D. U. Ashurova m. R. Galieva cognitive linguistics

9.1. Method of Cognitive Mapping

Conceptual analysis focuses on the interpretation of the meaning structures representing different features of the concept; identifying the frequency of its taxonomic characteristics; distinguishing its peculiar properties. The main aim of conceptual analysis is generalization of conceptual features of a concept and distinguishing conceptual structures, cognitive models and linguistic schemas.

One of the conceptual methods is the method of constructing a cognitive map or cognitive modelling proposed by E.S. Kubryakova. Cognitive map is constructed on the base of lexicographic definitions of a word representing a definite concept, its associative links and the most common contexts in which it is used. Lexicographic definitions are derived from monolingual, phraseological, etymological dictionaries, as well as dictionaries of synonyms and antonyms.
Associative links are identified with the help of associative dictionaries and thesauruses. As for different knowledge structures associated with a certain concept they can be derived from encyclopedic, mythological, historical, philosophical and cultural sources. It should be mentioned that one of the most important stages of conceptual modelling is reference to the most common contexts of the concept use. For this purpose paremiological units, in particular, proverbs, aphoristic texts, quotations, sayings are to be analyzed. The final stage of the proposed method is appealing to the various genres of the fictional text since the latter plays a crucial role in shaping the conceptual world picture.
Consequently, the method of cognitive mapping is aimed to reveal the cognitive essence of a word-concept, its deep semantics and the implicit layer. E.S. Kubryakova believes that «концептуальный анализ предусматривает поиск общих концептов, которые подведены под один знак и предопределяют бытие знака как когнитивной структуры, что обеспечивает знание о мире. Опираясь на дефиницию концепта, можно построить «когнитивную карту» слова, представляющую собой, во-первых, отражение наиболее употребительных контекстов слова, во-вторых, констатацию всех направлений, по которым идут преобразования семантики слова, и наконец, рекомендацию к более полному лексикографическому представлению значений слова» (Кубрякова, 1991, с.97).
The concept “Word” is one of the universal concepts represented in all societies and cultures, due to the fact that “Word” is an alienable part of languages; the only tool of verbal communication.
As it has been mentioned, the structure of the concept includes the following constituents: 1) notional (factual information, i.e. the basic, essential and distinctive features of the concept); 2) imagery (based on the principle of analogy); 3) evaluative (axiological and cultural significance). A detailed step-by-step procedure of cognitive mapping can be illustrated by the analysis of the concept “Word” (Галиева, 2010).
The first step of the analysis of any concept presupposes the analysis of the notional constituent, i.e. the dictionary meanings of the lexeme that represent the name of the concept, the meanings presented in phraseological units with the component “word”. As our analysis has shown, the dictionary meanings of the lexeme “Word” can be divided into two zones: linguistic, and philosophical.
The linguistic zone is represented by a number of meanings, which can be divided into five large groups: