Jul 2026· Cognitive Semantics· pp. 1-33· 0 citations· 40 references
Abstract
This study examines lexical blends as morphologically complex constructions whose discursive positioning reveals principles at the morphology-pragmatics interface. Integrating constructionist approaches and work on information structure, the analysis suggests that blends may exhibit systematic patterns in two constructional schemas: focus-heavy configurations, where blends occupy focal positions that heighten salience and evaluative force, and pseudo-topicalization constructions, where an apparent topic frames a focal punchline. A core claim is that evaluative-attitudinal meaning becomes integrated into morphological form, constraining interpretation and strengthening discourse commitment. Using Reddit data, the study compares blends with non-blended alternatives: while these convey comparable propositional content, blends enhance focal salience, axiological commitment, and communicative impact. A qualitative, example-driven analysis suggests that morphological condensation into a single lexical unit, with semantic and evaluative content, functions as a discourse-organizing principle that enhances authority, facilitates social recognition, and generates portable stance markers. The study reconceptualizes word-formation and discourse organization as mutually constitutive processes.
This study investigates the interplay between cohesion and coherence in discourse, examining how linguistic resources enable texts to function as unified and interpretable wholes. Grounded in Halliday’s Systemic Functional Grammar, with particular emphasis on the textual metafunction, the paper analyses grammatical and lexical cohesive devices in selected texts by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie - Purple Hibiscus and Zikora. Employing a qualitative descriptive methodology, the study identifies and categorises instances of reference, substitution, ellipsis, conjunction, and lexical cohesion, demonstrating how these surface-level mechanisms establish syntactic and semantic connectivity across clauses and sentences. Beyond the identification of cohesive ties, the study interrogates how such linguistic patterns facilitate the construction of coherence. Cohesion operates through explicit textual markers that signal relationships within the discourse, coherence is conceptualised as a cognitive and interpretive achievement shaped by contextual knowledge, thematic development, and logical sequencing. The analysis reveals that cohesive devices function as guiding frameworks that structure information flow, whereas coherence emerges from the reader’s integration of these cues into a meaningful and contextually grounded interpretation. The findings affirm that cohesion and coherence are complementary yet analytically distinct processes in discourse construction. Effective meaning-making depends not solely on the presence of cohesive markers but on their interaction with interpretive processes that sustain unity and relevance. By elucidating this relationship within literary discourse, the study contributes to ongoing discussions in discourse analysis and stylistics, highlighting the centrality of cohesive strategies in enhancing textual clarity, continuity, and communicative effectiveness.
Nwagbara Chinelo· Communication and Linguistic...· 0 citations
This article examines the relationship between word order variation and focus marking in Jordanian Arabic (JA) from the perspective of the syntax-pragmatics interface. Drawing on a corpus of naturalistic conversations, semi-structured interviews, and written dialectal texts, the study investigates how JA speakers exploit subject-initial, verb-initial, fronted, dislocated, interrogative, and elliptical constructions to organize information and foreground salient discourse material. The analysis shows that JA word order is flexible but patterned: SVO clauses most frequently support topic-comment organization, verb-initial clauses foreground events or changes of state, left dislocation and topicalization activate or re-activate referents, and wh-fronting, contrastive particles, negation, repetition, and evaluative predicates mark several types of focus. Quantitative distributional evidence from 4,090 coded clauses supports the qualitative finding that word order choices are not merely grammatical alternatives but discourse-sensitive strategies. This study argues that focus marking in JA is multi-cued: it emerges through the interaction of constituent order, discourse particles, recoverable subjects, clitic resumption, and contextual contrast. These findings contribute to Arabic dialectology, information-structure theory, and applied work in translation, language teaching, and Arabic natural language processing. The theoretical framing is grounded in information-structure theory and cartographic approaches to the left periphery (Lambrecht, 1994; Rizzi, 1997), while the interpretation of JA word order follows previous work on Arabic dialectal syntax and information structure (Benmamoun, 2000; Jarrah, 2019).
