Blending as a Central Process of Grammar

Abstract

Mental spaces are small conceptual packets constructed as we think and talk, for purposes of local understanding and action. They are interconnected, and can be modified as thought and discourse unfold. Fauconnier and Turner have recently proposed the existence of a general cognitive process—conceptual blending—that operates over mental spaces as inputs. In blending, structure from two input spaces is projected to a separate space, the blend. The blend inherits partial structure from the input spaces, and has emergent structure of its own. As an example of blending, consider a contemporary philosopher who says, while leading a seminar, I claim that reason is a self-developing capacity. Kant disagrees with me on this point. He says it's innate, but I answer that that's begging the question, to which he counters, in Critique of Pure Reason, that only innate ideas have power. But I say to that, what about neuronal group selection? And he gives no answer. In one input mental space, we have the modern philosopher, making claims. In a separate but related input mental space, we have Kant, thinking and writing. In neither input space is there a debate. These two input spaces share frame structure: there is a thinker, who has claims and musings, a mode of expression, a particular language, and so on. This shared frame structure constitutes a third space, a generic space, connected to both input spaces. There is a fourth space, the blend, which has both the modern philosopher (from the first input space) and Kant (from the second input space). The blend additionally recruits the frame of debate, framing Kant and the modern philosopher as engaged in simultaneous debate, mutually aware, using a single language to treat a recognized topic. The debate frame comes up easily in the blend, through pattern completion, since so much of its structure is already in place in the two inputs. Once the blend is established, we can operate cognitively within that space, which allows us to manipulate the various events as an integrated unit. The debate frame brings with it conventional expressions, available for our use. We know the connection of the blend to the input spaces, and the way that structure or inferences developed in the blend translates back to the input spaces. We work over all four spaces simultaneously, but the blend gives