Mapping the Semantic-Pragmatic Continuum: Cognitive and Neurolinguistic Insights

In this research paper, we examine the semantics-pragmatics continuum through a multimodal lens. We propose a new framework that integrates insights from Cognitive Linguistics and Neurolinguistics to advance theoretical and empirical research in Cognitive Neuropragmatics. Language is conceptualized as a dynamic system balancing conventional semantics with context-related pragmatic functions. We discuss the cognitive and neural mechanisms underlying semantic construction and pragmatic inference, emphasizing their interdependencies. Findings on the neural correlates of pragmatic processes, such as speech acts and conversational implicatures, challenge traditional distinctions and reveal fluid boundaries across the continuum. Case studies on turn-taking and gesture pragmatics illustrate the utility of integrating annotated naturalistic data with neurophysiological methods to investigate communicative language use. By leveraging multimodal frame-semantics based annotation of naturalistic datasets, this work provides critical tools to understand how meaning emerges and operates at the interface of linguistic form, meaning, and social interaction, paving the way for refined neurophysiological mapping methods of linguistic phenomena.