The MIT Press.
Dingemanse, M. (2013). Ideophones and gesture in everyday speech. Gesture, 13(2), 143–165.
Evans, V. (2003). The structure of time language, meaning, and temporal cognition. J. Benjamins.
Gallagher, S., & Zahavi, D. (2021). The phenomenological mind (Third edition). Routledge, Taylor & Francis Group.
Gibbs, R. W. (2005). Embodiment and Cognitive Science. Cambridge University Press.
Johnson, M. (1987). The Body in the Mind the Bodily Basis of Meaning, Imagination, and Reason. University of Chicago press.
Johnson, M. (2007). The meaning of the body: Aesthetics of human understanding. University of Chicago Press.
Leder, D. (1990). The absent body. University of Chicago Press.
Littlemore, J. (2019). Metaphors in the mind: Sources of variation in embodied metaphor. Cambridge University Press.
McNeill, D. (2025). Language is gesture. The MIT Press.
Merleau-Ponty, M. (2010). Phenomenology of Perception. Routledge.
Mittelberg, I. (2013). The exbodied mind: Cognitive-semiotic principles as motivating forces in gesture. In C. Müller, A. Cienki, E. Fricke, S. Ladewig, D. McNeill, & S. Tessendorf (Eds.), Handbook on mutlimodality and human interaction (Vol. 1, pp. 755–784). De Gruyter Mouton.
Radden, G., & Dirven, R. (2007). Cognitive English grammar. John Benjamins Pub.
Turner, S., & Littlemore, J. (2023). Literal or metaphorical? Conventional or creative?: Contested metaphoricity in intense emotional experiences. Metaphor and the Social World, 13(1), 37–58.
Winter, B. (2019). Sensory Linguistics: Language, perception and metaphor (Vol. 20). John Benjamins Publishing Company.
Zeiler, K. (2010). A Phenomenological Analysis of Bodily Self-Awareness in the Experience of Pain and Pleasure: On Dys-Appearance and Eu-Appearance. Medicine, Health Care and Philosophy, 13(4), 333–342.
Zlatev, J. (2017). Embodied Intersubjectivity. In B. Dancygier (Ed.), The Cambridge Handbook of Cognitive Linguistics (1st ed., pp. 172–187). Cambridge University Press.
Notes
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Term 2026L:
Attendance is obligatory. Three absences are allowed. |