Conceptual Integration Theory Research Articles

Psychological mechanism and cognitive basis of humorous speech

To more clearly present the psychological mechanism and cognitive basis of humorous speech, this study measured college students using various scales, discussed the role of humorous coping in resolving their social anxiety and regulating their mental health, and attempted to construct a cognitive symbol working model from three dimensions: theory of innocence, modern semiotics, and conceptual integration theory. We used the proposed model to present the psychological mechanism and cognitive basis of humorous speech. This study found that humor coping is positively correlated with college students’ social anxiety, which is positively correlated with mental health. Affinity humor style and humor coping can positively predict college students’ communication anxiety, but affinity humor style has better predictive power. This research held that relevance is the general principle of communicative cognition and has become a space of conceptual synthesis network. The combination of conceptual fusion and deviation theory with conventional theory can help us better understand verbal humor and reveal its cognitive basis. There is a close relationship between humorous language and human psychological mechanisms. Finally, there is also a clear relationship between different psychological mechanisms and the structure of humorous language.

Conceptualizing parenthood: American newspaper discourse analysis

This study aims to elucidate the metaphorical representations of the concept PARENT within American media discourse. By analyzing the conceptual metaphors employed in newspaper discourse, we seek to reconstruct the metaphorically derived understanding of parenthood within English-speaking community. These conceptual metaphors, crafted by media presenters, exert a profound influence on the societal comprehension of this concept, both directly and indirectly. The study draws upon the Conceptual Metaphor theory, Conceptual Integration theory, and Discourse analysis. Within the scope of our investigation, the target domain PARENT encompasses four primary source domains: DUTIES, DIFFICULTIES, OWNER, and BURDEN. Our emphasis lies in scrutinizing the cross-domain mappings, which delineate systematic correspondences between the target and source domains. We investigate novel conceptualizations that emerge from conventional metaphoric patterns, employing cognitive mechanisms such as extension, elaboration, questioning, and combination. We also explore the conceptual blends and emergent structures that introduce additional layers of interpretation of being a parent. They are elucidated using Conceptual Integration Networks, specifically double- and multiple-scope models. Our analysis has unveiled the existence of four metaphorical clusters, each providing unique perspectives on how parenthood is conceptualized within the newspaper discourse.

Could marriage be a glorified transactional relationship? A cognitive blending approach to analogies of marriage in Dholuo

The last few decades have seen declining marriage rates as people prioritize other life goals over marital commitments. While the explanations for this shifting tide are multifaceted, scholarly evidence suggests that portrayal of marriage in a negative light scares many young adults from the institution. Every community equips its people with experiences, attitudes and linguistic resources to conceptualize abstract phenomena such as marriage. Against this background, this study seeks to analyze analogies of marriage in Dholuo to reveal how cultural resources and experiences influence the conceptualization of marriage. The study adopts a descriptive research design. Data for the study was collected through interviews. Forty (40) speakers of the Kisumu South Nyanza (KSN) dialect were asked to provide analogies used to describe marriage in Dholuo. A total of 66 analogies were collected. Four annotators used the synectic method of analogy identification to verify the collected expressions. One analogy which implies that marriage is a transactional relationship was selected for analysis using the Conceptual Integration Theory (CIT). The study found that analogies pervade daily conversations but they are unconsciously used to describe abstract phenomena such as marriage. Additionally, the study found that in some marriages in the Luo community, love chemistry, compatibility and emotional investment take a backseat and partners see each other as a means to satisfy their selfish interests. The findings also indicate that conceptual mental spaces as a tenet of the CIT provide a plausible model for interpreting marriage as an abstract concept in Dholuo. The study concludes that analogy is culture-specific and should be investigated through the lenses of a cognitive linguist.

Psychological mechanism and cognitive basis of humorous speech

To more clearly present the psychological mechanism and cognitive basis of humorous speech, this study measured college students using various scales, discussed the role of humorous coping in resolving their social anxiety and regulating their mental health, and attempted to construct a cognitive symbol working model from three dimensions: theory of innocence, modern semiotics, and conceptual integration theory. We used the proposed model to present the psychological mechanism and cognitive basis of humorous speech. This study found that humor coping is positively correlated with college students’ social anxiety, which is positively correlated with mental health. Affinity humor style and humor coping can positively predict college students’ communication anxiety, but affinity humor style has better predictive power. This research held that relevance is the general principle of communicative cognition and has become a space of conceptual synthesis network. The combination of conceptual fusion and deviation theory with conventional theory can help us better understand verbal humor and reveal its cognitive basis. There is a close relationship between humorous language and human psychological mechanisms. Finally, there is also a clear relationship between different psychological mechanisms and the structure of humorous language.

