Semantic mirage

From Glottopedia
Revision as of 06:28, 2 November 2009 by PaulSank (talk | contribs)
Jump to navigation Jump to search

A semantic mirage in neurocognitive linguistics is any semantic relationship between lexical and conceptual units in a cognitive system that leads to projections onto the world of properties that are not actually there.

Types

  • The One-Lexeme-One-Thing Fallacy. The assumption that a lexeme stands for just one thing, ruling out the possibility that it might have different senses in different contexts.
  • Reification. The assumption that a nominal lexeme must represent a thing, leading to the unconscious ascription of substantial reality to abstractions.
  • The Unity Fallacy. The assumption that a concept represents an object that is an integral whole, even if closer examination would show it to be a relatively haphazard collection of diverse phenomena.

Sources