Cognitive Semantic Approach Research Articles

A Cognitive -Semantic Study of Love Metaphor in Mawlawi Poems

This study is entitled "A Cognitive Semantic Study of Love Metaphor in Mawlawi Poems". It is an attempt to construe the semantic aspects of Mawlawi's poetic texts in light of the cognitive semantic approach. The study, through a linguistic and cognitive analysis, clarifies the way meaning is constructed in the selected poems. It adopts the theoretical framework proposed by the cognitive semantic theory of metaphor. That is, according to the cognitive theory of metaphor, it explores the metaphorization of LOVE in the selected poems. In cognitive approach to metaphor, an abstract concept named the target domain is understood in terms of another called the source domain (usually concrete). The source domain is a conceptual domain used metaphorically so as to understand the abstract target concept, i.e., the target domain is a conceptual domain interpreted through the source domain. The current study investigates the ways in which LOVE as an abstract target concept is construed in terms of other source conceptual domains. That is, the primary aim of the study is to scrutinize how LOVE is metaphorized in the poems, what are the source domains the poet relies upon so as to interpret the target domain of LOVE. In other words, what are the more concrete conceptual source domains that are metaphorically used in order to comprehend the abstract target concept of LOVE? Accordingly, the recent study is mainly concerned with conceptualization (the way LOVE is conceptualized) which is the cognitive processes of meaning-making. This means that, it illuminates meaning construction process in Mawlawi literature. The study first provides a brief introduction to Cognitive Linguistics and then the nature of meaning in cognitive semantic approach is highlighted. Following this, the cognitive approach to metaphor is presented. The last section is devoted to elucidating the metaphorical structuring of LOVE in Mawlawi's poems based on the contemporary theory of metaphor.

Examination of Spatial Deictic Markers in KingoniExamination of Spatial Deictic Markers in Kingoni

This study aimed to examine spatial deixis in Kingoni within the framework of the cognitive semantics approach. A total of 60 adults and grandparents that were purposively selected from 30 households in Songea Rural District were interviewed using semi-structured questionnaires. Data on Kingoni spatial orientation was analysed using thematic and quotation analysis techniques, with special interest in underlying coordinates, body-sidedness, and the absolute and intrinsic frame of reference. The study results show that Kingoni has five deictic terms with movement or motion components categorised into two groups: go (hambai, wukai) and come (bwelai, wuyai, and kiliwukai). It has also been realised that Kingoni is a hybrid system of frames of reference, changing from one frame to another when interacting. It uses object-sidedness (intrinsic frame of reference) and body-sidedness to express or point to something like kumangiga (the right hand) or kumandyoli (the left-hand side). Kingoni exhibits four spatial dimension differences when expressing the location of an object from a given viewpoint. These are apa (near), pala (near far), palanaha (far), and palé (far most). Accordingly, the study recommends continued research in natural language to enrich existing knowledge about deictic markers.

Fictive motion categories in modern Persian: A cognitive semantic approach

Motion is the cornerstone of cognitive structures which can be signified factively and fictively. Fictive motion events in English are classified into six categories (Talmy 2000a). While Iranian linguists have worked on verbs and typology of fictive motion, they almost failed to discover these categories. This study made an attempt to examine these categories by addressing the questions: What are fictive motion categories in Persian? To what extent is the speakers’ cognition influenced by the structure of the language they speak? What are Persian speakers’ preferable tenses? With this aim, using convenience sampling and qualitative research design, sixteen sentences extracted from Talmy’s model plus nine fillers were rendered into Persian. To avoid ordering effect, sixty participants were organized in a counterbalanced technique and accomplished completion and picture description tasks so that one half of the participants filled the completion task first and dealt with the picture description task later, while others acted in the reverse order. In completion task the participants performed accurately except the pattern paths category. However, they did not produce fictive motion sentences for the prospect, pattern, and advent paths, frame relative with factively stationary observer and site manifestation in the picture description task. They tended to adopt present tense in producing fictive motion sentences for the depicted categories. More importantly, the paper analyses the participants’ performance in completing the tasks related to the sixteen fictive motion categories and shows that cognition is influenced by the linguistic structure of the speakers. It is hoped that this study can be a contribution to the field of cognitive and semantic linguistics and also advance fictive motion studies in different languages.

