Iksoo Kwon, Ph.D. in Linguistics

I’ve received my Ph.D. in Linguistics Department, University of California, Berkeley, and currently work for English Linguistics and Language Technology (ELLT) Department at Hankuk University of Foreign Studies. Trained as a cognitive linguist and semanticist, I work on how we “construe” language uses by looking into conceptual structures that external linguistic signals tap in our mind. My job is to make explicit the covert presence of the conceptual structures in language use within the framework of Cognitive Linguistics.

My personal research is particularly concerned with understanding viewpoint phenomena of subjectivity in languages. Specifically, I investigate linguistic/ conceptual categories of Evidentiality and Epistemic modality in Korean, and I also recently have looked into multilayered meaning constructions in English which are accounted for in political cartoons, autocomplete interviews, political posters, and internet memes. My analyses majorly rely on cognitive linguistic approaches such as Mental Spaces Theory, Frame Semantics, Simulations, Neural Theory of Language, (Embodied) Construction Grammar, Conceptual Metaphor, and Conceptual Blending.

Softcopies of my papers and handouts that I presented are available at here. If you have any questions or comments, please feel free to let me know. My contact information is found here.

(C) Iksoo Kwon. All rights reserved.