COGNITIVE LINGUISTICS AND MEANING BUILDING THE THEORY OF MENTAL SPACE AS A MODEL
We dedicate this article to research one of the most important linguistic theories represented in cognitive linguistics; The latter, which paid great attention to semantics in its research and studies, and re-inserted it as a basic component parallel to grammar. As a result of these studies, cognitive theories emerged that took upon themselves the study of meaning, its interpretation and consideration of how it is organized between language and mind. It seeks to explain how meaning is constructed and related to context, which it considered a conceptual process, and to study it, it is necessary to take into account the general cognitive principles that contribute to its construction. In this research paper, an attempt is made to search for meaning within the framework of perceptual significance, as well as according to the theory of mental continuity of Gil Fauconnier, in order to answer the following problem: How is meaning studied? How is it constructed in the text/discourse? This will explain the importance of the mechanisms on which the perceptual significance relied to arrive at the intended meaning, in addition to standing on the most important concepts that Fouconiai brought up in the theory of mental continuity. The desired goal behind this research paper is to define the most important mechanisms presented by cognitive linguistics for the study of meaning, in addition to clarifying the importance of experience and context in interpreting meaning.
Keywords: Cognitive Linguistics, Language, Meaning Construction, Context, Mental Space