Возможные миры художественного текста: когнитивно-семантический аспект репрезентации времени (на материале романа В.В. Орлова «Альтист Данилов»)

This article studies the temporal organization of a literary text from the standpoint of a cognitive semantic approach. Literary time is considered in close connection with the meanings that form the semantic space of a text. The correlation of events within which literary time is manifested shows the direction of literary time, which, in its turn, participates in the formation of thinkable worlds. The study aimed to determine and describe the features of the construction of thinkable worlds within the literary time semantically marked in a literary text. The practical significance of the research lies in identifying and describing the principles of structuring possible worlds by means of their temporal coordinates, representing a synthesis of a hero’s physical and psychological time, with the inclusion of markers of historical time in the semantic space of a literary text. The author studied V.V. Orlov’s novel Danilov, the Violist using the inductive-deductive and comparative methods, cognitive and semantic analysis, as well as philological interpretation. A conclusion is drawn that literary time in this novel is of great importance for the organization of thinkable worlds. Its most frequent markers are segodnya (‘today’) and teper’ (‘now’), lexicalizing the cognitive and semantic features of a world which reminds the reader of objective reality, albeit distant in historical time, as well as of a fantasy world, whose properties are unreal. Orlov creates a synthesis of the hero’s physical and psychological time, which can also include historical time (in that case, the reader’s background knowledge is involved, making it possible to correctly decode precedent phenomena). The semantics of literary time in the novel is hierarchical and systemic: textual representatives manifest both universal ideas about time and author’s individual variability in the perception of chronological intervals, which affects the emotional sphere of the reader.

Conceptualizing the Preposition /ʕalaa/ in the Taizzi Dialect: a Cognitive Semantic Approach

Conceptualizing the Preposition /ʕalaa/ in the Taizzi Dialect: a Cognitive Semantic Approach

Cognitive Semantic Analysis of the Verb, ‘Tuur’ in TIV

This study presents a cognitive semantic analysis of the verb tuur ‘push’ in the Tiv language. As a contribution to the ongoing research on indigenous language verbs in cognitive linguistics generally and cognitive semantics in particular, the study uses the cognitive semantics approach to examine the Tiv language verb tuur, ‘push’ beyond the structure of the verb and `into the psychological and abstract semantics of the verb. The central objective of this study is to initiate a cognitive semantic study of Tiv verbs. The theoretical framework adopted for the analysis of the meanings of the verb is cognitive semantics. In an attempt to study the semantics of the verb ‘tuur’ we examine the role three image schemas (namely containment, path and force schemas) play in conceptual interaction with tuur, especially about metaphor (Lehrer and Feder, 1992). The findings show that the experience we have as we go through the maturing stage of life, as interaction takes place in society motivates basic conceptual structure which makes understanding and language possible. The study reveals that the verb falls into three image schemas follows the CONTAINMENT, the PATH and the FORCE (Jackendoff, 1990). The study also reveals that ‘tuur’ is not semantically empty. Our analysis also discloses that the image schemas of ‘tuur’ are conceptual constructs which can be metaphorically extended from physical to psychological and concrete to abstract domains. Further research requiring a broader database is recommended herewith to ascertain other possible schemas and metaphorical meaning extensions of the verb.

