Abstract
The present paper offers a semantic analysis of sel ected plant-related Polish and English blends and compounds in the ligh t of Conceptual Integration Theory (cf. Fauconnier and Turner 1998, 2002). As defined by Fauconnier and Turner, conceptual integr ation is a dynamic process which allows us to account for novel expressions that emerge as the result of complex mental operations d uring which various elements of disparate domains might be acti vated and entrenched in a given context. Therefore, plant-rel ated blends and compounds such as nagietek , lemonata, or kora d ebowa will be put here under scrutiny and analysed with the aid of th e four-space network model.
Highlights
The dynamic and ubiquitous character of the cognitive mental operation known as conceptual blending can hardly be overlooked once its mechanisms operate within a plethora of linguistic instances such as neologisms, or novel expressions
Assuming that the whole process of conceptualization is based upon complex conceptual processing where language is but a factor that helps to encode the actual meaning 1, it seems justifiable to reach for such tools as Conceptual Blending Theory and apply it to the struggle over semantic analysis of plant-related lexical blends and compounds
Assuming that “conceptual blending is often argued to be a fundamental cognitive operation that is central to general properties of human thought and imagination” (Evans and Green 2006: 439), one cannot question the ubiquity and importance of conceptual blends in language
Summary
The dynamic and ubiquitous character of the cognitive mental operation known as conceptual blending can hardly be overlooked once its mechanisms operate within a plethora of linguistic instances such as neologisms, or novel expressions. “marigold”), and English lemonata or bananular, where, to successfully decode their meanings, the knowledge from various domains must be combined and activated (cf Coulson 2001) This happens by virtue of the socalled meaning construction, the process whereby language “prompts for novel cognitive representations of varying degrees of complexity” (Evans and Green 2006: 363). Being viewed as a fundamentally conceptual phenomenon, meaning construction should first and foremost be analyzed “with reference to the conceptualizations that give rise to it” (Hampe 2000: 85), as well as take into account two other basic parameters, i.e. on-line dynamic process and contextdependent interpretation In this respect, the aspect of meaning construction and its countless interpretive possibilities lead us towards a great mental capacity known as conceptual blending - an operation that is “vital to creative thinking and consists in mapping, exploration and transformation of structures and conceptual spaces” (Del Bello 2007: 161). Assuming that the whole process of conceptualization is based upon complex conceptual processing where language is but a factor that helps to encode the actual meaning 1, it seems justifiable to reach for such tools as Conceptual Blending Theory and apply it to the struggle over semantic analysis of plant-related lexical blends and compounds
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