The sociosemiotic commitment

Abstract

AbstractCognitive Linguistics should complement the Cognitive Commitment with a Sociosemiotic Commitment: a commitment to make one’s account of human language accord with the status of language as a social semiotic, i. e., as an intersubjective, historically and socially variable tool, and to base that account on a methodology that likewise transcends the individual. By looking at defining features of Cognitive Linguistics (its cognitive orientation, and its usage-based character), it is argued that the relevance of the Sociosemiotic Commitment derives from the very essence of Cognitive Linguistics.