Exploring the referential range of etymologically-related lexical pairs in the language of the Qur’an: A cognitive-semantic approach

The present study conducts a cognitive-semantic analysis of etymologically-related lexical pairs in the language of the Qur’an. Based on objective selection criteria, the lexical pair rīĥ (a singular form literally meaning wind) and riyāĥ (a plural form literally meaning winds) has been claimed to be representative of the final data set, which includes 20 lexical pairs. Building on the theoretical underpinnings of descriptive semantics and frame semantics, the analysis sought to fulfill three main objectives: (a) identifying the referential range of the pair rīĥ and riyāĥ and its central reference point; (b) explaining the way the historical and theological context helps to mark the connotations associated with each sense in the referential range; and (c) sorting the discourse functions communicated through the cognitive frame(s) evoked by such a lexical pair. Findings showed that the central cognitive frame of both lexical items is that of moving air. However, rīĥ has developed, through metaphorical extension, two other senses that are not applicable to riyāĥ: power/predominance and smell. Finally, both lexical items have been proven to have positive, negative, and neutral connotations that have been divinely manipulated to perform various discourse functions.

The structure of a polysemantic word in the cognitive-semantic aspect

The article presents the results of the study of the semantic structure of the polysemantic word in the aspect of cognitive semantics. The study is based on the position of cognitive lexicology that "the semantics of a word is not limited only to a meaning; it is wider than the meaning". Therefore, the meaning of a word can be studied in the aspect of cognitive semantics. The cognitive-semantic aspect of studying the meanings of a polysemantic word implies its multilevel analysis, so the semantic structure of a polysemic word is studied not only from the outside, surface semantics but also from the inside, at the cognitive level of semantics. The study proposes a methodology of multilevel analysis of the structure of a polysemous word and also approves the methodology of its interdisciplinary study on the basis of the integral methodological paradigm involving the values and methods of different sciences (lexicology, cognitive semantics, pragmatics, cultural studies, associative linguistics). The aim of the study is to identify and describe the meanings of a polysemous word and its meanings in terms of different approaches to their research. In the article on the basis of the analysis of different meanings, the polysemous word is considered with also its meanings as denotative, figurative, pragmatic, connotative, and associative meanings of the word. The novelty of the research consists in the author's attempt to apply the cognitive-semantic approach to the analysis of the multivalued word structure. This approach differs from the linguistic and lexicological one, which considers polysemantic words as the nuclear meaning of the word and its lexical-semantic variant. In the course of the research, scientific results were obtained: 1. The disciplinary approach in the process of multilevel analysis of polysemantic words revealed new meanings and meanings of this phenomenon; 2. The role of the subject in the formation of meanings of a polysemous word was revealed; 3. The structure of the polysemantic word is described on the basis of taking into account the principle of conceptual unity of language and speech.

"The very interesting finding suggests that…": A cognitive frame-based analysis of interest markers by authors' geo-academic location in applied linguistics research articles.

Linguistic expressions of interest instantiated by interesting, intriguing, and fascinating that signal the authorial stance are not uncommon in applied linguistics research articles. Nevertheless, they have received little scholarly attention. This paper, taking a cognitive semantic approach, reports on a study that sought to examine how linguistically expressed interest in applied linguistics research articles is leveraged by researchers' geo-academic location (the Core vs. the Periphery). Drawing on a semantic frame generated for interest markers in academic writing, this study focused on the incidence of the various elements of the Interest frame in the discipline of applied linguistics based on a mixed-methods approach. The corpus-based quantitative analyses found that academic writers' geo-academic location was a robust predictor of authors' overall use of interest markers and some frame elements associated with the Interest frame. Triangulation with the interview data obtained from disciplinary specialists revealed that the observed differences could be attributable to the hierarchical academia featuring periphery-based scholars' unequal access to the knowledge production market and under-representation.