Mohammad Habes, Eid Al Khaza'lah, Saddam H. M. Issa et al.· International Journal of Lin...· 0 citations
This research investigates the application of ideational grammatical metaphor (IGM) and transitivity patterns within Trump’s speeches, addresses, and interviews, spanning from his 2025 inaugural address to June 2025, utilizing Halliday’s Systemic Functional Linguistics (SFL) framework. This study inspects how Trump employs grammatical metaphor (GM), specifically nominalization, and manipulates transitivity processes to shape political narratives, establish authority and power dynamics, obscure agency, and communicate ideological stances. The analysis reveals that Trump’s communication style is marked by a prevalence of material processes, highlighting action and agency, a strategic use of GM to reify abstract concepts, and consistent transitivity patterns that support his political objectives. Through a descriptive-analytical examination of a 95,609‑word corpus comprising nine speech contexts, the study combines frequency‑based analysis with detailed clause‑level interpretation. It shows that Trump systematically deploys material processes to construe himself and his administration as highly agentive actors, relational processes to fix identities and values as seemingly factual, and nominalization to reify complex political processes into abstract entities that can be claimed, restored, or defended. Taken together, these patterns constitute an “agentic leadership discourse” in which grammatical choices redistribute agency between Trump, allies, and opponents and stabilize a particular worldview. The study extends earlier SFL‑based analyses of Trump by focusing on his second term, integrating ideational grammatical metaphor with transitivity, and comparing multiple genres (formal addresses, interviews, and press conferences) within a single presidency
Bahram Kazemian, Shafigeh Mohammadian, S. N. Qaiwer· European Journal of Educatio...· 0 citations
Abstract This article presents the first systematic typological survey of bridging constructions in the Sino-Tibetan language family. Bridging constructions are discourse-linking devices in which material from a preceding clause is repeated or summarized at the onset of a following sentence, thereby contributing to cohesion, discourse continuity, and information backgrounding. Despite growing typological interest in such constructions, previous cross-linguistic research has relied heavily on data from Papunesia and South America, leaving Eurasia – and Sino-Tibetan in particular – underrepresented. The study is based on a source-driven sample of 50 Sino-Tibetan languages and combines two complementary datasets: a primary corpus of unedited oral narratives from five languages and a broader comparative survey based on secondary grammatical descriptions. This mixed methodology allows for both fine-grained analysis of attested bridging constructions and broader assessment of their distribution across the family. The analysis examines their occurrence, formal realization, and relationship to morphological type, clause-linking strategies, participant-tracking resources, zero anaphora, and areal patterning. The results show that bridging constructions are widespread across Sino-Tibetan, but that their syntactic realization varies considerably. The data provide limited support for strong typological correlations. Instead, formal variation reflects the interaction of language-specific clause-linkage resources, discourse-packaging strategies, and broader areal tendencies along the Indosphere-Sinosphere continuum.
Katia kat ᶨ a Chirkova tʃirkova, Hongdi xuŋti Ding tiŋ, Paul paul van Els van ɛls· Linguistic Typology· 0 citations
This study examines the patterned formation and interactional functions of
amn
-series (e.g.,
bamn
,
samn
,
tamn
) in contemporary Chinese social media. Drawing on a corpus of 2,095 tokens from Weibo, the analysis investigates morpho-phonological patterning, analogy-based semantic anchoring, and cross-script integration. The findings suggest that a stylized rendering of the English word
damn
becomes stabilized in writing as a prosodically salient template and refunctionalized into a productive phonosemiotic construction in Mandarin. These forms are systematically integrated into Mandarin grammar and interaction, where they serve affective, evaluative, interpersonal, and metalinguistic functions. The study contributes to translanguaging research by demonstrating that what circulates across languages and platforms may include prosodically salient patterns, not only lexical or script-based resources. It further shows how such patterns are structured through analogy and embedded in local linguistic practices, highlighting prosodic templating as a key mechanism in digitally mediated communication.
Jianxin Yang, Yililan Wang· Discourse & Communicatio...· 0 citations
Objective: This article examines the relationship between cognition and grammar through the analysis of grammatical categories embedded in phraseological units. Focusing on a corpus of [specify language, e.g., Kazakh/Russian/English] phraseological expressions drawn from literary texts and lexicographic sources, the study investigates how categories such as aspect, modality, and evaluation are encoded within fixed multiword constructions.
Methods and Materials: The research adopts a cognitive-linguistic, descriptive approach that combines elements of prototype theory with contextual and syntagmatic analyses. Phraseological units were selected based on their stability, frequency of use, and the presence of identifiable grammatical markers. The analysis proceeds along three interrelated dimensions: (1) conceptual structure, which captures underlying cognitive schemas; (2) grammatical realization, which identifies the formal expression of categories within phraseological patterns; and (3) communicative function, which examines how these units operate in discourse.
Findings: The findings show that grammatical categories in phraseological units are not merely formal features but are shaped by conventionalized cognitive models that reflect collective patterns of conceptualization. In particular, the study demonstrates that phraseological constructions preserve prototypical meanings while allowing limited variation in syntagmatic structure, thereby functioning as stable carriers of culturally embedded knowledge. Differences in the realization of grammatical categories across examples indicate that phraseological grammar operates at the intersection of fixed form and flexible interpretation.
Conclusion: It can be concluded that the analysis of phraseological units provides empirical evidence for the cognitive grounding of grammatical categories, but also reveals the importance of discourse context and conventionalization in shaping their use.
F. Orazbayeva, Z. Utegulova, B. Balzia et al.· International Journal of Bod...· 0 citations
We use cookies to run the site and, with your consent, for analytics and to show ads.
See our Cookie Policy.
