ICONIC ENCODING OF CORPOREALITY IN MODERN ENGLISH

The literature on the unity of emotional, volitional, intellectual, and physical states within the holistic cognitive-semantic context of corporeality shows a variety of approaches. The originality of our solution lies in the fact that the object of the prеsеnt study is the domain of Grеimassian sеmiotic thеory (including the so-called thymic category) that has been further developed: Taking into consideration that people use basic-level concepts regularly, we hypothesised that thymic category members can be selected, given that these category members are yielding information on the semantics of perception in the elementary concepts of Modern English. The data obtained suggests that the information on the thymic category is conveyed by the conceptual triad SENSE : FEELING : EMOTION. Furthermore, cognitive and onomasiological features of the basic-level concepts have been analysed. Thus, the previous research has been extended by clarifying the semiotic structure of the thymic category in Modern English and presenting the results on the distribution of cognitive-onomasiological capability within the framework of derivatives of the verbalized conceptual triad SENSE : FEELING : EMOTION. The iconic character of this conceptual complex is one of the means of naïve worldview reconstruction in word-formation. Notably, the iconic aspect is marked by cognitive-semantic shift of the thymic-neuter indices of the conceptual thymic information to its thymic-extremal analogues. This could be a result of the fact that the shift of a given type is based on the correlation of evaluation of the sign-motivator and expressive-gnoseological functions of perception performed by the native speakers. The reconstruction of the thymic composites domain reveals that the motivators of sensory type prevail. Besides, the cognitive-semantic shift was detected: the motivators are represented by the derivatives of the verbalized concept SENSE, while the concept EMOTION is lacunary, a fortiori the composite words with feel and sensation constituents are semantically more mobile and expressive. Key words: concept, corporeality, iconicity, semiosis, sign.

Multimodal Modeling: Bridging Biosemiotics and Social Semiotics

This paper explores a semiotic notion of body as starting point for bridging biosemiotic with social semiotic theory. The cornerstone of the argument is that the social semiotic criticism of the classic view of meaning as double articulation can support the criticism of language-centrism that lies at the foundation of biosemiotics. Besides the pragmatic epistemological advantages implicit in a theoretical synthesis, I argue that this brings a semiotic contribution to philosophy of mind broadly. Also, it contributes to overcoming the polemic in linguistics between, loosely put, cognitive universalism and cultural relativism. This possibility is revealed by the recent convergence of various semiotic theories towards a criticism of the classic notion of meaning as double articulation. In biosemiotics, the interest to explicate meaning as multiply articulated stems from the construal of Umwelt as relying on the variety of sense perception channels and semiotic systems that a species has at its disposal. Recently, social semiotics developed an unexplored interest for embodiment by starting from the other end, namely the consideration of the modal heterogeneity of meaning. To bridge these notions, I employ the cognitive semantic notion of embodiment and Mittelberg’s cognitive semiotic notion of exbodiment. In light of these, I explore the possible intricacies between the biosemiotic notion of primary modeling system and concepts referring to preconceptual structures for knowledge organization stemming from cognitive linguistics. Further, Mittelberg’s concept of exbodiment allows for a construal of meaning articulation as mediation between the exbodying and embodying directions of mind.

