Hi, everybody,
First, thanks to José Luis GUIJARRO and J.L. Speranza who have already respond to my question concerning cognitive context and cognitive environment.
I'd like to explain how comes the Chinese expression "cognitive linguistic context". This is mainly a translation problem. Context is traditionally translated as "yujing", a term composed of two Chinese characters and means "linguistic context" ("yu" - language, "jing" - environment). Context, you know, means differently for various linguistic schools. But traditionally it is external environment in which language is used. Cognitive is "renzhi" in Chinese. Thus, "cognitive context" became "renzhi yujing", and I say that we use something like "cognitive linguistic environment".
I am writing my dissertation on implicature phenomena in Russian dialogistic speech. When I read a book of our English professor, his "renzhi yujing" puzzled me. I read also "Relevance. Communication and Cognition" (1986). I see that "cognitive environment" is used along with "cognitive context". I think "cognitive environment" is easier to be accepted. If we intend "cognitive context" to mean the same as "cognitive environment", the term should interpreted specially (for example, the situation in which communication events take place). I have to decide to follow our English professor or to adapt another translation (for example, "renzhi huanjing" - "huanjing" means environment). I searched Internet with keywords "cognitive context" and "cognitive environment", hits with "cognitive context" were more. And I thought perhaps Sperb and Wilson prefer "cognitive environment" and other cognists turned to "cognitive context" as science developed.
José Luis GUIJARRO (Ni hao! Ni hao! Hello, glad to know you! Sorry I don't know Spanish) seems differentiate "cognitive environment" and "cognitive context". This is new to me. Let's wait to see what others think about?
I really appreciate your letters.
Xu Hancheng.
----- Original Message -----
From: J L Speranza <jls@netverk.com.ar>
To: <relevance@linguistics.ucl.ac.uk>
Sent: Thursday, March 01, 2001 7:42 PM
Subject: Re: Cognitive context or cognitive environment?
> Xu writes,
>
> In China we use something like "cognitive
> linguistic context".
>
> Well, that may make sense in Chinese, but not as you translate it, I'm sorry
> (:(), or so it seems to me (Never mind, I'm far from a purist :)). Troubles
> I see with your Chinese expression:
>
> 1. how come it can be linguistic AND cognitive
> at the same time?
> Are you adopting a Fodor-like theory of
> a Language Of Thought?
> "linguistic" are things like chains of phones and phonemes
> "cognitive" are things like beliefs and intentions
> (nowadays called "metarepresentations).
>
>
> Best,
>
> JL
> (Mr)
> Buenos Aires, Argentina.
>
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