INTRODUCTION TO
COGNITIVE LINGUISTICS
TRUONG VAN ANH
truongvananh@cvseas.edu.vn
UNIT 4: Language in use: knowledge of language,
language change and language acquisition
Noam Chomsky mentioned the distinction between competence (knowledge) and performance (use). Chomksy privileges competence over performance as the subject matter of linguistics.
In the words of psychologist and cognitive linguist Michael Tomasello (2003: 5), ‘language structure emerges from language use.’ This is known as the usage-based thesis.
4.1 Language in use
4.1.1 A usage event
Perhaps the most important concept underlying usage-based approaches to linguistics is the usage event. A usage event is an utterance.
A sentence, as defined by linguistics, is an abstract entity. One definition of (an English) sentence
might consist of the formula in (1) S → NP VP


4.1.2 The relationship between usage and linguistic structure
As we indicated above, the generative model separates knowledge of language (competence) from use of language (performance).
In direct opposition to this view, cognitive linguists argue that knowledge of language is derived from and informed by language use.
4.1.3 Comprehension and production
Language use involves both the production of language and the comprehension of language.
4.1.4 Context
The context in which an utterance or usage event is situated is central to the cognitive explanation. This is particularly true for word meaning, which is protean in nature. This means that word meaning is rather changeable.
One kind of context is sentential or utterance context. This relates to the other elements in the string. Consider example (2), where we are focusing in particular on the meaning of the preposition in:
(2) a. The kitten is in the box.
b. The flower is in the vase.
c. The crack is in the vase.
These examples involve spatial scenes of slightly different kinds, where in reflects a spatial relationship between the figure and the reference object. In (2a) the figure, the kitten, is enclosed by the reference object, the box, so that the spatial relationship is one of containment. However, in the other two examples, in does not prompt for quite the same kind of meaning. In (2b) the flower is not enclosed by the vase, since it partly protrudes from it. Equally, in (2c) in does not prompt for a relationship of containment, because the crack is on the exterior of the vase.
(3) It’s dark in here.
If said by one caver to another in an underground cavern, this would be a factual statement relating to the absence of light in the cavern.


In order to distinguish the conventional meaning associated with a particular word or construction, and the meaning that arises from context, we will refer to the former as coded meaning and the latter as pragmatic meaning.
4.1.5 Frequency
If the language system is a function of language use, then it follows that the relative frequency with which particular words or other kinds of constructions are encountered by the speaker will affect the nature of the language system. Cognitive linguists assume that linguistic units that are more frequently encountered become more entrenched (that is, established as a cognitive pattern or routine) in the language system. According to this view, the most entrenched linguistic units tend to shape the language system in terms of patterns of use, at the expense of less frequent and thus less well entrenched words or constructions.

4.2 Cognitive Grammar
A usage-based model of language looks like, rather than to provide a detailed overview of the theory.
Langacker’s model is called ‘Cognitive Grammar’ because it represents an attempt to understand language not as an outcome of a specialised language module, but as the result of general cognitive mechanisms and processes. According to this view, language follows the same general principles as other aspects of the human cognitive system. In this respect, Cognitive Grammar
upholds the generalisation commitment.
Cognitive Grammar consists of an inventory of units that are form-meaning pairings: morphemes, words and grammatical constructions. These units, which Langacker calls symbolic assemblies, unite properties of sound, meaning and grammar within a single representation.

4.2.1 Abstraction, schematization and language use
Language use takes place by processes of abstraction and schematization.
Abstraction is the process whereby structure emerges as the result of the generalization of patterns across instances of language use.
Schematization is a special kind of abstraction, which results in representations that are much less detailed than the actual utterances that give rise to them.



4.2.2 Schemas and their instantiations
Cognitive grammar not only derives from language use, but also, in part, motivates language use. It does this by licensing or sanctioning particular usage patterns. A usage pattern instantiates its corresponding schema; instantiations, therefore, are specific instances of use, arising from a schematic representation. This idea is illustrated in Figure 4.1.








Figure 4.1 An instantiation of a schema (adapted from Langacker 2000: 10)
In Figure 4.1, the box labelled G represents the repository of conventional units of language: the grammar. The box labelled U represents a particular usage event: an utterance. The box labelled A in the grammar represents a conventional unit: a symbolic assembly. The circle labelled B represents a specific
linguistic element within an utterance. The arrow signals that B instantiates (or ‘counts as an instance of ’) schema A. This means that A sanctions B.
4.2.3 Partial sanction
Language users make use of the finite set of symbolic assemblies represented in their grammar. Language users find themselves, and the range of meanings that they need to express, far exceed the conventional range of units a language possesses.
Language use is often partially innovative. For example, consider the word mouse.
This word has recently acquired a new meaning: it refers not only
to a rodent, but also to a computer ‘mouse’, which has a similar shape. When this new pattern of usage first appeared, it was an innovation, applied by the manufacturers of the computer hardware.