TERMHOOD OF VERBS IN ENGLISH MEDICAL TERMINOLOGY

В статье проведен анализ глаголов, обозначающих различные медицинские процессы, действия и состояния, выявлена степень их терминологичности путем определения их соответствия требованиям, предъявляемым к терминам. Материалом исследования послужили словари и монографии медицинской направленности. Объект исследования - англоязычные глагольные единицы, обозначающие специальные медицинские действия или состояния. Дефиниционный, когнитивный, семантический, словообразовательный, этимологический и сравнительный методы анализа позволили всесторонне описать исследуемые глаголы как языковые единицы, способные к терминологическому функционированию. В настоящей работе на основании семантических, формальных и прагматических требований, предъявляемых к терминам, был проведен анализ специфики глагольных единиц как единиц языка для специальных целей. Исследование показало, что глагольные единицы, обозначающие специальные медицинские процессы, действия и состояния, в полной мере отвечают требованиям терминологичности и реализуют их в медицинском научном тексте. В медицинском дискурсе глаголы проявляют специфические особенности семантической организации обозначаемых ими понятий. Глаголы способны реализовывать терминологическое значение как самостоятельно, так и в сочетании с термином-существительным или прилагательным. Терминологизируясь, глаголы приобретают точное, конкретизированное значение. Некоторые специальные медицинские глаголы могут быть использованы в роли эвфемизмов. Глаголы в роли терминов, подобно терминам-существительным, способны вступать в системные отношения (полисемия, синонимия), образуются при помощи тех же словообразовательных способов, что и термины-существительные, образуются при помощи греко-латинских терминоэлементов, категориально и концептуально связаны с соответствующими терминами-существительными. Глаголы в медицинском дискурсе отражают динамические научные концепты, являются средством сохранения и передачи профессиональной информации. На основе проведенного исследования можно констатировать, что глаголы, функционирующие в медицинском дискурсе, обладают большой степенью терминологичности. Они отвечают классическим требованиям, предъявляемым к терминам. Глаголы также отвечают параметрам, накладываемым современным когнитивным терминоведением. The article analyses English verbs denoting various medical processes, actions and states, reveals their termhood by studying the way they meet requirements for terms. The materials of the study were medical dictionaries and monographs. The verbs denoting medical processes, actions and states became the objects of the investigation. The employed methods of definitional, cognitive, semantic, derivational, etymological, and comparative analyses allowed us to describe the verbs as language units capable of functioning as terms. In the present article the verbs are studied as the elements of the language for special purposes according to the semantic, formal and pragmatic requirements for the terms. The verbs denoting medical processes, actions and states completely meet these requirements and demonstrate them in medical tests. In the medical discourse the verbs manifest the peculiarities of semantic organization of the notions they denote. The verbs can show terminological meaning independently or in a combination with noun or adjective terms. Becoming terms, verbs obtain exact and specificated meaning. Some verbs with medical meaning can be used as euphemisms. Functioning as terms, verbs can enter into systemic relations (like polysemy, synonymy), they are formed by the same word-building methods as noun terms, they are formed from Greek and Latin term elements, the categories and concepts they represent are connected with the ones of corresponding noun terms. Verbs in medical discourse reflect dynamic scientific concepts and are the means to preserve and transfer professional data. The performed analysis demonstrates that the verbs functioning in the medical discourse can be considered as terms. They meet the requirements for terms as well as the requirements of modern cognitive branch of terminology science.

Potentials for grammaticalization

This paper discusses the grammaticalization of motion verbs in Mandarin. A class of motion verbs in Mandarin that regularly appears at either V1 or V2 position in the V1+V2 construction is only grammaticalized at the V2 position, where the verb becomes a directional complement. We provide a cognitive semantic account and propose a new hypothesis that we call the syntactic position and event type sensitivity hypothesis in grammaticalization. We analyze corpus data across five historical stages for 11 simplex directional complements. The analysis draws on Talmy’s macro-event theory and Lehmann’s grammaticalization parameters. It is concluded that motion verbs at the V1 position are most likely to have agentive subjects, which foregrounds the idea of motion in V1, while V2 focuses on the Agent’s purpose. Motion verbs at V2 are relatively more likely to have non-agentive subjects, which foregrounds the Path element in V2 and complements the action of V1, rather than the purpose of the Agent. What triggers the grammaticalization of the V2 is the foregrounding of the Path element in V2, which complements the action of V1, and its non-agentive subject.

Metaphoric and Metonymic Operations for the Iron Expressions

This study uses the word iron as an example to analyze the phenomena of meaning extensions and function shifts from a cognitive semantic perspective. The analysis shows that the meaning extensions of iron, which are systematic and motivated, are present at three word class levels: nouns, adjectives and verbs. The nominal extensions are systematically connected to the parent noun by the metonymy of THE MATERIAL CONSTITUTING AN OBJECT FOR THE OBJECT. The adjectival extensions are motivated by the metonymy of CATEGORY FOR PROPERTY. The verbal extensions are mainly stemmed from the noun extensions and motivated by the metonymy chains of THE MATERIAL CONSTITUTING AN OBJECT FOR THE OBJECT and INSTRUMENT FOR ACTION. The extensions for the phrasal verb iron out are motivated by both the metonymy chains mentioned above and the metaphors of DIFFERENCES ARE WRINKLES, DIFFICULITIES ARE WRINKLES, and PLANS ARE WRINKLES.

The journey of Jephthah’s daughter: On spatial cognition, body and language in Judges 11:37

The traditional literal interpretation of the text in Judges 11:37 shows exceptional variation in topographic depiction. The literal interpretation of Driver, published in Zeitschrift für die Alttestamentliche Wissenschaft, is an example. From a linguistic perspective, no attention was paid whatsoever to the relation of interiority between an objective body and an objective space. This article proposes a cognitive semantic perspective and argues that the motion-path verb ירד (yrd) in Judges 11:37 carries a metaphorical meaning, and the linguistic processing, that is, the metaphorical mapping of the image schematic structure of CHANGE (up-down) as the source domain onto that of BEHAVIOUR as the target domain, involving activation of cultural spatial and bodily systems. With this background in mind, Judges 11:37 represents a new understanding for similar UP-DOWN image schemas applied in the Hebrew Bible.Contribution: This article contributes to the understanding of the apparent ‘inexact’ sense of the use of ירד (yrd) in Judges 11:37.