Концепт как основное понятие когнитивной лингвистики

Xorijiy lingvistika va lingvodidaktika

–

Зарубежная

лингвистика

и

лингводидактика

–

Foreign

Linguistics and Linguodidactics

Journal home page:

https://inscience.uz/index.php/foreign-linguistics

Concept as a basic notion of cognitive linguistics

Zulifar TURSUNOVA

1

Fergana State University

ARTICLE INFO

ABSTRACT

Article history:

Received June 2024

Received in revised form

10 July 2024

Accepted 25 July 2024

Available online

25 August 2024

This article provides a comprehensive overview of the
concept and its various types within Cognitive Linguistics. The

concept is regarded as one of the key notions in Cognitive
Linguistics, Linguoculturology, Linguoconceptology, and other

linguistic disciplines within the anthropocentric paradigm.

2181-

3701/© 2024 in Science LLC.

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.47689/2181-3701-vol2-iss2

/S

-pp251-254

This is an open-access article under the Attribution 4.0 International

(CC BY 4.0) license (

https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/deed.ru

)

Keywords:

“concept”,

main notion,

Cognitive Linguistics,

Linguoculturology,

Linguoconceptology,

anthropocentric paradigm,

the most controversial

issues,

types of the concept.

Konsept

–

kognitiv lingvistikaning asosiy tushunchasi

sifatida

ANNOTATSIYA

Kalit so‘zlar

:

“konsept”,

asosiy tushuncha,

kognitiv lingvistika,

lingvokulturologiya,

lingvokonseptologiya,

antropotsentrik paradigma,

eng munozarali masalalar,

tushuncha turlari.

Ushbu maqolada kognitiv lingvistikadagi “konsept”ga oid

barcha umumiy ma'lumotlar va kontseptsiya turlari berilgan.
Kognitiv tilshunoslik, lingvokulturologiya, lingvokonseptologiya

va antropotsentrik paradigmaning boshqa lingvistik fanlarining
asosiy tushunchalaridan biri hisoblanadi.

1

Student of master's degree, Fergana State University. E-mail: zilufar.00@gmail.com

Xorijiy lingvistika va lingvodidaktika

–

Зарубежная лингвистика

и лингводидактика

–

Foreign Linguistics and Linguodidactics

Special Issue

–

2 (2024) / ISSN 2181-3701

252

Концепт

как

основное

понятие

когнитивной

лингвистики

АННОТАЦИЯ

Ключевые слова:

«концепт», основное

понятие, когнитивная

лингвистика,

лингвокультурология,

лингвоконцептология,

антропоцентрическая

парадигма, наиболее

спорные вопросы, типы

концепта.

В данной статье представлены общие сведения и виды

концепта в когнитивной лингвистике. Концепт считается

одним из ключевых понятий когнитивной лингвистики,
лингвокультурологии, лингвоконцептологии и других

лингвистических

дисциплин

антропоцентрической

парадигмы.

The notion of “concept” is considered to be one of the main notions of Cognitive

Linguistics, Linguoculturology, Linguoconceptology, and other linguistic disciplines of the

anthropocentric paradigm. Yet, it remains one of the most controversial issues in Cognitive
Linguistics. First and foremost, the question that causes a lot of confusion for those

involved in the field is understanding the concept. Many definitions exist presented in the
works by foreign and Russian scientists such as M. Heidegger, G. Lakoff, G. Picht, G.V.

Alefirenko, N.D. Arutyunova, S.A. Askoldov, A.P. Babushkin, G.I. Berestenev, E.S.
Kubryakova, D.S. Likhachev, et al., who outline both differences and some common traits

of this notion.

There are two approaches to the problem of concept: cognitive and cultural. As

E.S.Kubryakova states, the concept is an umbrella term for several scientific directions:
first of all for cognitive psychology and cognitive linguistics dealing with thinking and

cognition, storing and transferring information, as well as for cultural linguistics, which
focuses on the relationships between language and culture (

КСКТ

, 1996).

