Editors’ Introduction

Spatial cognition can be considered as a set of foundational and central cognitive abilities that enable a variety of conceptual processes, both non-verbal and verbal. Further, according to recent research, spatial thinking seems to be critical in the development of abstract knowledge and in the processes of abstraction. Although there is a consensus regarding the role and impact of spatial cognition, there are a number of different, divergent, and sometimes even discrepant theoretical and methodological perspectives in the study of spatial cognition

Editors\u27 Introduction

This volume contains a selection of the papers presented at the 11th International Symposium on Cognition, Logic and Communication which took place in Riga, at the University of Latvia on December 10-11 2015. The choice of topic reflected a growing understanding in the community of linguists and cognitive scientists that fundamental grammatical features of language, in particular the mass/count distinction, use of number words, and plurality, reflect our grasp of non-linguistic numerical operations, in particular individuation and measurement

Editors\u27 Introduction

The papers published in this volume were presented at the 6th International Symposium of Cognition, Logic and Communication, entitled ‘Formal Semantics and Pragmatics: Discourse, Context, and Models’, taking place at the University of Latvia, Riga, initially scheduled for April 2010

Spatial communication systems across languages reflect universal action constraints

The extent to which languages share properties reflecting the non-linguistic constraints of the speakers who speak them is key to the debate regarding the relationship between language and cognition. A critical case is spatial communication, where it has been argued that semantic universals should exist, if anywhere. Here, using an experimental paradigm able to separate variation within a language from variation between languages, we tested the use of spatial demonstratives—the most fundamental and frequent spatial terms across languages. In n = 874 speakers across 29 languages, we show that speakers of all tested languages use spatial demonstratives as a function of being able to reach or act on an object being referred to. In some languages, the position of the addressee is also relevant in selecting between demonstrative forms. Commonalities and differences across languages in spatial communication can be understood in terms of universal constraints on action shaping spatial language and cognition

Editors’ Introduction

Spatial cognition can be considered as a set of foundational and central cognitive abilities that enable a variety of conceptual processes, both non-verbal and verbal. Further, according to recent research, spatial thinking seems to be critical in the development of abstract knowledge and in the processes of abstraction. Although there is a consensus regarding the role and impact of spatial cognition, there are a number of different, divergent, and sometimes even discrepant theoretical and methodological perspectives in the study of spatial cognition

Perceptual semantics: a three-level approach

In this work we suggest a model according to which semantics has been already generated during the perception through the interaction of three dynamic levels of perceptual organization. We consider perceptual grouping as the first order processing. Shape formation is considered as the second order processing. Both grouping and shape formation can be considered as two complementary and interrelated processes of perceptual organization. The third - partially overlapping - level is meaning assignment. Most of the results are supported by empirical evidence based on new visual illusions of shape and meaning and are consistent with several other proposals (e.g., [1], [2] and [3])

Artumo raiška baltų kalbose: latvių kalbos reliaciniai prieveiksmiai "blakus" ir "līdzās" bei jų atitikmenys lietuvių kalboje

Straipsnyje siekiama nustatyti latvių kalbos reliacinių prieveiksmių blakus ir līdzās semantikos skirtumus bei aprašyti tekstyne rastus minėtųjų leksemų atitikmenis lietuvių kalboje. Duomenys tyrimui surinkti iš Lietuvių–latvių ir latvių–lietuvių kalbų lygiagrečiojo tekstyno (LILA), rankiniu būdu anotuoti pagal sintaksinius ir semantinius kriterijus bei analizuoti kiekybiškai. Nors blakus ir līdzās latvių kalbos žodynuose apibrėžiami labai panašiai, mūsų rezultatai atskleidžia jų semantinius ir sintaksinius ypatumus, išryškina bendrybes bei parodo, kuriais atvejais pasirenkama viena ar kita leksema. Pastebėtuosius semantinius skirtumus pagrindžia ir tekstyne rasti tiriamųjų reliacinių prieveiksmių atitikmenys lietuvių kalboje.This article aims to clarify the difference in usage of the Latvian proximity lexemes blakus and līdzās and to identify their translation equivalents in Lithuanian. The data have been collected from the Lithuanian-Latvian and Latvian-Lithuanian parallel corpus, manually annotated for various syntactic and semantic variables, and analyzed quantitatively. Although Latvian relational adverbs blakus and līdzās are defined very similarly in Latvian dictionaries, our results reveal their syntactic and semantic peculiarities in more detail and outline the criteria that sanction the choice of these relational adverbs. Finally, the translation of Latvian proximity terms into Lithuanian is described emphasizing the main differences of proximal terms in both languages. Keywords: the Baltic languages; corpus-driven methods; semantics; spatial language; proximity; relational adverbs; ambipositions