The Construal of Specificity in Modification in English

Abstract

This study investigates the significance of the construal of specificity in syntax, particularly in modification. In Cognitive Grammar, conceptualizing a situation can be either specific or conversely schematic. Namely, the two conceptualizations focus attention on greater or lesser detail of certain aspects of a situation. Each conceptualization describes the same content but in a peculiar way, and thus results in a distinct meaning. Making use of the language resources, the speaker can map the conceptualizations into different modes of modification: syntactic device by which a noun is accompanied by preceding and/or following modifiers. The aim of the study is to show that the use of a linguistic expression is motivated by the particular construal imposed on its conceptual content relative to communicative purposes. One of the key findings of the study is that specificity intensifies a description and makes it concrete, whereas schematicity attenuates a description and makes it abstract.