Abstract
The paper examines the concepts of ‘symptom’ and ‘diagnosis’ from an interdisciplinary perspective, drawing on elements from cognitive linguistics, clinical decision‐making research and conversation analysis. The main focus is on how prototype theory and the notion of fuzziness can enhance the understanding of these concepts. It is argued that the various manifestations of disease, conceptualised as ‘symptom’ and ‘diagnosis’, can be understood as prototypical concepts. Excerpts from an authentic consultation are examined in detail in order to illustrate how cognitive linguistics can be applied in the analysis of doctor‐patient interaction.
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