EIJP ISSN: 2751-000X
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THE TERM "CONCEPT" AS A BASIC CONCEPT OF COGNITIVE SEMANTICS
Sarvinoz Rashidova
Lecturer, Karshi state university, Uzbekistan
AB O U T ART I CL E
Key words:
linguistics, human cognition, concept,
experiences and cultural, cognitive semantics,
embodied.
Received:
17.06.2024
Accepted
: 22.06.2024
Published
: 27.06.2024
Abstract:
Today, there is much debate over the
term cognitive linguistics, and there is no
agreement on what exactly the term means.
According to English linguists, cognitive linguistics
is a branch of linguisticsIn cognitive semantics, the
term "concept" refers to a mental representation
of a category that encompasses a set of related
objects, events, or ideas. Concepts are fundamental
to human cognition and language understanding.
Cognitive semantics emphasizes that the meaning
of words and expressions is grounded in
conceptual structures, which are shaped by our
sensory-motor experiences and cultural context.
INTRODUCTION
According to cognitive semantics, concepts are not just static mental containers
for knowledge, but they are dynamic and flexible, often organized in networks of related concepts.
These networks are interconnected and can vary across individuals and cultures. Moreover, concepts
are often embodied, meaning that they are grounded in bodily experiences and sensorimotor
interactions with the environment.
Cognitive linguists argue that our conceptual system influences how we understand and use language.
For instance, our conceptualizations of spatial relationships, causality, and time can shape the way we
express these ideas through language.
Certainly! In cognitive semantics, concepts are seen as dynamic and context-dependent mental
structures that play a crucial role in shaping our understanding of the world. These concepts are not
isolated entities but are interconnected and organized in a network of relationships. This network
structure allows for flexibility and adaptability in how we categorize and make sense of the world
around us.
Moreover, cognitive semantics emphasizes the embodied nature of concepts, highlighting the
importance of sensory experiences, emotions, and cultural influences in shaping our conceptual system.
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For example, the concept of "love" may be grounded in personal experiences, cultural norms, and even
physiological sensations associated with affection.
By studying concepts from a cognitive perspective, researchers aim to uncover the underlying
mechanisms of human cognition and language processing. Understanding how concepts are formed,
organized, and used can provide valuable insights into how we perceive and interact with the world
through language and thought.Overall, in cognitive semantics, the concept of "concept" is central to
understanding how language and thought are interconnected and how meaning is constructed through
our conceptual systems.Cognitive linguistics has already become one of the leading branches of
linguistics at the beginning of the 21st century. The emergence of modern cognitive linguistics The
services of American scientists J. Miller, J. Bruner, J. Lakoff, R. Jackendoff and others are incomparable
and are studied in connection with their scientific works. Cognitive linguistics connects language with
the theory of knowledge in philosophy, and its creation It is a field of scientific research on the integral
connection of psychological, biological and neurophysiological aspects of education with social, cultural
and linguistic phenomena. The word cognitive itself is taken from the English language and means
"cognize, understand, understand".
Modern linguistics is expanding the boundaries of language research. Cultural linguistics or
linguoculturology is formed as a result of uniting linguistics with related disciplines - first of all, cultural
etiology and ethnography. Comparing different cultures leads to the question of national identity in
language and culture. On the one hand, some aspects of non-linguistic conditions relevant for
representatives of a certain culture are reflected in the language, on the other hand, as the speaker
acquires the language and, in particular, the meanings of the words, he begins to see the world through
his native language and learns the characteristics of a certain culture. .
National characteristics of spiritual culture do not require dependence on the linguistic method of
expression. However, it occupies a special place in it as an important component in the formation,
development and realization of the necessary conditions for spiritual culture. We are talking about the
task of carrying out the inheritance of the spiritual and cultural development of the language. The
mechanisms of inheritance can be explained by analyzing the linguistic environment reflected in the
language.
Understanding the concept of "concept" is carried out according to several directions - cognitive,
psycholinguistic and linguocultural. Within the linguistic and cultural approach, the concept is
interpreted as a complex socio-psychological formation with conceptual, figurative and value
component . In the cultural direction, the concept is considered within the framework of the problem
of "language - mind - culture" from the point of view of its place in the system of ethnic values, the
functional significance of the associations it causes, and also it is studied historically and etymologically.
