KKaarrooll JJaanniicckkii LLAANNGGUUAAGGEE MMIISSCCOONNCCEEIIVVEEDD Arguing for Applied Cognitive Sociolinguistics LANGUAGE MISCONCEIVED Arguing for Applied Cognitive Sociolinguistics LANGUAGE MISCONCEIVED Arguing for Applied Cognitive Sociolinguistics Karol Janicki University of Bergen, Norway LAWRENCE ERLBAUM ASSOCIATES, PUBLISHERS 2006 Mahwah, New Jersey London Copyright(cid:1)2006byLawrenceErlbaumAssociates,Inc. Allrightsreserved.Nopartofthisbookmaybereproducedin anyform,byphotostat,microform,retrievalsystem,oranyother means,withoutthepriorwrittenpermissionofthepublisher. LawrenceErlbaumAssociates,Inc.,Publishers 10IndustrialAvenue Mahwah,NewJersey07430 www.erlbaum.com CoverdesignbyKathrynHoughtalingLacey LibraryofCongressCataloging-in-PublicationData Janicki,Karol. Languagemisconceived:arguingforappliedcognitivesociolinguistics/ KarolJanicki. p. cm. Includesbibliographicalreferencesandindexes. ISBN0-8058-5680-3(cloth:alk.paper) ISBN0-8058-5682-X(pbk.:alk.paper) 1.Linguistics—Philosophy. 2.Sociolinguistics. 3.Essentialism (Philosophy) I.Title. P121.J277 2005 410(cid:2).1—dc22 2005052262 CIP BookspublishedbyLawrenceErlbaumAssociatesareprintedonacid-freepaper, andtheirbindingsarechosenforstrengthanddurability. PrintedintheUnitedStatesofAmerica 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 Contents Preface ix I FROM MISCONCEPTIONS TO CONCEPTIONS 1 Meaning and Definitions Misconceived 3 Introduction 3 Explicit (Overt) Essentialism 5 Covert Essentialism 6 Criticism of Essentialism 7 2 Word Meaning, Definitions, Linguists, and Philosophical Commitments 11 Introduction 11 Endnote 37 3 Integrational Linguistics and Nonessentialism 38 Introduction 38 Roy Harris’ Integrational Linguistics 39 Conclusions 47 4 Variations on Meaning in Cognitive Linguistics 49 On the Fuzziness of Concepts 49 More on the Imprecision of Concepts 55 v vi CONTENTS Slipping Into Essentialism? 59 On Flexibility and Creativity 63 Treating Language “Seriously” 65 On Unconventional Metaphor 66 On Misunderstanding 72 Conclusion 81 Endnotes 82 II LANGUAGE (MIS)CONCEPTIONS IN PRACTICE 5 Language in Politics 89 The Clinton–Lewinsky Case 89 The Florida Vote Conflict 96 Abortion, Euthanasia, and the Stem-Cell Research Conflicts 98 Political Correctness 108 Miscellaneous 120 Conclusions: From Essentialism to Conflict and War 125 Endnotes 130 6 Language in Law 131 Misconceptions About Defendants 131 Misconceptions About Language in the Legal Context 132 Instructions on Interrogation 134 Judges’ Ideologies and Language 138 Conclusions 140 7 Language in Academia 141 Introduction 141 Is Julia Kristeva a Scientist? 142 Conclusions 150 Endnote 151 8 Language in Education 152 The Standard Variety 152 Ebonics 157 On New Words—Education Toward Nonessentialism 158 Conclusions 169 Endnotes 170 III APPLIED COGNITIVE SOCIOLINGUISTICS— A SUMMARY 9 Viewing and Studying Language a Nonessentialist Way 175 CONTENTS vii Coda 185 References 186 Author Index 193 Subject Index 197 Preface The main goal of this book is to show how some linguists and many laypersonsalikemisconceivelanguageandwhattheconsequencesareof suchmisconceiving.Intheformercase,theconsequencesconcernmainly the domain of linguistics; they include spinning the linguistic wheels (e.g., returning to the same questions again and again) or delayed re- search progress at best. In the latter case, the consequences include a number of disagreeable phenomena, such as intolerance, dogmatism, conceit, and conflict. In Part I of the book, I address a number of related misconceptions aboutlanguage.Inmyopinion,misconceivinglanguage(i.e.,havinganun- rewardingviewofthemechanicsofhowitworks)canbetracedtoone’sba- sic philosophical beliefs, which we all have, regardless of whether we are awareofit.InPartI,Idiscussthephilosophicalviewcalledessentialismand its negative impact on the linguist’s work and the layperson’s life. I later proposeandpromoteanonessentialistviewoflanguage,whichmaybeseen as liberating and rewarding in that it easily allows us to understand the many linguistic phenomena around us. Essentialism fails to let us under- stand these phenomena. The misconceptions discussed in Part I can be seen,largely,asaresultofessentialistthinking.Inotherwords,essentialism maybethoughtofasthecommondenominatorofmostofthefaultythink- ing about language. Inchapter1,somefundamentalmisconceptionsandquestionspertain- ingtomeaningsanddefinitionsofwordsarediscussed.Theviewpromoted hereisthatmeaningsofwordsarefuzzyandimprecise,andprecisedefini- ix