Page 46 - A GRAMMAR OF BHOJPURI _ PhD Dissertation 2020 TU

(a) The cognitive representation system
According to Givón (2001a:7), the human cognitive representation system

consists of three concentrically-linked levels: the conceptual lexicon, propositional
information and multi-propositional discourse. They are presented in Figure 2.1.

Figure 2.1 Three levels of cognitive representation system
Multi-propositional
discourse (discourse)

Propositional information
(clauses)
Conceptual lexicon
(words)
Source: Givón (2001a:43)

i) The conceptual lexicon
Givón (2001a:7-8) describes the human conceptual lexicon in terms of "a

repository of relatively time-stable, relatively socially-shared and relatively well-
coded concepts which, taken together, constitute a cognitive map of our experimental
universe: the external physical universe, the social-cultural universe and the internal-

mental universe".
Following Givón (2001a:8), by time stability we mean that the meaning of a

lexeme, say of the word 'cat' today will remain the same tomorrow. Similarly, socially-
shared concepts mean that when grounding into communication the speaker assumes that

a word has roughly the same meaning for each member of a particular speech
community. Likewise, well-coded concepts mean that each chunk of lexically-stored

knowledge is more-or-less uniquely, or at least strongly, associated with its own
perceptual code-level though in a certain degree it might be. The conceptual lexicon is
most likely organized as a network of nodes and connections. A word-node automatically

activates a prototypical bunch of other closely-related word nodes. Atkinson and Shiffrin
(1968:117) exhibits cognitive psychologists to have long recognized the conceptual

lexicon under the label of permanent semantic memory.
ii) Propositional information

The level of propositional information is the second component of human
cognitive representation system. At this level, concepts or words are combined into

propositional information or clauses about states and events, relations and qualities
that entities partake in. Such states, events, relations and qualities may pertain "to the

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