In this interpretation, the concept appears as a mediator, carrying out the process of interaction
between the individual and the culture. Language serves as a means of encoding certain parts of the
cognitive space, which includes the processing of information of ethno-cultural significance. . Any
concept has a basic layer - a certain emotional image filled with some arbitrary conceptual properties,
which encodes the concept as a mental unit of the universal subject code. Cognitive layers reflect the
development of the concept. Main layer, additional the generality of cognitive features and cognitive
layers forms the framework of understanding and determines its structure. The main cognitive layer
with a sensorimotor core is a mandatory component.
Thinking about the meaning of the concept of "language" leads to non-verbal languages: the language
of gestures, facial expressions, signals, the language of signs and symbols. The specific meaning of this
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word also appears in figurative use: the language of art (in turn, the language of visual arts, the language
of music, the language of choreography; another analogy is the language of artistic language (color of
lines, etc.), the language of musical language (sound, timbre, tempo and etc.), choreography is the
language of language (movement, etc.)) The tendency to further analysis leads to deepening and the
emergence of new languages: the language of colors, the language of tones, etc. The tendency of the
language of science to analyze gives us the language of mathematics, the language of geometry - the
language of the language of mathematics (numbers, formulas...) -» etc. Thus, the structure of the concept
of "language" takes the form of an "atom" within the framework of "linguistic" influence.
The relationship between language and thought is an eternally complex issue of both linguistics and
philosophy. For the first time, the view that language is not only a means of communication, but an
important condition of the thinking process was clearly formulated by V. Humboldt: "Language is a
member that creates thought... mental activity and language therefore form a whole." . At the same time,
Humboldt mentioned the determining role.
E. Sepir approved a different opinion: the boundaries of language and thinking do not cross in a strict
sense. At best, language can be said to be only the outer edge of symbolic expression at the highest
general level. Our view of the nature of language can be given again as follows: language, in its entirety,
fulfills the function of thought. It obediently follows the train of thought, its structure and form are
hidden and can be revealed only in certain situations; language is not, in the end, a label relying on
ready-made thought, regardless of the admittedly
simplistic view.” .
B. L. Whorf recognizes language not only in different types of human activities, special cases of language
use, but also in its permanent general laws and daily evaluation of one or another event. The basis of
any language system (in other words, grammar), according to the author, is not simply a tool that
creates thought, on the contrary, grammar itself forms thought, it is a program that controls the thinking
ability of an individual through imagination and analysis of its synthesis. .
According to A.A. Potebnya, there is no language without concept, but it is also impossible to express
the concept without words, even the most expressive gestures cannot fully illuminate the essence of the
concept. The emergence of language and its relationship to thought, according to Becker, - to call
language an organism, according to Humboldt - means to reconcile the contradictions between speech
and concept, subject and object, inseparable and public, humanity and divinity, which are present in
language. According to A.A. Potebnya, if we call consciousness in the sense of conscious mental activity,
we can see that consciousness exists without language. not because it is itself formed by language, and
in it language is primary in terms of time .
Today, this issue is seen differently by linguists. For example, M.K.Mamardashvili and A.M.Pyatigorsky,
while focusing on the issue of language and thinking, mention such concepts as the structure of thinking,
the form of thinking, metathinking: "Thinking and language in their natural state are only imaginations
(we call them metasubjects nouns) can occur only in the context of the creation of ideas about these
objects. That is, thought exists because there is something about it. Language exists because there is
something about it. These metathoughts work because there are elements that are at the same time
signs of the existence of that object, but can also be given in absolute objective form in the form of
objects or objectifications" . Scientists note that when it comes to consciousness, we should not impose
the linguistic form of consciousness on the domain of consciousness. We cannot say, "Where there is
language, there is consciousness." As we use language according to the concept of our mind, this concept
interprets conditional symbols. The authors argue that consciousness cannot be understood through
linguistic analysis of text, and that some structures of linguistic thought depend more on its absence
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than its presence. Considering the field of consciousness itself as a mipheme, the hypothesis of the
emergence of the field of perception as a "universal observer" in relation to a worldly phenomenon, a
worldly object, becomes known. The authors explain the term "state of perception" as follows: "The
state of a person who does not understand is a state of consciousness, if he understands - this is a state
of perception, if he understands something - this is a state of consciousness, if he does not understand
something -
this is also a state of perception” . The
structure of perception can be called the content, it
can also be called the form - it comes from the abstraction of the situation: "The structure of perception
is a meaningful fixed location of the "place of perception" from the point of view of the field of
consciousness" . The authors' conclusion is important for us: "Consciousness does not have a "language"
for itself, but it has a "language" for the psyche, and this language is the language of symbols." .