Figure 4.2 Partial sanction by a schema (adapted from Langacker 2000: 10)
4.2.4 The non-reductive nature of schemas
An important feature of Langacker’s framework is that the model is non-reductive. One of the factors involved in the establishment of constructions is frequency: if a particular
linguistic structure recurs sufficiently frequently, it achieves the status of an entrenched unit.
For example, consider prepositions (P) like for, on and in, which are combined with a complement noun phrase (NP) to form a preposition phrase (PP). In example (4), the NP is bracketed.
(4) a. to [me]
b. on [the floor]
c. in [the garage]
The expressions in (4), to me, on the floor and in the garage, are common phrases that probably have unit status for most speakers of English. In other words, they are constructions.
PP PP
P NP P NP
Pro Det N
To me on the floor











Figure 4.3 Schema-instance relations
This non-reductive model stands in direct opposition to the generative grammar model, which places emphasis on economy of representation. This is because the generative model assumes that the rapid acquisition of an infinitely creative system of language can only be plausibly accounted for by a small and efficient set of principles.
4.2.5 Frequency in schema formation
Two main types of frequency effects have been described in the literature: token frequency and type frequency. While token frequency gives rise to the entrenchment of instances, type frequency gives rise to the entrenchment of more abstract schemas. Token frequency refers to the frequency with which specific instances are used in language. For instance, the semantically related nouns falsehood and lie are differentially frequent. While lie is much more commonly used, falsehood is
much more restricted in use.














Figure 4.4 Frequency effects and entrenchment of instances
This gives rise to differential entrenchment of the mental representations of these forms.
The words lapped, stored, wiped, signed, typed are all instances of the past tense schema [VERBed]. The past tense forms flew and blew are instances of the past tense schema [XXew].
Figure 4.5 Frequency effects and entrenchment of schemas

4.3 A usage-based approach to language change
In this section we examine a usage-based approach to language change. Before doing so, we briefly introduce the branch of linguistics concerned with language change, historical linguistics.
4.3.1 Historical linguistics and language change
language variation > registers > regional dialect and social dialect
English belongs to the Germanic branch of the IndoEuropean family of languages.
Old English is spectacularly different from Modern English. To get a sense of some of the differences, consider the sentences in (5) and (6):

(5) se¯o¯ cwe¯n geseah þone guman
The woman saw the man
(6) se guma geseah þa¯ cwe¯n
The man saw the woman



We observe that nouns show case agreement with the definite article that precedes them: the distinction between guman and guma results from case agreement.
4.3.2 The Utterance Selection Theory of language change
We focus on a particular cognitively oriented theory of language change: the Utterance Selection Theory of language change developed by Croft (2000). Language is changed by the way people use language. Croft’s approach takes a usage-based perspective on language change.
Someone must break a convention and this innovation must then undergo propagation, which means that the change spreads through the linguistic community and becomes established as a new convention.



















Figure 4.6 The structure of language change

By assuming the two processes of innovation and propagation, Croft’s approach explicitly acknowledges that language change is both a synchronic and a diachronic phenomenon. A synchronic view of language examines the properties of language at a specific discrete point in time: innovation occurs at a specific point in time. A diachronic view of language considers its properties
over a period of time: propagation occurs over a period of time, in that an innovation sometimes requires centuries to become fully conventionalized.
4.3.3 The Generalized Theory of Selection and the Theory of Utterance Selection
The theory of Utterance Selection takes its inspiration from neo-Darwinian evolutionary theory, particularly the application of theories of biological evolution to sociocultural constructs like scientific theories.










