Cognitive Linguistics in the Centre for Cognitive Programs and Technologies
Cognitive linguistics, as well as cognitive psychology and artificial intelligence modeling, is a core science in a cognitive cycle. From the very beginning the cognitive linguistics declared itself as an interdisciplinary science, which recognizes the fact that the scientific community faces serious problems that can’t be solved by one science. Cognitive psychology, linguistics, artificial intelligence modelling and information theory became the main sciences engaged in the solution of perception, thinking, knowledge crunching and storage problems.
Although cognitive linguistics in Russia appeared in the end of the 20th century, it is possible to consider the onomasiological direction in Russian linguistics its older version. The importance of linguistics in cognitive sciences is stipulated mainly by the significant role of language in our society and by the fact that the language is closely connected with human consciousness. Language provides access to all human’s operations with information. Language objectifies thinking processes and serves as the direct material proof of their existence and the cognitive mechanism necessary for a human’s adaptation in the environment.
The research areas in cognitive linguistics direction are the following:
• Cognitive basis of oral discourse, participation in the Russian language corpus development (creation of the verbal speech subsection);
• Cognitive semantics, cognitive analysis of subject names;
• Cognitive neology, conceptual bases of semantic innovations, cognitive modeling in lexicon and phraseology;
• Cognitive lexicography, cognitive word-formation, development of cognitive dictionaries;
• Non-verbal semiotics;
• Psycholinguistics, cognitive bases of children's speech;
• Linguistic creativity (within social cognition research);
• Cognitive categorization of agentive nominal.
The scientists in the Centre for Cognitive Programs and Technologies work in the field of "cognitive linguistics" (prof. V. I. Zabotkina and prof. E. M. Pozdnyakova). They have elaborated the principles of conceptual analysis of semantic structure of the word within the change of its meaning. They have also defined the main types of metaphoric and metonimyc projection, the cornerstone of conceptual structure of the word in the new meaning development. Moreover, they achieved tangible results in elaborating conceptual integration principles and their interrelation with conceptual metaphor. Our scientists defined the role of individual pragmatic inferences in the process of using a word in a new unusual context. In the field of cognitive word formation they developed cognitive categorization of agentive nominal on the basis of “propositional analysis as conceptual and cognitive analysis” method. They also elaborated cognitive description of prefixal nouns and compound words.