Conceptual Metaphors in The Little Mermaid: Cognitive Semantic Analysis

This study describes the embodiment of conceptual metaphors and image schemes according to Cruse and Croft (2004) in the fairy tale The Little Mermaid by Hans Christian Andersen. The approach used in this research is descriptive qualitative as a methodological approach and a cognitive semantic approach as a theoretical approach. The use of figurative language is widely used in writing to add to the impression, emphasis, and beautify an expression outlined by the author, one of which is in a fairy tale. Based on the results of the research that has been carried out, there are 14 pieces of metaphor conceptualization data found which are included in the type; (1) anthropomorphic, namely metaphors that refer to inanimate objects carried out by diverting or moving from the human body or its parts, from the meaning or values and desires possessed by humans, (2) sineaesthetic metaphors, namely metaphors based on transfer from one sense to another, (3) concrete to abstract metaphors, namely metaphors that describe concrete experiences to abstract things, and (4) animal metaphors, namely metaphors that use animals or animal body parts or something related to animals to imagery of something else and three types of image schemas namely existence schemas (existence ), which consists of Removal, Bounded Space, Cycle, Object, Process , the scheme of power ( force ) consisting of Balance, Counterforce, Compulsion, Restraint, Enablement, Blockage, Diversion, Attraction , schemes and unity ( Unity / Multiplicity) comprising from Merging, Collection, Splitting, Iteration, Part-Whole, Mass-Count, Link.

What surprises, interests and confuses researchers? A frame-based analysis of knowledge emotion markers in research articles

While academic writing is traditionally expected to be objective, linguistically expressed surprise, interest, and confusion indexing authors’ affective attitudes toward their propositions are not uncommon in research articles. These emotions, collectively known as knowledge emotions, are inherently cognitive and can contribute to the construction of scientific knowledge. Taking a cognitive semantic approach, this study examines linguistic expressions of knowledge emotions found in a corpus of 640 research articles sampled from four disciplines (i.e., Applied Linguistics, Biology, History, and Mechanical Engineering). To understand how these expressions partake in knowledge construction, a knowledge emotion frame is proposed that comprises five frame elements (i.e., Trigger, Degree, Explanation, Resolution, and Experiencer) and their various subcategories. The study demonstrates that this frame is well capable of capturing the shared/distinctive semantic and cognitive properties of knowledge emotion markers deployed for scientific communication. Accordingly, it provides a useful conceptual tool for furthering our understanding of deep-seated knowledge-making practices and the heuristic role that knowledge emotions play in these epistemic practices.

Lexical semantics of the concept “Steppe” in the artwork

The article discusses the cognitive-semantic level of a literary work that is verbalized in the author’s text through semantic content, which represents the concept under consideration. Idiostylistic features of the concept “Steppe” in the classic trilogy of Ilyas Esenberlin “The Nomads” (the article analyzes the first book “The Charmed Sword”) reflect the special ethnic worldview of nomads, representing an inseparable connection to the environment. The article is conceived as an effort to expand current approaches to analyzing the literary composition concept, the concept semantics correlation with denotative-referential meaning and conceptual spirit of the text. Collectively it helps to understand the universal and unique world of a literary text as a whole. The article considers expression features, lexical semantics and cognitive interpretation of the concept within the text semantic space through the cognitive-semantic approach, combining traditional semantic and conceptual analysis techniques. The conducted content analysis allows to highlight specific thematic aspects of the semantic space conceptualization, identify significant categories and phenomena of reality expressed by means of language. The results and conclusions proposed in the scientific article can serve as additional material in the field of linguocognitive research for further development of methods for studying the semantic space of a literary text. Key words: Conceptual analysis, concept, reflective semantics, verbalization, means of expression.

Conceptualizing and Schematizing Heart Metaphors through a Cognitive Semantic Approach

Metaphor is one of interesting objects to be research for its rich cognition and use. This study aims at investigating the conceptualization of heart metaphors and to describe the image schemas of heart metaphors. The data of the study were collected from Corpus of Contemporary American English (COCA) which provides significant data relevant to the study. This is a literature study using a qualitative descriptive study through the framework of the Conceptual Metaphor Theory (CMT) proposed by Lakoff and Johnson. After the selection of metaphorical expressions of heart, the analysis was conducted to categorize the conceptual metaphor of each selected data. The image schemas were then drawn in accordance to the concept given. The study found that people mainly use metaphors to state these three types of concepts of heart metaphors, they are; HEART IS A CONTAINER, HEART IS AN OBJECT, and HEART IS HUMAN/BEING. These main concepts were then elaborated into several smaller categorizations. There are three image schemas drawn in accordance to the types of the conceptual metaphors like containment schema, compulsion schema, and removal of restraint schema. Then, image schemas are helpful to draw the mapping of abstract thing of target domain into more concrete thing of target domain.