Figure 4.7 The synchronic and diachronic dimensions of language change
The key concepts in the Generalized Theory of Selection are: (1) replicator; (2) interactor; (3) selection; and (4) lineage. A replicator is an entity whose structure can be passed on in successive replications. An interactor is an entity that interacts with its environment in such a way that replication occurs. Selection is the process whereby the extinction or proliferation of interactors results in the differential perpetuation of replicators.
Lineage relates to the persistence of an entity over time, due either to normal or to altered replication.
Table 4.3 Terms for Generalized Theory and linguistic equivalents (Croft 2000)




















Lineage relates to etymology. Etymology is the study of the history of linguistic units, particularly words.
4.3.4 Causal mechanisms for language change
In this section, we consider the social mechanisms that give rise to replication, resulting in normal replication, altered replication (innovation), and selection (propagation).
Keller views linguistic behaviour as a form of social action, in keeping with functional approaches to language. In Keller’s terms, this is the hypermaxim of linguistic interaction and can be stated as follows:
(7) Hypermaxim: ‘Talk in such a way that you are most likely to reach the goals that you set yourself in your communicative enterprise’. (Keller 1994: 106)
Croft argues that by observing the various maxims in the service of fulfilling the hypermaxim of linguistic interaction, speakers facilitate normal replication, altered replication and selection, and thus bring about language change.
(8) Maxim 1: ‘Talk in such a way that you are understood’. (Keller 1994: 94)
Of course, this maxim states the rather obvious but no less important fact that speakers normally intend to be understood in linguistic interaction. In order to be understood, speakers follow the conventions of the language.


(9) Maxim 2: ‘Talk in such a way that you are noticed’. (Keller 1994: 101)
(10) Maxim 3: ‘Talk in such a way that you are not recognizable as a member of the group’. (Keller 1994: 101)
(11) Maxim 4: ‘Talk in an amusing, funny, etc. way’. (Keller 1994: 101)
(12) Maxim 5: ‘Talk in an especially polite, flattering, charming, etc. way’. (Keller 1994: 101)
(13) Maxim 6: ‘Talk in such a way that you do not expend superfluous energy’. (Keller 1994: 101)
This maxim relates to the notion of economy. The fact that frequently used terms in a particular linguistic community are often shortened may be explained by this maxim.


Altered replication: sound change
Assimilation: For instance, many French vowels before a word-final nasal have undergone a process called nasalization.
Altered replication: form-meaning reanalysis
Altered replication is not restricted to sound change, but can also affect symbolic units. Language change that affects these units can be called form-meaning reanalysis (Croft uses the term form-function reanalysis). Form-meaning reanalysis involves a change in the mapping between form and meaning.
(14) I’m going to the library.
(15) I’m going to be an astronaut (when I grow up).
What concerns us here is the meaning of the be going to construction. In example (14), this expression describes a physical path of motion, while in (15) it describes future time, which is the more recent meaning associated with this construction. This is an example of a type of form-meaning reanalysis known as grammaticalization.


In the Theory of Utterance Selection, mechanisms of selection operate over previously used variants. One such mechanism proposed by Keller is stated in (16).
(16) Maxim 7: ‘Talk like the others talk’. (Keller 1994: 100)
Croft argues that this maxim is closely related to the theory of accommodation (Trudgill 1986). This theory holds that interlocutors often tend to accommodate or ‘move towards’ the linguistic conventions of those with whom they are interacting in order to achieve greater rapport or solidarity. A variant of
Maxim 7 posited by Keller is stated in (17).
17) Maxim 8: ‘Talk in such a way that you are recognized as a member of the group’. (Keller 1994: 100)
This maxim elaborates Maxim 7 in referring explicitly to group identity. From this perspective, the way we speak is an act of identity.

The Theory of Utterance Selection views language as a system of use governed by convention. Language change results from breaking with convention and selecting some of the new variants created as a result of this departure. While the propagation of new forms can be due to intentional mechanisms relating to the expressive functions associated with language, it also involves non-intentional articulatory and perceptual mechanisms. Finally, the selection of variants is due to sociolinguistic processes such as accommodation, identity and prestige.



Table 4.4 Causal mechanisms involved in language stability and change (Croft 2000)
