Teaching English Idioms from the Perspective of Translation under the Conceptual Integration Theory

English idioms hold significant value as a gateway to Western society and as a tool for enhancing the authenticity and effectiveness of language expression. Consequently, the acquisition of English idioms remains a crucial endeavor for language learners. Nevertheless, the challenges associated with English idioms arise from cultural and cognitive disparities, as well as the intrinsic nature of these linguistic expressions, rendering them arduous for both educators and students. This research examines the distinctive attributes of many English idioms and provides pedagogical approaches based on cognitive perspectives. Conceptual Integration Theory (CIT) will serve as the theoretical foundation for this analysis, with a specific focus on the initial stage of idiom acquisition, namely translation. The objective of this paper is to examine English idioms through a systematic categorization, wherein they are classified according to the congruence of their imagery elements. The three discerned categories comprise English idioms exhibiting akin imagery elements in both English and Chinese, those manifesting imagery elements absent in the Chinese language, and those portraying imagery elements incongruent within the Chinese cultural context. The primary objective of this study is to enhance the efficacy of instructing non-native speakers, particularly those proficient in Chinese, in the acquisition of English idioms. This will be achieved by effectively managing the intricacies and intricacies involved in bilingual idiom acquisition.

Рахманинов: концепция в фортепианной интерпретации. Прелюдия ор. 32 gis-moll: «Россия, зимняя дорога»

The article is devoted to a fundamental problem: the construction of a theory of performance interpretation. The basis of our approach is in the idea of "concept", which was put forward by S. V. Rachmaninov. Not only a brilliant musician, but also a thinker-artist, Rachmaninoff emphasized in his articles (1909–1910) the fundamental importance of the concept, which stands at the forefront of interpretation. In our study, the concept of "concept" is studied as a result of the interaction of three factors: the evolution of ideas in the communicative system of the keyboard-piano culture; the process of the pianist’s comprehension of a performed composition; and the methodology of modern humanitarian science (M. Bakhtin’s theory of dialogue and M. Turner’s and J. Fokonie’s theory of conceptual integration, which is recognized today as a generalized model of cognitive theory). Studying the composer’s legacy has allowed us to propose a method of integrating the concept, which is considered using his Prelude in G sharp minor as an example.

Autonomiczność, sprawczość i innowacyjność nauczyciela we współczesnej leksykografii pedagogicznej i jurysprudencji. Analiza lingwistycznopedagogiczna

The article examines the concepts of teacher autonomy, agency and innovation from a linguisticpedagogical perspective. The research material was selected with the use of the method of searching the existing documents. The documents included selected encyclopaedic articles and legal texts concerning the teacher and his pedagogical activity. The authors used the theoretical framework of cognitive semantics in the form of conceptual integration theory when analysing the material. Autonomy as a pedagogical phenomenon has a broad and well-established lexical basis in both encyclopaedic and legal texts. The second concept, agency, has a very narrow dictionary and theoretical basis. The use of the last of the category, innovation, is limited to only some authors and their texts. Besides, the issue of innovativeness appears in legal texts sporadically and, as a rule, in relation to the school and not to the teacher. On the basis of the results obtained, it was proposed to treat the title terminological triad as an amalgam, in which the enumerated terms form a unity on the one hand, while on the other hand each of them expresses one aspect of the whole, which shows the multifaceted nature of the teacher’s pedagogical activity.

Should Green Always Get the Green Light? Translation of Figurative Technical Terms in View of Conceptual Integration Theory

The paper is a case study analysing the process of secondary term formation by looking into the introduction of figurative terms in the field of economics from English, as the current lingua franca in the field, into Croatian. Although the primary focus is on the terminological gap-filling function of figurative terms, the paper also explores what happens in translation when a term conveys more functions (e.g., ideology constitutive function). Our approach is usage-based in that our conclusions are founded on the observations of how the analysed figurative terms behave in real communication (official documents, research papers, magazines, newspapers, blogs, etc.). The paper also argues for the applicability of the Conceptual Integration Theory as a framework able to account for the meaning construal in the process of translation and for translators’ choices. The translational process is thus seen as discourse-pragmatic phenomenon involving the transfer of cognitive categories, crucially determined by both intercultural and interlingual factors.

Could strengthening the skills of proportional calculus improve astronomy learning in children?

