Reference Point Model, Cue Validity and Possessive Constructions-An Exploration in Cognitive Grammar

Abstract

Thirty participants from different L1 backgrounds (6 English, 6 German, 6 Japanese, 6 Chinese, 6 Greek) participated in production task. The experimenter used a set of sixteen pictures about possessive constructions which comprised of animate, inanimate, prototypical and non-prototypical stimuli for elicitation of possessive constructions in English language. The statistical analysis shows the significant effects of L1 and animacy. However, the effects of prototype were not significant. The factor animacy is dominant over other factors because the statistical results are only computed for the s-genitive constructions. The qualitative analysis also shows the similar results that participants preferred ‘s’ possessive for describing the animate possessum and ‘of’ possessive construction for inanimate possessum. The results of the experiment support Langacker’s model of Cognitive Grammar by demonstrating the form-meaning pairings that constitute its symbolic assemblies. For example, the different possessive constructions of “my” and “mine” represent different symbolic assemblies, each with a specific form-meaning pairing. This experiment examines how participants interpret and produce possessive constructions in English using the “form-meaning pairings” of Cognitive Grammar. It explores the influence of the reference point model and cue validity on the production of possessive constructions. The participants' responses reveal differences in the way they interpret and produce possessive constructions based on the reference point model, as well as on the degree of cue validity they assign to particular constructions.