The cognitive representation of nature in language

Author： Romero-Trillo Jesús Espigares Tíscar

Publisher： John Benjamins Publishing Company

E-ISSN： 1569-9943|20|1|168-185

ISSN： 0929-0907

Source： Pragmatics & Cognition, Vol.20, Iss.1, 2012-01, pp. : 168-185

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Abstract

The present article proposes a taxonomy of features to describe the grammar of natural landscapes with the parameters that can account for the preferences of speakers in the description of nature. The taxonomy is the theoretical foundation designed for the Corpus of Language and Nature (CLAN Corpus),1 compiled worldwide, whose aim is to describe the cognitive and emotional preferences in the observation of nature by speakers of different languages. For this purpose, we have delineated the basic visual features deemed essential to read natural landscapes in order to create a network of cognitive variables in the perception of nature with its various components and features. These features of landscapes are complemented with a description of the cognitive variables that mould the individual’s perception of nature and the emotions enacted after its contemplation.