4.4 The usage-based approach to language acquisition
We have seen that a usage-based approach views grammar as a system derived from and grounded in utterances.
4.4.1 Empirical findings in language acquisition
The empirical study of first language acquisition is known as developmental psycholinguistics. Since the early studies in developmental psycholinguistics such as Braine (1976) and Bowerman (1973), one of the key cross-linguistic findings to have emerged is that infants’ earliest language appears to be item-based rather than rule-based: infants first acquire specific item-based units (words), then more complex item-based units (pairs and then strings of words), before developing more abstract grammatical knowledge (grammatical words and morphemes, complex sentence structures and so on).
Cognitive linguists argue that the child’s first words are known as holophrases. These can have a range of goal-directed communicative intentions. In a study of his daughter’s early language, Tomasello found that his daughter’s holophrases fulfilled a number of distinct functions.
After holophrases, children begin to produce multi-word expressions. These are more complex expressions than holophrases in that they contain two or more lexical items.
However, the majority of early multi-word utterances are not like this. Instead, many early multi-word utterances exhibit functional asymmetry. This means that the expressions contain a relatively stable element with ‘slots’ that
can be filled by other lexical items. In other words, early multi-word utterances, rather than containing two or more words of equal status, tend to be ‘built around a functionally more salient and stable word. Tomasello calls expressions like these utterance schemas (which are also known as pivot schemas).
Table 4.5 Holophrases (Tomasello 1992) (adapted from Tomasello 2003: 36–7)




















Table 4.6 Examples of utterance schemas (based on Tomasello 2003: 66)













4.4.2 The cognitive view: sociocognitive mechanisms in language acquisition
As we have seen, the fundamental assumption of cognitive approaches to grammar is the symbolic thesis: the claim that the language system consists of symbolic assemblies, or conventional pairings, of form and meaning.
According to cognitive linguists, these skills
facilitate the ability of humans to acquire language. Tomasello argues that there are two kinds of general cognitive ability that facilitate the acquisition of language: (1) pattern-finding ability; and (2) intention-reading ability.
Table 4.7 Human pattern-finding skills (Tomasello 2003)
Human pattern finding abilities
The ability to relate similar objects and events, resulting in the formation of perceptual and conceptual categories for objects and events. Category formation aids recognition of events and
objects.
The ability to form sensorimotor schemas based on recurrent perception of action. This is associated with the acquisition of basic sensorimotor skills, and the recognition of actions as events, such as crawling, walking, picking up an object, and so on.
The ability to perform distributional analysis on perceptual and behavioral sequences. This allows infants to identify and recognize recurrent combinations of elements in a sequence and thus identify and recognize sequences.
The ability to create analogies (recognition of similarity) between two or more wholes, (including utterances), based on the functional similarity of some of the elements in the wholes.
Table 4.8 Human intention-reading abilities (Tomasello 2003)
The ability to coordinate or share attention, as when an infant and adult both attend to the same object.
The ability to follow attention and gesturing, as when an infant follows an adult’s gesture or gaze in order to attend to an object.
The ability to actively direct attention of others, such as drawing attention to a particular object or event, for example by pointing.
The ability of culturally (imitatively) learning the intentional actions of others, such as imitating verbal cues in order to perform intentional actions.
Tomasello argues that our intention-reading abilities consist of three specific but interrelated phenomena: (1) joint attention frames; (2) the understanding of communicative intentions; and (3) role reversal imitation.
While other elements that participate in the scene are still perceived (such as the child’s clothes or other objects in the vicinity), it is this triadic relationship between child, adult and toy that is the joint focus of attention.
Figure 4.8 The use of a linguistic symbol in a triadic relationship expressing a communicative intention (adapted from Tomasello 2003: 29)
















4.4.3 Comparing the generative view of language acquisition
In this section, we compare the usage-based account of language acquisition with the nativist view that is assumed within the generative framework developed by Chomsky.
The nativist hypothesis
Until the 1960s, the main influence on developmental psychology was the theory of behaviorism. This is the doctrine that learning is governed by inductive reasoning based on patterns of association. Perhaps the most famous example of associative learning is the case of Pavlov’s dog. The behaviorist psychologist B. F. Skinner (1904–90), in his 1957 book Verbal Behavior, outlined the behaviorist theory of language acquisition. This view held that children learnt language by imitation and that language also has the status of stimulus–response behavior conditioned by positive reinforcement.
Children might posit the rule in (20) as part of the inductive process.
(19) a. The man is bald.
b. Is the man bald?
(20) Rule for question formation
Move the verb to the front in the corresponding declarative sentence.
(21) [The man who is running] is bald.
(22) a. *Is the man who _____ running is bald?
b. Is the man who is running _____ bald?
According to Chomsky, children must have some innate knowledge that prohibits sentences like (22a) but permits sentences like (22b). According to Tomasello, the problem with this argument is that, in the input children are exposed to, they do not hear the relative pronoun who followed by an -ing form.
In other words, they do have the evidence upon which to make the ‘right’ decision, and this can be done by means of pattern-finding skills.














