A Proverb in Mind: The Cognitive Science of Proverbial Wit and WisdomSEE SHORT BLURB FOR ALTERNATE COPY... A complex, intriguing, and important verbal entity, the proverb has been the subject of a vast number of opinions, studies, and analyses. To accommodate the assorted possible audiences, this volume outlines seven views of the proverb -- personal, formal, religious, literary, practical, cultural, and cognitive. Because the author's goal is to provide a scientific understanding of proverb comprehension and production, he draws largely on scholarship stemming from the formal, cultural, and cognitive views. The only book about proverbs that is written from the standpoint of cognitive science, cognitive psychology, and experimentalism, this text provides a larger, more interdisciplinary perspective on the proverb. It also gives a theoretically more integrated approach to proverb cognition. The conceptual base theory of proverb comprehension is extended via the "cognitive ideals hypothesis" so that the theory now addresses issues regarding the creation, production, and pragmatics of proverbs. This hypothesis also has strong implications for a taxonomy of proverbs, proverb comprehension, universal vs. culture-specific aspects of proverbs, and some structural aspects of proverbs. In general, the book extends the challenge of proverb cognition by using much of what cognitive science has to offer. In so doing, the proverb is compared to other forms of figurative language, which is then discussed within the larger rubric of intelligence and the inclination for using indirect modes of communication. Child developmental and brain substrates are also discussed. |
Contents
The Tangle of Figurative Language | |
Cognitive Foundations | |
Theories of Proverb Cognition | |
Under Inside and Outside the Proverb | |
Brain Development and Intelligence | |
New Horizons | |
Proverb Source Materials | |
Author Index | |
Other editions - View all
A Proverb in Mind: The Cognitive Science of Proverbial Wit and Wisdom Richard P. Honeck Limited preview - 2013 |
A Proverb in Mind: The Cognitive Science of Proverbial Wit and Wisdom Richard P. Honeck No preview available - 1997 |
A Proverb in Mind: The Cognitive Science of Proverbial Wit and Wisdom Richard P. Honeck No preview available - 2016 |
Common terms and phrases
ability abstract abstract interpretations analogy applied approach basic become cerebral hemisphere chapter cognitive ideals hypothesis cognitive science cognitive view communication conceptual base theory conceptual metaphor concrete connection connectionism context cultural view domains ECBT empirical example exhort experimental expressed factors familiar proverbs figurative language figurative meaning functions GCMT goal Honeck human idealized cognitive models idioms Igbo imagery indirect inferences inputs instantiation intelligence involved kind knowledge Lakoff large number less linguistic logic long-term memory memory mental retardation metonymy Mieder mind nonliteral P-task paremiology particular people’s performance pragmatic problem produce proverb cognition proverb comprehension proverb interpretation proverb meaning proverb processing Proverb Test proverb understanding psychology reasoning right hemisphere role sentence simile situation someone speaker specific ideal speech act statement stitch strange loop structure synonymy syntactic task theoretical theory of proverb things thought topic and vehicle tropes University of Cincinnati utterance words