Language and memory

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This volume offers a new cognitive perspective on language, analyzing linguistic structure and communication through the lens of memory. Comprising fourteen chapters by linguists and psychologists, it highlights the necessity of this approach, demonstrating how various linguistic structures mirror memory properties. The interdisciplinary nature of the contributions introduces diverse methodologies while maintaining clarity and comparability. Core linguistic areas such as syntax, semantics, pragmatics, and discourse analysis are explored, with a focus on memory systems and their characteristics. The introduction summarizes key concepts of memory, followed by three sections that examine linguistic phenomena in relation to memory. The first section discusses syntagmatic versus paradigmatic organization in syntax and its memory implications. The second section investigates structures with variable functions, linking them to specific submemories characterized by subjectivity and evaluation. The final section addresses discourse elements like coherence, evidentiality, politeness, and persuasion. This book is valuable for researchers and students in linguistics and cognitive psychology, offering fresh analytical methods. Each chapter is accessible to linguists without a psychology background and psychologists without a linguistics background.