On September 23, 2021, Professor Mendoza from the University of La Rioja, Spain, was invited by the CCSL to give a lecture entitled "Key Notions in Cognitive Linguistics: Understanding linguistic structure through Cognition" online. This is the first lecture of the "Frontiers in Cognitive Linguistics Series", which was hosted by Professor Chen Xianglan.
Professor Mendoza is the editor-in-chief of the SSCI journal Review of Cognitive Linguistics and has published 150 articles. On the one hand, by emphasizing perception, Mendoza's lecture focuses the basic concepts of cognitive linguistics. On the one hand, by emphasizing perception, Prof. Mendoza introduces the theory of perspective, where the choice of different verbs in the same frame leads to an adjustment of the constituent objects. For example, the different perspectives of buyer, seller or commodity lead to different verb choices. Next is the Figure/ground theory. Figures are perceptually more prominent and easier to recognize than backgrounds. If a figure is dynamic in the background, the path through which the figure passes is the path. The figure is then called a projectile (trajector). The function of the background is equivalent to the reference point of the movement of the projector, called the boundary marker (landmark). That is, the landmark is used as a reference in the relational structure. On the other hand, by emphasizing knowledge organization, Professor Mendoza introduces Cognitive models. These include Fillmore's theory of frames, Johnson's theory of image schemas, and Lakoff & Johnson's theory of conceptual metaphor and metonymy. Professor Mendoza gave a fascinating presentation, starting from the core cognitive linguistic assumptions and ending with a concise cognitive linguistic conclusion.
During the interactive session, Prof. Mendoza patiently and enthusiastically answered various questions raised by students and teachers, and gave interesting and informative answers to the questions raised by students about iconicity and motion type. Professor Chen Xianglan, the moderator of the lecture, also encouraged students to participate in more academic discussions and contribute to the development of cognitive linguistics. Students and teachers expressed their benefits.
