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1. The notion of Cognitive Linguistics

1.1. The object, general aims and general objectives of cognitive linguistic research

1.2. The phenomenon of Concept. Differentiating the notions ‘meaning’, ‘notion’ and ‘concept’, interpreting their correlation

1.3. Factors which stipulate formation of Concept

1.4. The subject and the objectives stipulated by the peculiarity of the former

2. Prerequisites of forming and stages of developing cognitive linguistic research

4. Approaches to studying Concept

3. Connections of Cognitive Linguistics with other sciences stipulated by the object of the research

Cognitive conceptualization and categorization as mechanisms of processing experience and producing language knowledge

Correlation of Conceptual and Language Pictures of the World 6. Concept in forming World Picture. Differentiating Conceptual and Language Pictures of the World

Differentiating Objective and Subjective Semantics

5. Structure of Concept.

Linguistic Representative / Name

Home and Occidental approaches to classifying concepts

7. Empirical Methods of studying Concept

Method of Associative Experiment

Method of Conceptual Analysis

The method of complex psycholinguistic speech analysis

8. Prognoses for future research

Tendencies

Gender

1. The problem of defining object and subject of Cognitive Linguistics

1.1. The object, general aims and general objectives of cognitive linguistic research

As long as it takes its birth on the joint of mainly the two sciences (Cognitive Psychology and Linguistics), Cognitive Linguistics must have its object and subject corresponded with the ones of the two mentioned. Its object and subject must not be mixed up with them, however.

TABLE 2

Stipulation of the object and the subject of Cognitive Linguistics defining

Science	Object	Subject
Linguistics	Language as a system of language signs fixed in speech	Linguistic processes of language organization and its function in speech
Cognitive Psychology	Man’s psychic cognitive activity as a form of getting, organizing, processing and remembering knowledge	Mental processes of organizing knowledge in human memory; peculiarities of the correlation of verbal and image components in the processes of remembering and thinking
Cognitive Linguistics	Language and cognition (mind) as a fundamental unity of language knowledge	Processing knowledge by thinking, operating it in cognition and its language form of realization

Notion: Cognitive Linguistics concerns knowledge that is processed by our cognition and has the language form when it comes out. It emphasizes appearing, mastering and using language knowledge.

So, as the object of cognitive linguistic research Language Knowledge can be distinguished.

The aim is defined in theoretical and practical aspects:

1. To study what Man can achieve by means of language and how.

2. To comprehend how Men’s language knowledge about the world is formed, kept and how it is structured in the process of communication.

Its objectives:

1. To understand what the role of language in the processes of cognition and comprehension of the world is.

2. To clear how conceptual and language systems, cognitive structures and language units, are correlated.

3. To ascertain how language participates in the processes of receiving, processing and transforming information.

4. To realize and describe means and methods of language categorization and cultural constants conceptualization.

5. To find the way how to describe the system of universal (many-sided, multi-purpose) concepts that organize sphere of concepts.

6. To solve the problem of correlating the Science, Naive and Language Pictures of the World.

1.2. The phenomenon of Concept. Differentiating the notions ‘meaning’, ‘connotation’, ‘notion’ and ‘concept’, interpreting their correlation

Human in their activity interact with surrounding reality, internal (psychological reality of a personality) and external (reality that surrounds a person or a society). In this interactivity we get some experience, process it (categorize and conceptualize), work out knowledge and materialize it in a language form. The most valuable things become conceptual and serve the ground to the World Picture foundation, which stipulates our behaviour.

Displays of reality, objects / things / phenomena of the world around us and inside us reflected by human cognition are called references. When get in contact with references our cognition react to them – reflect them; we learn / cognize references: distinguish, value, analyze, categorize, conceptualize and keep in memory as certain new cognitive constructs – ‘bricks of knowledge’.

To present certain knowledge for other people, to communicate we denote corresponded references, give them linguistic names. Thus, Language Signs appear – certain substitutes of references; they substitute references in our cognition and also, materially, in the process of communication, they mean some things / references for men. Meaning is the idea that a Language Sign represents. We imply some meanings whilst using words in the process of communication.

Summarizing and integrating knowledge about essential signs of a reference results in appearing a notion. Notion is the total sum of cognized essential signs of a reference; it includes necessary, essential signs.

Getting in contact with reality a man feels different emotions; thus, meanings of references get also different connotative meanings. Connotation is a certain additional emotional meaning – an idea, emotional coloring suggested by a Language Sign in addition to its meaning (-s). It varies in accordance to the World Picture of a person, group, society or culture.

Integration of different meanings (lexical, connotative, grammatical, notional) of a reference or integration of different knowledge about it (a reference) results in appearing a conceptual idea about the reference – a concept. Concept implies an idea appeared in the result of collision of a man’s personal mental experience and a word’s different meanings fixed in a particular language of a particular culture.