Very Odd Phrases and the philosophical split in Cognitive Semantics

This paper aims to elaborate on a philosophical split between two explanatory strategies in Cognitive Semantics: Semantic Gestalt Theories (SGT) and Usage Statistical Models (USM). The former relies on embodied (introspective) theorizing and seeks embodied conditions of possibility for understanding a language, such as metaphorical projection, focal adjustments, image schemas, etc. At the same time, the latter uses empirical, data-driven research, usually using statistical tools such as corpus studies. Although both explanatory approaches harmonize in standard research, this schema of explanation breaks down when explaining Very Odd Phrases (VOPs), which are syntactically correct but very unusual utterances, such as The cup contains coffee on the outside or Sam opened the sun. The philosophical split emerges when explaining how VOPs can serve as a part of the language – both strategies fail to explain the comprehension of VOPs. SGT predicts them as impossible parts of discourse because they lack stable minimal models. USM appeals to a lack of convention. However, USM does not exclude them a priori but points out the need for their contextualization. Contextualization appeals to intuitions about understanding that are not specified, so VOPs remain a blind spot of Cognitive Semantics.