The systematic structure of thought

Does the systematic structure found in language reflect a systematic structure within our conceptual system? Cognitive linguists certainly think so. Cognitive linguists explore the hypothesis that certain kinds of linguistic expressions provide evidence that the structure of our conceptual systems is reflected in the patterns of language. Moreover, as we will see throughout this book, the way the mind is structured can be seen as a reflection, in part, of the way the world (including our sociocultural experience) is structured and organised. Consider the examples in (11).

These examples relate to the abstract conceptual domains of TIME (11a), QUANTITY (11b) and AFFECTION (11c). A conceptual domain is a body of knowledge within our conceptual system that contains and organises related ideas and experiences. For example, the conceptual domain of TIME might relate a range of temporal concepts including Christmas, which is a temporal event. Notice that in each sentence in (11) the more abstract concepts Christmas, number (of shares) and friendship are understood in terms of conceptual domains relating to concrete physical experience. For instance, Christmas is conceptualised in terms of the domain of physical MOTION, which is evident in the use of the word approaching in (11a). Clearly Christmas (and other temporal concepts) cannot literally be said to undergo motion. Similarly, the notion of number of shares is conceptualised in terms of VERTICAL ELEVATION, which is clear from the use of the phrase gone up in (11b). Finally, friendship is conceptualised in terms of PHYSICAL PROXIMITY in (11c), which is shown by the use of the word close.

One of the major findings to have emerged from studies into the human conceptual system is that abstract concepts are systematically structured in terms of conceptual domains deriving from our experience of the behaviour of physical objects, involving properties like motion, vertical elevation and physical proximity (Lakoff and Johnson 1980, 1999). It seems that the language we use to talk about temporal ideas such as Christmas provides powerful evidence that our conceptual system ‘organises’ abstract concepts in terms of more concrete kinds of experiences, which helps to make the abstract concepts more readily accessible.

اخر الاخبار

اخبار العتبة العباسية المقدسة

العتبة العباسية المقدسة تكرم المشاركين في مشروع مقرأة العميد الرقمية

تقديم محاضرة عن عالم الأرقام في القرآن الكريم ضمن حفل إطلاق مشروع مقرأة العميد

ضمن فعاليات إطلاق مقرأة العميد الرقمية.. عرض فيديو توثيقي عن فكرة المشروع

جامعة تكنولوجيا المعلومات: مشروع مقرأة العميد منصة رقمية متكاملة لتعليم القرآن الكريم وتلاوته وحفظه

المزيد

الآخبار الصحية

عرض شائع على الأصابع.. قد يكشف سرطان الرئة مبكرا

7 مشروبات طبيعية لتقليل التوتر والقلق

دراسة: "خطر مبكر" يهدد صحة الأطفال

الجوز أو الفول السوداني.. أيهما يتفوّق في حماية القلب؟

المزيد

الآخبار التكنلوجية

مفاجأة علمية عن الإنجاب.. كم طفلا يطيل عمر المرأة؟

استطلاع يكشف "الأكثر قلقا" من تأثر الوظائف بالذكاء الاصطناعي

هل يمنحك تناول الجزر يوميا سمرة طبيعية؟

إنجاز طبي تاريخي.. جراحة قلب بلا شق في الصدر

المزيد

مواضيع ذات صلة

An illustration of mental space construction

Roles and values

The Access Principle

Counterparts and connectors

Mental space lattices

Properties and relations

Elements

Space builders

The architecture of mental space construction

Towards a cognitive theory of meaning construction

Meaning construction in cognitive semantics

Sentence meaning in formal semantics