Chapter Two
38
polyocluar theory (Fage-Butler 2013b). Yet, the ways in which perspective
may be expressed by construals in PILs as compared to SmPCs have
remained unconsidered up to now. In the following we will explore this
aspect in greater detail starting from particular construals in both text
types, which point to significant differences in the conceptualization of the
event described, and the perspective from which it is perceived. This kind
of investigation is in line with one of the fundamental findings of
Cognitive Linguistics, which says that any analysis of linguistic meaning
necessarily involves nonobjective aspects, because conceptualization
inherently implies some conceptualizer who perceives the object of
conceptualization from his/her individual point of view (see also Verhagen
2007: 48). The analysis of conceptualization is therefore not limited to the
object of conceptualization, but requires reference to the conceptualizer’s
point of view as well.
Construals
The term construal refers to the deviant ways of viewing events: SmPCs
respectively PILs describe drug properties, use, risks, etc. by means of
alternate construals each of which is compatible with the objective
properties of the events described, but each of which portrays them
differently (Langacker 1990a: 61). As detailed by Verhagen (2007: 49)
there are different and partially overlapping classifications of construal
operations (see, for example, Langacker 1987; Talmy 1988: 2000a; Croft
and Cruse 2004: 43-46). For the purpose of the present investigation we
will use Verhagen’s description of construals (2007: 48-81) as a starting
point. In the following sections some interesting dimensions of construals
are described and illustrated by means of corpus samples.
Cross-combining construal operations
To start, it should be noted that specific construal operations may apply to
several domains, allowing for cross-combining construal operations.
Linguistically the combination of construal operations may take different
forms. For example, nominalizations of verbs are construals in which acts
are construed as objects (so-called reifications; see Langacker 1991: 34f.).
With respect to our corpus such cross-combining construal-combinations
are particularly observable in SmPCs (the expert version of PILs) whereas
in PILs the TIME domain is activated by a verbal style. This is illustrated
by examples (12) and (13) that illustrate how the verb to reduce (PIL) is