Contemporary cognitive linguistics: Thirty years after

Abstract

The paper reviews recent developments in cognitive linguistics now that three decades, give or take, separate us from the time it was born. The author claims that these developments have not yet been brought together, nor contemplated at length. Both formal and substantial aspects are identified, the former manifested by cognitive linguistics becoming yet more deeply grounded in academic life and curricula across different countries. The latter are represented, first, by further elaborations of classical works, which can be exemplified by manifold studies in conceptual metaphor and metonymy, or lexical polysemy. Second, new trends have become noticeable in recent years, in particular, a definite shift from theoretical concerns to practical applications. This has given rise to the so called applied cognitive linguistics concerned mostly with second language acquisition and translation studies. Besides, cognitive linguistics can be seen to have gone empirical, making close contacts with corpus linguistics. However, the central development of contemporary cognitive linguistics, as posited by the author, is its integration tendency. Rather than go on opposing itself to other schools and branches, cognitive linguistics today seeks to become entrenched in traditional philological fields, such as lexicography, stylistics, poetics, discourse analysis, sociolinguistics, ethnolinguistics, etc., enriching them with new ideas and approaches. The key intrigue is whether cognitive linguistics will remain as such or get absorbed by other fields of study. Common theoretical foundations shared by major classical cognitive works are certainly a uniting factor, but the inherent heterogeneity of cognitive linguistics may tip the balance in favour of breaking down into a number of smaller fields and groups of scholars. Be that as it may, cognitive linguistics is undergoing changes that may be indicative of its further development.