Combination ‘v lyubom sluchaye’ (any way): Functioning in Text and Pragmatic Potential

The article is devoted to the description of text structures based on a combination ‘v lyubom sluchaye’ (any way). The analysis was carried out on the material of the texts of the newspaper subcorpus of the National Corpus of the Russian Language. The relevance of the study is due to a multidimensional approach to describing the textual nature of connectivity, including the use of a cognitive-semantic approach to the study of a text from the standpoint of the speaker’s intention, which is consistent with the anthropocentric paradigm of modern linguistics. Within this paradigm, special attention should be paid to transitional linguistic units that occupy an intermediate position between official and significant lexemes and are used by the speaker to form a certain semantic task into a text structure, defined in the article through the concept of a text structure. As an example of such a unit, the combination ‘v lyubom sluchaye’ (any way) is used. It is shown that at a certain position in the text on the border of the utterance, the combination performs the function of a text clip, forms standard text blocks. Particular attention is paid to the analysis of scenarios and models for the presentation of information on the material of newspaper discourse texts. The results of the modality analysis of the of right side the of the structure, which determines the explication of one of the two meanings of the clip ‘free choice’ and ‘universality’ is presented in the article. It is described how the pragmatic potential of the combination is realized in the structure of the textual construction ‘v lyubom sluchaye’ (any way), depending on the nature of the alternative circumstances of the left side of the structure (options, conditions, opinions, assumptions).

On the semantic-pragmatic interface of Igbo verbs of perception

This study examines some semantic-cum-pragmatic issues in realising the senses of the Igbo verbs of perception. The specific objective of the study is to find out how the gap between linguistic meaning and speaker’s meaning is filled and enriched through the context; and how the contextual features underpin what an utterance communicates using some Igbo verbs of perception. The verbs involved are hụ́(see), lé(look at), nụ́(hear), gè(listen), mètụ́(touch), nụ́(ụ̄tọ̄) (taste) and nụ́(ísì) (smell). By adopting a combination of the Cognitive Semantics approach and Neo-Griceanism, a corpus-based analysis of the Igbo verbs of perception was carried out in different contexts of usage. An audio text was transcribed, and the Antconc concordance software was used on the transcribed text for this purpose. The study’s findings indicate that the senses of Igbo verbs of perception depend significantly on some pragmatic features of the verbs’ contexts of usage. This is because the pragmatic features determine the verbs’ referents, which are established only in specific contexts. However, without the establishment of these contexts, the utterance would not make sense.

한국수어 다의어의 의미망 분석: [기름] 수어를 중심으로

There has been abundant research on semantic networks of polysemous units but far less of such research on sign languages, despite the fact that polysemy is far more prevalent in the latter. As a case study, this paper observes a polysemous word meaning ‘oil’ in Korean Sign Language and demonstrates how the prototypical meaning ‘oil’ is extended to various meanings through conceptual metaphor and conceptual metonymy. The paper observes that the concept OIL is closely related to the concepts SMOOTHNESS, FAMILIARITY, FLUENCY, and FREQUENCY in KSL, unlike Korean. The cognitive semantics approach to the polysemous word OIL in KSL demonstrates how we, as language users, conceptualize new concepts utilizing what is used for other concepts.