From the positions of cognitive linguistics “concept” is considered a complex mental

unit, a means of representation of knowledge structures, a multifold cognitive structure,

and an operational unit of memory (Kubryakova E.S., Demyankov V.Z., Boldirev N.N.,
Alefirenko N.F., Sternin I.A.). Cognitive linguists argue that concept is a part of our general

knowledge about the world, a unit of the conceptual system reflecting human cognitive
activity. According to Sh. Safarov's concept is a means of systematizing knowledge in the

form of frames, scripts, scenarios, and gestalt.

From the perspectives of linguoculturology “concept” is defined as a basic unit of

culture, its core; a mental, cultural, and nationally specific unit characterized by an array
of emotional, expressive, and evaluative components; a constituent part of the national

conceptosphere (Stepanov Yu.S., Arutyunova N.D., Karasik V.I., Slishkin G.G., Vorkachyov
S.G., Pimenova M.V.).

Despite some differences in approaches, as V.I. Karasik points out, the "lingiocultural

and cognitive approaches to the notion of the concept are not mutually exclusive: concept

as a mental unit in the mind of the individual provides access to the concept sphere of the
society, while the cultural concept is a unit of the collective cultural experience; it becomes

the cultural property of the individual (Karasik, 2004, p.135). So, a concept is a complex
mental entity, a component of the conceptual world picture conceptually relevant either

to an individual linguistic personality or the whole linguocultural community.

Xorijiy lingvistika va lingvodidaktika

–

Зарубежная лингвистика

и лингводидактика

–

Foreign Linguistics and Linguodidactics

Special Issue

–

2 (2024) / ISSN 2181-3701

253

One of the main problems concerning the notion of “concept” is the differentiation

of the terms: concept, notion, and meaning. It should be noted, that:

1) phraseological units: the happy day, the happy event, happy place, not be a happy

camper, as happy as a clam, as happy as a clam in butter sauce, as happy as a duck in

Arizona, as happy as a pig in clover, as happy as a pig in muck, as happy as a sandboy, as
happy as Larry, as happy as the day is long, a few fries short of a Happy Meal, a happy

bunny, a happy hunting ground, as happy as a clam at high tide, fat and happy, happy as a
lark, happy-go-lucky, many happy returns;

2) proverbs and sayings: Happy is the country which has no history; call no man

happy till he dies happy; Happy is the bride that the sun shines on; Happiness is not a horse,

you cannot harness it; real happiness is found not in doing the things you like to do, but in
liking the things you have to do; Happiness is a form of courage; Happiness multiplies as

we divide it with others; The happiness in your pocket, don't spend it all; He who plants a
garden plants happiness;

3) quotations and aphorisms: Happiness is like a butterfly; the more you chase it,

the more it will elude you, but if you turn your attention to other things, it will come and

sit softly on your shoulder (Henry David Thoreau); Happiness comes when you believe in
what you are doing, know what you are doing, and love what you are doing (Brian Tracy);

The secret of happiness is to admire without desiring (Carl Sandburg); Happiness is a habit
- cultivate it (Elbert Hubbard); Happiness cannot be traveled to, owned, earned, or worn.

It is the spiritual experience of living every minute with love, grace and gratitude (Denis
Waitley); Happiness is like manna; it is to be gathered in grains, and enjoyed every day. It

will not keep; it cannot be accumulated; nor have we got to go out of ourselves or into
remote places to gather it, since it has rained down from a Heaven, at our very door (Tryon

Edwards).

4) texts: a fragment of the text or the entire text (f.e. “The Happy Man” by

S.Maugham; “The Happy Prince” by O.Wilde); this issue is the subject of frequent debate,

and there are different approaches and views. Not going into detail, we shall give some

considerations worked out based on the linguistic literature.

The term “concept” came into linguistic usage from logic, where it is regarded as a

synonym of the term “notion”. In modem logic “concept” is defined as «an integral complex
of the object’s qualities» (Арутюнова, 1998). In the dictionary «Логический

Словарь

-

Справочник» by

N.I. Kondakov the word “concept” is not defined: the reference to the

“notion” is given instead, which leads to a conclusion that in logic the terms “concept” and

“notion” are identical in their meaning.