Summarizing the above-mentioned points, it should be noted that in the ideas of V. Humboldt and E.
Sepir-Whorf, the "legitimate" role belongs to language, because it determines the direction of the
"structural division of nature" and promotes one or another form of thinking based on its structure.
M.K.Mamardashvili and D.M.Pyatigorsky introduce the concepts of reflection and note that thought and
language are conditioned by the existence of some ideas (metaobjects) about the objects themselves
(metathought, metalanguage).
In any case, it is quite clear that the mere specialization of language as a means of communication is not
sufficient to explain its existence. The ethnic language and its history are inseparable from the ethnos
and its history, because ethnic manifestations cannot compete with the continuity of expression in
universality and the support of ethnic characteristics for centuries and even millennia. It is this aspect
that prompted the emergence of ethnolinguistics, a relatively new branch of linguistics.
Summarizing the above-mentioned views, points of view and opinions, we found it necessary to
emphasize the following. Summarizing the opinions expressed about the relationship between the
ethnic language on the one hand, and the ethnic culture and perception of the world on the other hand,
he emphasizes as follows:
1. While recognizing the inevitable connection between language and culture in the broad sense, the
causal nature of such connection is denied.
2. This relationship is classified as a cause-and-effect relationship, but different, often polar solutions
are offered;
a) culture, its type, even lifestyle in general is determined by language, its grammar and content (early
works of E. Sepir, B. Whorf, etc.);
b) language cannot determine the type of culture, language and culture cannot be compared (later
works of E. Sepir);
v) language is considered a "guide" for knowing reality to a limited extent (O.S. Akhmanova and others);
g) the language itself is determined by the type of culture and depends on it (K. Fossler, V. Schmidt, I.
Ya. Marr, etc.);
d) language, like culture, is determined by the ethnic "view of the world", the spirit of the people and its
national character.
Interpreting the relationship between language and culture is an extremely complex task. Language,
thought, culture - these are phenomena that are always in motion, changing. It is necessary to stop them
in order to learn them. But it's that "language" now. "thought". There will be no "culture", or rather, they
will not exist: they will remain dead, motionless, separated from each other.
It is impossible to determine which thing was primary, but the fact is that there is no ethnos without
language, and with the death of language, both ethnos and culture will perish!
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The decay of any culture always occurs in exactly one way - through the isolation of cultural elements,
that is, when symbolism leaves life as a result of changes in living conditions, language as an isolated
element of culture also perishes at the same time. .
Thus, language, thought and culture are so closely connected that in practice they form a whole state
consisting of three components. none of these components can function (and therefore function)
without the other two components. All of them together interact with the surrounding world, reflect it
and shape it at the same time. In doing so, they create phenomena called worldscapes.
Cognition is studied in linguistics in connection with the unconscious mind, div, natural phenomena,
and changes in the world. Cognitive processes are manifested in our mind, div movement, and also in
our social and physical world. The science that studies the cognitive activity that occurs in Falcafa is
now widely used in all scientific fields related to cognition. Due to the connection between language,
consciousness and thinking, it has become one of the most important research areas of linguistics. At
its center is "language-cognitiveness", which implies that language has a fundamental relationship in
the systematic study of language from a cognitive point of view. In cognitive linguistics, language is
considered as an integrative part of incon thought.
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