Students have numerous difficulties operating with astronomical sizes and distances. This work presents the results of a didactic intervention framed in the Conceptual Integration Theory (CIT) and the cognitive strategy of “mental anchors” in the context of astronomy teaching in elementary school. It consisted of the implementation of several activities to promote the understanding, identification and production of scale representations based on an in-depth work on the proportional reasoning process, perspective and the choice of reference systems under the hypothesis that strengthening these skills could improve the learning of astronomy. To evaluate its effectiveness, results were compared within three groups of 10 and 11 years-old students (N=54) subjected to the intervention and one control group (N=20). Based on the results, the intervention was successful: the students improved greatly their ability to recognize and produce scale representations regarding astronomical scales and strengthened the concept of perspective and its relation to the perception of the size of objects in terms of size and distance.

Semantic Construction of Internet Neologisms under Conceptual Integration Theory

With the continuous development of modern technology, all kinds of online neologisms on social media are widely used and new words are constantly emerging. Conceptual integration theory, as one of the most common cognitive models, is widely used in various cognitive domains, plays a central role in people's learning, thinking and daily life, and has a strong explanatory power for language. This paper provides more theoretical basis for the use of Internet neologisms from a cognitive perspective, and explores the semantic construction of Internet neologisms.

A Cognitive Analysis of Multimodal Metaphors in News Cartoons Based on Conceptual Integration Theory

The meaning construction and interpretation of metaphor exist in verbal and non-verbal forms (multimodal forms such as sound and color). As the carrier of verbal and non-verbal symbols, the function of news cartoons is far greater than that of words. Based on the conceptual integration theory, this paper analyzes the multimodal metaphor phenomenon and meaning construction process of news cartoons with the theme of “uniting as one to fight the epidemic” selected from China News Cartoons Network. The research finds that the multimodal metaphorical representation of “uniting as one to fight the epidemic” reflects people’s basic cognition, which is affected by one’s experience, history and culture; the meaning construction of the multimodal metaphorical scene of “uniting as one to fight the epidemic” has the characteristics of dynamic processing. This paper aims to enhance people’s awareness of novel coronavirus through the cognitive interpretation of multimodal metaphors in news cartoons.

Does Conceptual Integration Theory Work? A Case Study of the English Translation of Culture-Loaded Terms in Chinese Government Work Report

Currently, the emphasis of research on culture-loaded terminology in the Chinese Government Work Report lies in developing translation strategies, with limited analysis of the cognitive process that translators undergo during the translation process. However, Conceptual Integration Theory has gained significant attention in recent years for its effectiveness in analyzing cognitive activities. This paper employs the Conceptual Integration Theory as a theoretical framework to analyze culture-loaded terms in the Chinese Government Work Report. This analysis involves the use of the conceptual integration network, including generic space, cross-space mapping, selective projection, blending, and emergent structure, as well as the construction of mental spaces. It has been found: (1) Translators utilized four mental spaces, namely the original terms space, translator space, generic space, and translation space. Through cross-space mapping, the original terms space and translator space projected a shared, abstract structure and organization into the generic space. The elements of the original terms space and translator space were then projected into the translation space within the constraints of the generic space. (2) The simplex network is unsuitable for translating these terms, while the other three conceptual integration networks do. Translating these terms with a mirror network is deemed to be the simplest method, while the two-scope network is the most complex. This paper aims to illustrate the thinking process of translators and offer suggestions for translating these terms.

A Cognitive Approach to Expressions of English Metaphors

This paper analyses the three expressions of English metaphors: nominal metaphors; verbal metaphors; adjective metaphors from the perspective of cognitive linguistics. For nominal metaphors, the author starts from metaphorical mapping mechanism, interpreting the different syntactic features of them: as a subject, an object, a predicate, an appositive and a possessive, figuring out the reasons for producing nominal metaphors and its cognitive approach. For verbal metaphors, this paper has, in detail, analyzed three different categories of them: the verbal metaphors with a logical subject predicate collocation; the ones with a logical verb, object collocation; and with a logical subject, predicate, object collocation with the above three kinds of linguistic theories, obtaining the forming mechanism of the verbal metaphors and its working ways in languages. For the adjective metaphors, this paper mainly applies the mapping theory between a source domain and a target domain in Conceptual Integration Theory. A comprehensive, detailed and systematical analysis of adjective meanings in basic adjective metaphors and metaphorical combinations of basic adjectives leads to the following conclusion: the combination of basic adjective metaphors is the result of the “Least Effort Principle” with characteristics of simplicity and popularity. In addition, it also possesses the capability to produce richer metaphorical expressions.

