Windows to the mind

More about the book

Cognitive linguists assert that linguistic structures are deeply influenced by our experiences and perceptions, shaping how we conceptualize them. This volume compiles papers that explore linguistic phenomena reflecting key cognitive processes like metaphor, metonymy, and conceptual blending, which significantly impact linguistic conceptualization. The first section addresses theoretical and methodological issues, including metaphor identification and its relevance to children's understanding. The subsequent sections apply the theoretical frameworks of conceptual metaphor, metonymy, and blending to linguistic data. Contributions critically examine the explanatory potential of these theories, creating connections between them and integrating other approaches such as construction grammar and common ground. They reveal conceptual regularities and cognitive models that influence our language use across various domains. The linguistic structures analyzed range from compounds and premodified noun phrases to constructions and texts, including jokes and political speeches. The methods employed encompass psycholinguistic experiments, analyses of authentic language corpora, and discourse-analytical approaches, providing a comprehensive view of the interplay between language and cognition.