Basic Verbs in English
A Cognitive-Linguistic Perspective
1st Edition
Will be published approx. on 22. July 2026
Book
Hardback
104 pages
978-1-041-19938-0 (ISBN)
Description
Newman offers a unique account of eleven commonly used verbs of British English (eat, drink, sit, stand, lie, etc.), combining corpus-linguistic methods and the analytical tools of Langacker's Cognitive Grammar. For each verb, an original data set of 100 concordance lines representing both spoken and written registers is the basis for identifying patterns of usage and their relative frequencies.
The empirical approach leads to usage-based conclusions that are not usually found in dictionaries or grammars, e.g., patterns of cooccurrence of phrases with the verbs and the relative frequencies of the verbs in their non-literal senses. Complementing the usage-based analysis of each verb is a Cognitive Grammar account of the main semantic structures associated with the verbs, employing intellectually provocative Langacker-style diagrammatic representations. The verbs may be very "ordinary" words in the view of speakers who will feel that they know these verbs very well. Subjecting them to analysis as in this book, however, shows them to have considerable semantic complexity, even when used in their everyday literal senses, and an impressive richness in the range of their semantic extensions.
Perfect for researchers and postgraduate students in cognitive linguistics and English language study.
The empirical approach leads to usage-based conclusions that are not usually found in dictionaries or grammars, e.g., patterns of cooccurrence of phrases with the verbs and the relative frequencies of the verbs in their non-literal senses. Complementing the usage-based analysis of each verb is a Cognitive Grammar account of the main semantic structures associated with the verbs, employing intellectually provocative Langacker-style diagrammatic representations. The verbs may be very "ordinary" words in the view of speakers who will feel that they know these verbs very well. Subjecting them to analysis as in this book, however, shows them to have considerable semantic complexity, even when used in their everyday literal senses, and an impressive richness in the range of their semantic extensions.
Perfect for researchers and postgraduate students in cognitive linguistics and English language study.
Reviews / Votes
"In this brief monograph, Newman offers a succinct and revelatory introduction to fundamental aspects of the nature and use of linguistic structure from the standpoint of cognitive linguistics. His careful and detailed analysis of the meaning and grammar of a small set of basic verbs convincingly demonstrates that language, far from being an autonomous mental faculty, is directly grounded in human experience. His descriptions are rigorous, insightful, and readily understood without prior training in linguistics. By combining them with statistical methods and the use of corpora, his treatment provides a useful model for the conceptual characterization of language structure."Ronald W. Langacker, University of California at San Diego
"This fundamental study of how our embodied existence fashions thought, abstract reasoning and our social world is a treasure trove of information and ideas. It offers a tour de force view of human action and its meanings, while opening a well-situated discussion of the embodied and social underpinnings of figuration, sociality, and cultural evolution. The study is an indispensable reading for a broad community of scholars in linguistics, anthropology and cognitive science."
Barbara Dancygier, University of British Columbia
More details
Language
English
Place of publication
London
United Kingdom
Publishing group
Taylor & Francis Ltd
Target group
College/higher education
Professional and scholarly
Academic and Postgraduate
Illustrations
18 s/w Tabellen, 50 s/w Abbildungen, 50 s/w Zeichnungen
18 Tables, black and white; 50 Line drawings, black and white; 50 Illustrations, black and white
Dimensions
Height: 216 mm
Width: 138 mm
ISBN-13
978-1-041-19938-0 (9781041199380)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions
E-Book
approx. 07/2026
Routledge
€27.49
Not yet available
E-Book
approx. 07/2026
Routledge
€27.49
Not yet available
Person
John Newman FRSC FAHA holds the position of Professor Emeritus in the Department of Linguistics, University of Alberta and is an Affiliate in the School of Languages, Literatures, Cultures & Linguistics, Monash University. He has taught at Monash University, Tsinghua University (Taiwan), Massey University (New Zealand), National Chengchi University (Taiwan), and Nanyang Technological University (Singapore) and has served as Chair, Department of Linguistics, University of Alberta (2002-2011). His research interests include cognitive linguistics, corpus linguistics, and typology and he is the author of Give: A Cognitive Linguistic Study (Mouton de Gruyter, 1996). His publications cover English and German historical linguistics, Mandarin and Chinese dialects (Cantonese, Hokkien, Wenzhou), Austronesian, and Papuan. He has carried out fieldwork in Sarawak (Malaysia), Manus Island (Papua New Guinea) and Alberta (Canada). He served as Editor-in-Chief of the journal Cognitive Linguistics (2014-2018).
Content
1: Introduction 2: Sit, Stand, Lie 3: Come, Go 4: See, Hear 5: Eat, Drink 6: Give, Take