A cognition perspective revisit on teaching of pictophonetic characters: A case study on the new HSK level 3 common verbs

This article discusses the teaching of Chinese characters’ pictophonetic characters from a cognitive perspective. First of all, it clearly explains the characteristics of pictophonetic characters, meaning components are used as expressing categories, and sound components express sound and meaning at the same time. It also discusses the combination of pictophonetic characters in the square character space. Secondly, it introduces the main literacy methods of Chinese character teaching at present, and uses the image teaching method and the assortment method among them. Then, on the basis of the previous knowledge, the “conceptual integration theory” (conceptual integration) is used to integrate the sound and meaning of pictophonetic characters with the shape of the characters. After that, it compares the common core pictophonetic verbs in the new Chinese Proficiency Test Syllabus (Level 3) (also known as the Chinese Proficiency Test) with the Contemporary Corpus (COCT, National Institute of Education, Taiwan), and selects the overlapping items. Among them, 22 Chinese characters conform to the core verb vocabulary of the new HSK (Level 3). There are 13 core verb pictophonetic characters suitable for “positive cognition” teaching. This article first introduces five examples of the strongest phonetic association: standing zhàn (standing), staying zhù (live), singing gē (song), singing chàng (singing) and discussing/discussing yì (discussion). Lastly it deliberates conceptual integration theory, analyzing its rationale, reconstructing and demonstrating its diversified literacy teaching methods.

Political Mysticism and the Legionary Movement in Interwar Romania. A Cognitive Approach

"Political Mysticism and the Legionary Movement in Interwar Romania. A Cognitive Approach. The purpose of this article is to explore the public discourse of the Iron Guard, the often called “exotic” Romanian fascist movement. I will focus especially on the messianic figure of Corneliu Zelea Codreanu, the charismatic leader of the movement, and the long lasting fascination he has exerted in the Romanian public space for more than a century now. The approach taken here is based on Gilles Fauconnier’s and Mark Turner’s conceptual integration theory and it is an attempt to show how by blending various mental spaces, from religious elements to medieval historical characters and events, the movement managed to create a unique mix that seemed to set it apart from other European fascist movements. Its members were extremely young and, by all accounts, genuinely religious, even practicing a type of political „mysticism” that was rather uncommon elsewhere. Keywords: discourse, ideology, cognitive linguistics, mental space, conceptual integration, political religion "

Pro-Ukrainian Memes Against 2022 Russian Invasion A Cognitive Linguistics Perspective

In relation to the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine, memes and Internet jokes haveaspecial status. They work as stress-relievers, information vessels, or Russian propa-ganda resistance. The effectiveness of ameme relies on mingling verbal and visualelements in such away that seemingly unrelated scenarios become relatable and canbe interpreted in agiven context. The text aims at discussing the cognitive mechanismsemployed in chosen pro-Ukrainian memes against the 2022 Russian invasion in termsof their bimodal construal. An analysis of agroup of memes was conducted within thecognitive linguistics framework, with reference to the Conceptual Metaphor Theory,conceptual integration theory (Fauconnier & Turner, 2002), and construal (Langacker,2008, 2019). The creation of memes triggers frameshifting and convergence of dif-ferent mental spaces, which results in online meaning construction, where humorousincongruity derives directly from blending and shows how jokes (about tragedies) maybecome humorous, due to frame substitution.

Лингвокогнитивное моделирование категории "участник дискурса" (на материале интернет-мемов профессиональных сообществ юристов в социальных сетях)

