Essays on the Evolutionary-Synthetic Theory of Language

AcknowledgementsPreface
1. The place of the evolutionary-synthetic theory of language among the ranks of linguistic theories
2. Peer reviews of the evolutionary-synthetic theory
3. About the book contentsChapter 1
On the contradictory nature of contemporary linguistic theories and how to change it for the better
1. Introduction
2. A compendium of incompatible linguistic frameworks
3. Contrastive analysis of some mutually contradicting linguistic theories
1. Introduction
2. On the role of language in thought
3. Is language an autonomous module ("cognitive organ")?
4. Other opposing assumptions in the theories under discussion
4. Contradictory descriptions of particular linguistic problems
1. The incompatibility of theories of lexical polysemy
2. Contradictory descriptions of the syntax-lexicon interface
3. Theories of language origin and evolution
5. The futility of attempts to reach a consensus
1. Unproductiveness of scholarly polemics
2. Inefficiency of interdisciplinary approaches
6. Is linguistics a natural science?
7. The crisis and its causes
1. Is "multiparadigmality" typical of linguistics?
2. The status of linguistics as a science
3. The root of trouble8. Principles of an evolutionary-synthetic theory of language
9. Crisis in the cognitive sciences
1. Contradictory frameworks in cognitive sciences
2. The cause of the crisis
3. Towards a unified cognitive paradigmChapter 2
A reference-based approach to describing notional words
1. A reference-based approach to lexical semantics
1. The dual structure of lexical meaning
2. Basic meanings of the words chair and armchair
2. An analysis of basic meanings of the action verbs udarit' 'hit-PF', tolknut' 'push-PF', padat' 'fall-IMP', brat' 'take-IMP' and vzbirat'sja 'climb-IMP'
1. Introductory remarks
2. Contact verbs: udarit' 'hit-PF', kosnut'sja 'touch-PF', tolknut' 'push-PF'
3. The verb padat' 'fall-IMP'
4. The verb brat' 'take-IMP' / vzjat' 'take-PF'
5. The verb vzbirat'sja 'climb'
3. Verbs of spatial orientation:. stojat' 'stand', sidet' 'sit', lezat' 'lie', and viset' 'hang'
1. The verb viset' 'hang'
2. The verbs stojat' stand', lezat' 'lie', and sidet' 'sit'
4. The motion verbs.idti 'walk', bezat' 'run', polzti 'crawl', sagat' 'step/stride', prygat' 'jump', and exat' 'go/ride/drive'
1. The motion verbs idti 'walk' and bezat' 'run'
2. A comparative description of the verbs idti 'walk', bezat' 'run', polzti 'crawl', prygat' 'jump' and sagat' 'step/stride'
3. Basic meaning of the verb exat' 'go/ride/drive'
5. The structure of lexical polysemy
1. Reference in lexicology
2. Lexical polysemy
3. Supplement. Three contemporary approaches to lexical polysemy
6. Appendix 1. Excerpts from the email correspondence between A. D. Koshelev and I. A. Mel'cuk (February-March 1995)
7. Appendix 2. An infant's early acquisition of the laws of nature
1. An infant's view of the physical world
2. Formation of causal relationshipsChapter 3
Basic-level concepts as the neurobiological codes for memory
1. Concrete concepts and motor concepts
1. Introduction. Two interpretations of basic-level concrete concepts
2. Functional schema of basic-level concepts
3. The function of an object and a linguistic explanation of this function
4. A linguistic explanation of the concept functional schema
5. Neurobiological grounds for the basic concept schema
6. Motor concepts
7. Concrete concepts TropInKA 'FooTpATh', DorozKA 'TrAcK', dOROgA 'ROAd'
8. Concepts OzERO 'LAkE' and REkA 'RIVER'
9. The concept dEREVO 'TREE'
10. Appendix. On the dual nature of human categories2. On the psychophysical state and the neurobiology of human actions
1. Events and their storage in memory (the neural codes of memory)
2. Psychophysical state as a memory code for interaction
3. Biomechanical models of walking and running
4. On recognition of observed actions
5. Mirror neurons and action recognition
6. Canonical neurons and object recognitionChapter 4
Elements of a sensory grammar
1. On the b