However, in linguistics, concepts in contrast to notions (a set of the most essential

features of an object or phenomenon), are considered to be a more complex and “multi

-

dimensional semantic formation” (Karasik, 2004, p.71). In other words, the structure

of a

concept includes the components not found in notions. Moreover, most concepts are
marked by the national-cultural specifics. Therefore, not all notions can be regarded as

concepts "but only the most complex and important ones, without which it is difficult to
imagine the given culture" (Maslova, 2004, p.27).

As for the difference between the notions of “concept” and “meaning”, one of the

most acknowledged views is that “the concept is much broader than the lexical meaning”

(

Аскольдов

, 1997). M.V. Pimenova describes the relationship between meaning and

concept as follows: “The components of the lexical meaning express only significant

Xorijiy lingvistika va lingvodidaktika

–

Зарубежная лингвистика

и лингводидактика

–

Foreign Linguistics and Linguodidactics

Special Issue

–

2 (2024) / ISSN 2181-3701

254

conceptual features, but not in a full measure… The structure of the concept is much more
complicated and multifaceted than the lexical meaning of the word” (Пименова

, 2004, p.

7). According to N.N. Boldyrev, “meaning is an attempt to give a general idea of the concept,
to outline its boundaries, to represent just a part of its characteristics” (Болдырев

, 2004,

p.26). Z.D. Popova and I.A. Sternin underline the differences of the terms stating that they
represent different sides of consciousness and thinking

. According to them “meaning and

concept are the products of different kinds of consciousness. The concept is a product of

human’s cognitive consciousness while meaning represents linguistic consciousness”

(

Попова

,

Стернин

, 2007, p.92). The scholar claims that the concept includes not only

known to everydiv meanings of the word but also sociocultural information,

and encyclopedic knowledge of the object or phenomenon (

Попова

,

Стернин

, 2007, p.99-

100).

Another distinctive feature of concept in contrast to “notion” and “meaning” is its

interlevel verbalization. In other words, the idea is externalized with the help of various

linguistic means referring to different linguistic levels. It can be expressed by words,
derivatives, phraseological units, sayings, aphorisms, and even texts. For example, the

concept of Happiness is represented by:

1. lexical units: happiness, contentment, pleasure, contentedness, satisfaction,

cheerfulness, merriment, joy, joyfulness, joviality, jolliness, glee, gladness, delight,
enjoyment, felicity;

2. word-formation units: happily, unhappily, unhappy, unhappy, hippy-happy,

dollar-happy, slap-happy, battle-happy, gadget-happy, queue-happy, trigger-happy.

Thus, summarizing the linguistic data concerning the problem of “concept” and its

definitions, we can make the following generalizations:

●

concept is a multifold cognitive structure, an operational unit of memory;

●

concept is a basic unit of processing, keeping, and conveying knowledge and a

means of presenting knowledge structures about the surrounding world;

●

concept is a social formation; a cultural and nationally specific unit; a fundamental

notion of culture;

●

concept is a multifold mental structure consisting of notional, image-bearing, and

evaluative constituents;

●

concept is characterized by a string of emotional, expressive components and

associative links;

●

concept is a minimal unit of human experience externalized using interlevel

linguistic units.

FOYDALANILGAN ADABIYOTLAR RO’YXATI:

1. Маслова В. А. Когнитивная лингвистика. –

Минск: Тетра Системс, 2004. –

256

c.

2. Сафаров Ш. С. Когнитив тилшунослик. –

Самарқанд: Сангзор нашриёти,

2006.

–

92 б.

3. Попова З. Д., Стернин И. А. Когнитивная лингвистика. –

М.: Восток Запад,

2007.

–

314 с.

4. Антология концептов / под ред. В.И. Карасика, И.А. Стернина. Т. 1. Волгоград,

2005

5. Болдырев Н. Н. Когнитивная семантика: курс лекций по английской

филологии. Тамбов: Изд

-

во Тамб. ун

-

та, 2001.