The aim of the research is to identify semantic models of humorous utterances that express the stereotypical ideas of the lawyers’ professional community about the content of the categories of its participants in informal settings. The research methodology integrates two approaches: a critical analysis of discourse and a semantic approach to humour based on scripts by Salvatore Attardo and Victor Raskin. We applied the following analysis model: (1) discursive analysis of texts in accordance with the procedure presented in the papers of foreign and Russian scholars; (2) analysis of humour in accordance with the six-level model of analysis proposed by Attardo; (3) as the research includes transformed statements consisting of a complex of elements and their interrelationships to varying degrees, the methodology is supplemented by the theory of conceptual integration developed by Gilles Fauconnier and Mark Turner. The research methods are: discourse analysis, including standard techniques of communicative-pragmatic and semantic analysis; content analysis, the semantic categories of which are the parameters of the sociocommunicative level of the model, and the units are their typical lexical markers. The data include Internet memes constituting the content of professional legal groups on the social networks Instagram and Facebook. The data include 260 units. The analysis revealed a quantitative predominance in Internet memes expressing the subjects of legal discourse of models based on contrast and referential humour. The semantic dominants actualised in such models coincide with the stereotypical attitudes currently existing in society in relation to the legal community and its professional participants. The uneven distribution of models in accordance with the categories of participants indicates the predominance of reflection in relation to several professional participants – an advocate and a lawyer: intensity of professional activity and high fatigue, prestige of professional status and high social responsibility of professional participants, competence and professionalism (unprofessionalism), complexity and incomprehensibility of the language, high profit. In relation to non-professional participants (client/ accused/ defendant/ respondent/ witness), the stereotypes about their stupidity, greed, arrogance, venality are replicated. Referential models are distinguished by the diversity of the subjects represented and the uniformity of the meanings expressed: the subject’s originality of thinking, cunningness and resourcefulness. Semantic models based on conceptual integration were identified only in relation to professional participants – a lawyer. They actualise such values as professionalism, reliability, competence; stress associated with responsibility at work, danger and charm of the profession, special status; superiority; friendliness; help and superpowers of the professional.

Pojęcie obiektu kwantowego z pespektywy teorii integracji pojęciowej a problem ontologii mikroświata

W artykule wykazano nieadekwatność pojmowania mikroobiektów w kategoriach ontologii substancjalnych bytów jednostkowych i nieredukowalną metaforyczność takich pojęć, jak „cząstka”, „fala” czy „przedmiot indywidualny”. Podjęto próbę skonstruowania pojęcia obiektu kwantowego jako amalgamatu pojęciowego, wykorzystując teorię integracji pojęciowej.

3D与整合：试论概念整合理论的心理现实性

3D与整合：试论概念整合理论的心理现实性

MULTISEMIOTIC PATTERNS OF EMOTIVE MEANING-MAKING IN FILM

The aim of the article is to highlight multisemiotic patterns of emotive meaning making in feature films. The research tasks are: to explore the meaning-making mechanism in a cognitive-pragmatic perspective; to determine the cognitive-semiotic basics of emotive meaning making; and to identify the meaning-making potential of semiotic resources as well as to single out multisemiotic constructive patterns. To reach the aim, we apply an integrative cognitive-pragmatic and cognitive-semiotic approach, which requires the use of discursive and semiotic research methods. In cognitive-pragmatic perspective, we stress the intersubjective interaction of filmmakers and viewers in constructing ‘meaning-in-context’. The cognitive-semiotic vantage point emphasizes dynamic, enactive, and embodied character of meaningmaking in cinematic discourse. Film is a multimodal and multisemiotic phenomenon, where a synergistic combination of verbal, nonverbal, and cinematic semiotic systems constructs the film meaning through audial and visual modes. These semiotically heterogeneous resources – a verbal language, an image, and specific cinematic signs – are blended to construct emotive meaning; and the configurations of these signs determine particular contextual properties of emotions. In film, emotive meaning emerges at the intersection of audial and visual modes as realized by different semiotic resources. Each semiotic resource contains specific meaningful elements characteristic of a certain semiotic resource. Building on the theory of conceptual integration, we claim that emotive meaning in cinematic discourse is a blend constructed by cross-mapping of information from three input spaces corresponding to verbal, nonverbal, and cinematic semiotic resources. The number of blends can be countless as the process of meaningmaking is dynamic and depends upon the communicative situation. The change of any semiotic element may cause the construction of a new meaning demonstrating the emergent character of meaning-making. In semiotic and pragmatic perspectives, we have singled out the combination of semiotic resources along two main criteria: static and dynamic. The static criterion enables to distinguish patterns by parameters of quantity of semiotic resources in a shot, the quality of emotion in each resource, and their salience in film. The dynamic criterion makes it possible to single out the time patterns due to the appearance of each resource on the screen. Accordingly, we argue that there are eight multimodal patterns of semiotic resource configurations, which construct the emotive meaning in cinematic discourse: three-component and two-component, convergent and divergent, parity and non-parity, and synchronous and consecutive patterns. These patterns demonstrate the paradigmatic regulations of combining semiotic resources in cinematic discourse. The peculiarities of emotive meaning-making are illustrated based on the material of the construction of anger in the American drama film “The Beautiful Boy”. Emotive meaning-making in film occurs in two dimensions: material-perceptual and socio-semiotic, as the emotive meaning can be represented physically on the screen, as well as through the implementation of socio-cultural values.