Articles

Conceptual integration as networks of communication

ABSTRACT  

Conceptual integration refers to the highly abstract cognitive operations involved in meaning construction, that is, in how we interpret information in social interaction. The paper deals with the fundamentals of the theory of conceptual integration (blending theory) developed by G.Fauconnier and M.Turner as an alternative to widely spread theory of conceptual metaphor resolved by G.Lakoff and M.Johnson. These abstract operations emerge from a network of cognitive connections that compose the conceptual blending or conceptual integration model, which is dynamically built as we make sense of linguistic forms, extra-linguistic information, non-verbal signs etc. Such operations are carried out in mental spaces. Mental spaces are temporary and localized domains in which conceptual information is projected for meaning construction.  

KEYWORDS 

cognitive linguistics, conceptual integration, mental spaces, emergent structure,  domens