SPATIAL CATEGORIES IN THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE

Abstract

The article is devoted to an overview of the main trends in the cognitive approach to the study of spatial categories in the English language, since cognitive linguistics is an actively developing linguistic direction, in many respects determining the face of modern world linguistic science. Space belongs to the main semantic philosophical categories; without which it is impossible to build a worldview model of reality. The ability for spatial orientation is a reflection of the cognitive mechanisms underlying human perception and knowledge of the world. The categorization of space objects reflects the process of selection and value determination in accordance with human needs and interests. The material frame of reference that provides a person with a valuable perception of space is embedded in the asymmetry of the structure of his body. The difference between the upper and lower parts, front and back, right and left sides gives a person the ability to differentiate the direction of space and its extent. Conceptualization and linguistic categorization of space are determined by the conditions of human existence. The supremacy of the vertical dimension is explained by the spatial orientation of his body, characteristic of a person, under normal conditions, namely in a standing position. The semantic structures of the spatial vocabulary of the corresponding categories are dependent on conceptual structures and are built from units of conceptual structures. Since a person is characterized by upright walking, this is what the human body is oriented towards, and therefore the vertical position can be considered as prototypical, and in the language, the units denoting spatial realities and directions within the category of “vertical” have a priority meaning and are more often metaphorized. We consider the analysis of the verbalization of spatial categories in the English discourse to be a promising continuation of this research.