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Ronald W. LangackerAmerican linguist
Date of Birth: 27.12.1942
Country:  USA |
Content:
Ronald Langacker: A Biography
Ronald Langacker is an American linguist and professor emeritus at the University of California in San Diego. He is renowned for being one of the founders of cognitive linguistics and the creator of cognitive grammar. Langacker obtained his doctoral degree from the University of Illinois in 1966. From 1966 to 2003, he worked as a professor of linguistics at the University of California. From 1997 to 1999, he served as the president of the International Cognitive Linguistics Association.
Contributions to Cognitive Grammar
Langacker develops the fundamental principles of cognitive grammar in his work titled "Foundations of Cognitive Grammar," which was published in two volumes and became a cornerstone for the development of cognitive linguistics. From the perspective of cognitive grammar, existing languages consist solely of semantic, phonological, and symbolic units (combinations of phonological and semantic units). Langacker acknowledges that cognitive processes are the primary cause of grammatical structures. In his theory, Langacker extensively applies principles of Gestalt psychology and draws analogies between linguistic structure and aspects of visual perception.