The Romance of Rosululloh SAW. and Aisyah R.A. in Sayyidah Aisyah Istri Rasulullah Song Lyrics: Cognitive Linguistic Perspective

In the beginning of April 2020 Aisyah Istri Rasulullah song which is a song from Malaysia became one of the videos that dominated trending lists on YouTube. More than 20 video covers of the song Aisyah Istri Rasulullah have controlled the YouTube page. This study aims to describe the metaphorical forms contained in the lyrics of the song Sayyidah Aisyah Istri Rasulullah by using cognitive semantics approach. This study is a descriptive qualitative research. The research data are the lyrics of the song Sayyidah Aisyah Istri Rasulullah that are analyzed using a content analysis technique. The results show that the metaphors found in the lyrics of the song Sayyidah Aisyah Istri Rasulullah could be classified into three types, structural metaphor, orientational metaphor, and ontological metaphor. The applying of metaphors indicates several concepts of imagery scheme, such as identity (matching), circumstance (existence) of object, imagery space in of up-down, state of form in form, the existence bounded space for limited space. The use of metaphors in Sayyidah Aisyah Istri Rasulullah song lyrics aims to convey the contents with sorted words that are easy to understand. Since many people feel that they do not know several hadits about the romance of the romantic story of Rasulullah SAW with Aisyah RA, this song comes as the essence of several hadits that can provide knowledge to the audiences in a practical and concrete way

Metaforička konceptualizacija boga u srpskom jeziku

The subject of this paper is a way of conceptualizing God in the Serbian language. The aim of the paper is to show and indicate the ways in which the meaning of the noun God is understood in the Serbian language, and which metaphors arise when it is described. It is shown which metaphorical expressions are and by which source domains the concretization occurs. The theoretical basis of the conducted research is the theory of conceptual metaphors, which is based on the cognitive-semantic approach. First, a theoretical review of conceptual metaphors is given, followed by an analysis of a corpus based on examples from literary works, daily newspapers, and dialect texts from the Kragujevac Lepenica area.

The The Conceptualization of COVID-19 in English and Kurdish Online Newspaper Articles: A Cognitive Semantic Approach

        One of the principles of cognitive linguistics and cognitive semantics is that human language is metaphorical in nature and meaning does not only reside in the linguistic items but also in the language users’ conceptualizations against the situations and events. Metaphor is one means of conceptualization. The cognitive semantic theory of metaphors is known as Lakoff and Johnson’s Conceptual Metaphor Theory. According to this theory, metaphor is a mental process of understanding one domain in terms of another. Based on this, the present study is an attempt to examine the ways via which the novel coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has been conceptualized in the Kurdish and English e-newspaper articles. The articles have been taken from the online English and Kurdish newspapers such as BBC, the New York Times, Rudaw, NRT, Kurdiu, Kurdistan24, and many others. It has been hypothesized that, like any other concepts, COVID-19 is metaphorically understood and its meaning does not only confine in the term. It has been concluded that this epidemic disease can be, based on the construals and perspectives the conceptualizers take, understood in terms of different concepts such as WAR, FIRE, ADVERSARY, GUEST, REVENGE, DARKNESS, JOURNEY, etc., each of which is based on the background of the subject matter of the online newspaper articles as well as culture and our experiences with COVID-19.    

A cognitive semantic exploration of Englishplantphrasal verbs with the particleoutand their Serbian counterparts

AbstractThis paper explores the semantic motivation of English phrasal verbs with the particleoutwhose constituent verb refers to processes and activities performed by or to plants and their prefixed Serbian counterparts with the prefixesiz-,s- andraz-. The cognitive approach to the semantics of phrasal verbs and prefixes is employed, which entails observing their meaning through the notions of conceptualisation, image-schematic structuring and spatial schematisation. It is shown that there is a high degree of correspondence in the concrete and abstract senses of the contrasted English and Serbian lexemes owing to the same spatial configurations which structure the constituent English and Serbian satellites (the particleoutand the prefixesiz-,s-andraz-, respectively). Additionally, various conceptual metaphors stemming from the domain of PLANTS, inherent in the constituent verb, play a prominent role in the extension of the phrasal and prefixed verb meaning in both languages. The conclusion underlines the benefits of using the cognitive semantic approach in the contrastive studies of particles and prefixes.