The linguistic category model

Abstract

How did a model of the distinctive terms (predicates) that we use to describe interpersonal events emerge? What were the circumstances that coalesced different inquiries into a model of interpersonal language and how did its applications prove that this was to become an important model of the cognitive properties of language. These are the types of questions that are answered in this chapter, along with how the significance of this model was underlined by its application to how people use language strategically when describing positive and negative behaviors of their ingroups and outgroups. The linguistic category model, which was developed jointly with Klaus Fiedler, has found many applications in answering both fundamental and applied questions. One of-the central fundamental issues that this model has revealed is to reformulate the language-cognition interface into a functional: "what is language for?" instead of the classic formulation: "what is language?" The answer to the functional question is: "to direct attention," This formulation opens new vistas for research, such as how people, when pursuing inquiries in question-answer contexts, formulate their choices of predicates that reveal their biases and shape their interviewees' answers. New directions that can be explored by the linguistic category model are discussed in conclusion.