creators_name: Evola, Vito
creators_id: evola@unipa.it
type: confposter
datestamp: 2008-07-15 09:56:00
lastmod: 2011-03-11 08:57:09
metadata_visibility: show
title: Cognitive Linguistics and the Evolution of Body and Soul  
in the Western World: from Ancient Hebrew to Modern English
ispublished: pub
subjects: phil-epist
subjects: ling-compara
subjects: phil-metaphys
subjects: psy-ling
subjects: ling-prag
subjects: evol-psy
subjects: phil-mind
subjects: phil-ethics
subjects: ling-sem
subjects: ling-syntax
subjects: soc-psy
subjects: cog-psy
subjects: phil-lang
subjects: hist-ling
full_text_status: public
keywords: philology, cognitive linguistics, body, soul, Hebrew, Greek, English, religion, St. Paul, religion, Christianity, Judaism, frames, translation, exegesis  
abstract: A philological and comparative analysis of the lexical items
concerning personhood in Ancient Hebrew, Ancient Greek and Modern English reveals semantic shifts concerning the relative lexical concepts. Ancient Hebrew presents an essentially holistic idea of personhood, whereas, via Biblical translations and Greek philosophical influences, the Western World has conceptualized humans as being
dualistic in nature. I analyze the polysemy and semantic shifts in the lexicon used for "body" and "soul" in Ancient Hebrew and Ancient Greek, which are the two linguistic systems known by St. Paul of Tarsus, and then confront them with Paul's usage context, and finally with Modern English, hypothesizing a possible case of linguistic relativity.
date: 2007-07
date_type: published
refereed: TRUE
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Evola, Vito (2005) Cognitive Semiotics and On-Line Reading of Religious Texts. Journal of Consciousness, Literature and the Arts Vol. 6(N. 2). 

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Lakoff, G. (1987). Women, fire, and dangerous things: what categories reveal about the mind. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. 

Langacker, R. (1991). Concept, Image, Symbol: The Cognitive Basis of Grammar (second edition: 2002). Berlin/New York: Mouton de Gruyter. 

Taylor, J. R. (1995). Linguistic categorization: Prototypes in linguistic theory. 2nd edition. Oxford: Clarendon 
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citation:   Evola, Vito  (2007) Cognitive Linguistics and the Evolution of Body and Soul in the Western World: from Ancient Hebrew to Modern English.  [Conference Poster]     
document_url: http://cogprints.org/6116/3/erice-poster.pdf