Figure 4.9 The X-bar approach to phrase structure

In this diagram, X is a variable that can be instantiated by a word of any class, and P stands for phrase. X represents the head of the phrase, which projects the ‘identity’ of the phrase. The specifier contains unique elements that occur at one of the ‘edges’ of the phrase, and the complement is another phrasal unit that completes the meaning of the head. A modifier adds additional optional information. The name ‘X-bar’ relates to
the levels between head (X) and phrase (XP), which are labelled X to show that they have the same categorial status (word class) as X, but are somewhere between word and phrase.
Table 4.9 provides some examples of phrase structures in English that could be built out of this basic structure.



4.5 Summary
In this chapter we have been concerned with the usage-based thesis and how this model accounts for knowledge of language (grammar), for how language evolves over time (language change) and for how we gain or acquire our native language (language acquisition). We began by outlining the main assumptions that characterize the usage-based view of language adopted by cognitive linguists.
The first relates to the central importance of the utterance, which is a situated instance of language use, culturally and contextually embedded, and represents an instance of linguistic behavior on the part of a language user. The second key assumption is the idea that knowledge of language is derived from and informed by language use. The third key assumption is that human language can only be meaningfully accounted for by emphasizing
the interactive nature of language use. The fourth assumption relates to the central importance of context to the usage-based model, particularly in the case of accounting for word meaning. The final assumption is that the relative frequency of linguistic units affects the nature and organization of the language system. We then explored these issues by introducing Langacker’s
usage-based model Cognitive Grammar. This model assumes that linguistic units or symbolic assemblies are explicitly derived from language use, via a process of abstraction, which gives rise to schemas. We then introduced the theme of language change, and saw that Croft’s model of language change,
the Utterance Selection Theory, emphasised the importance of linguistic convention and interaction in language change. Drawing on ideas from evolutionary theory, Croft argues that language use represents the interface that mediates between linguistic convention, altered replication (innovation) of linguistic form-meaning units and selection (propagation), giving rise to the
adoption of new linguistic conventions (language change). Finally, we examined the work of the developmental psycholinguist Michael Tomasello. Based on empirical findings that early language acquisition is item-based rather than rule-based, Tomasello argues for a construction-based or symbolic view
of language acquisition, which relies upon domain-general pattern-finding skills and intention-reading skills. Tomasello argues that language use, in the context of joint attentional frames, facilitates the imitation of linguistic behaviour, which is a form of cultural learning. We compared Tomasello’s usage-based account with Chomsky’s Universal Grammar model, and
found that while cognitive and generative theories stand in direct opposition on the issue of the existence of specialised and innate
cognitive systems for language acquisition, they agree that humans are biologically predetermined for language acquisition.
Exercises
4.1 A definition of the usage-based approach
In your own words, provide a definition of the usage-based thesis in twenty words or fewer. Make sure you include each of the following expressions in your definition: utterance, grammar, language change, language acquisition.
4.2 Grammar and language change
The view advocated by cognitive linguists like Langacker is that a grammar sanctions language use: the conventional symbolic units that make up a language license new and ongoing language use. Adopting this hypothesis, explain how Langacker’s usage-based approach allows and explains language change.


4.3 Investigating Language change
During early 2004, the following expressions appeared in the British tabloid press, describing economic migrants coming to Britain from poorer parts of the European Union:
Welfare shopping
Benefit tourists
Explain how you might go about investigating whether, and to what extent, these terms have become conventionalized (propagated) in your English speaking community.
Now make a list of expressions that you think have entered your speech community recently. Investigate when, where and why they first began to appear, and hypothesize how each expression might have begun to propagate. For each expression, make a prediction as to how conventionalized you think it will become. What is the basis of your prediction?
4.4 Dived vs. dove
In standard British English the past tense of the verb (to) dive is dived. In many North American varieties, the past tense form is dove. Can you explain this difference in terms of the usage-based thesis developed in this chapter? In particular, why might two major English-language speaking communities have
evolved different past tense forms? How would you go about investigating and testing the hypotheses you have come up with?
4.5 Holophrases
Consider the early uses of the following holophrases reported by Tomasello (1992, 2003):
(a) Play-play: first use, when ‘playing’ the piano; second use, to name the piano
(b) Steps: first use, when climbing or descending stairs (never to name them)
(c) Bath: first use, when preparing for a bath; second use, when bathing a baby doll (never to name it)
(d) Game: first use, to describe the activity when she plays with a baseball and baseball glove; second use, to describe the activity when others play with a baseball and baseball glove (never to name objects)