Cognitive Semantics

The paper addresses the main questions to be dealt with by any semantic theory which is committed to provide an explanation of how meaning is possible. On one side the paper argues that the resources provided by the development of mathematical logic, theoretical computer science, cognitive psychology, and general linguistics in the 20th Century, however indispensable to investigate the structure of language, rely on the existence of end products in the morphogenesis of meaning. On the other, the paper argues that philosophy of language, which, either in the analytic or the structuralist or the hermeneutical tradition, made little use of such resources (when they are not simply rejected). Left the main question unanswered. Though phenomenology intended to focus on the constitutive process, it ended up mostly with philology. Cognitive semantics paved the way to focus on patterns of bodily interaction within the natural environment out of which basic schemes emerge and are metaphorically “lifted” to any universe of discourse. The explanatory commitment is thus endorsed through two hypotheses: (1) these schemes, of topological and kinaesthetic structure, determine the range of forms of atomic sentences of any natural language, and (2) the category-theoretic notion of universality allows for a proper analysis of how such schemes are “lifted”.

The concept of conceptual blending builds upon Fauconnier's theory of "mental spaces", which suggests that understanding meaning is not simply derived from comprehending words and sentences alone but involves constructing meaning, referred to as conceptualization. Although Fauconnier presented his theory, Turner linked meaning-making to conceptual metaphors. Ultimately, their collaboration revealed that certain semantic issues align with neither perspective. As a result, they developed the theory of conceptual blending, which facilitates the creation of new meanings, provides global insight, and enables conceptual compression for memory retention and manipulation of scattered domains of meaning. Conceptual blending is a mental operation that leads to the creation of new meanings, global insights, and conceptual compression for memory and manipulation of dispersed domains of meaning. The nature of the operation involves creating a partial match between two input mental spaces to selectively explore a new "blended" mental space and dynamically develop the emergent structure. Mental spaces are small conceptual packets constructed during thinking and speaking to enable understanding and practical action. They are highly detailed sets containing elements structured by cognitive frameworks and models. The purpose of this descriptive-analytical research was to answer the following question:  How has conceptual blending been employed in studying embodied metaphors in Surah Al-Hashr? To this end, the article attempts to evaluate the effectiveness of conceptual blending theory in the embodied metaphors of Surah Al-Hashr. These metaphors, derived from human bodily experiences, expand into non-physical, abstract, and intangible spaces, emphasizing the importance of emerging concepts in understanding and interpreting God's intended meaning. The study's findings indicate how the expansion of concepts and linguistic thought in Surah Al-Hashr's seven verses (2, 9, 10, 13, 14, 18, and 19) begins with bodily experiences and progresses through blended spaces. This ultimately challenges and analyzes cognitive processes, thus influencing the worldview of the audience.

Metaphor shapes our language as well as our thoughts by grounding the concepts related to our body within an experiential framework in which we can accommodate abstract concepts. Being aware of their underlying structure and mastering them are believed to be integral in developing metaphoric competence and communicative competence in a second language. Body-related metaphors are among the prevalent, yet under-researched metaphors of Persian that can pose substantial challenges for foreign learners of Persian. This study explores the body-related metaphor constructions utilizing Lakoff and Johnson’s conceptualizations in Persian language that can be problematic for learners of Persian. It was found that the Persian body metaphors are relatively rich and pervasive. In many cases, Persian speakers tend to use different metaphors as a kind of hyperbole to show the repetition and/or significance of a phenomenon or concept (both negatively and positively). It was also suggested that the primary function of metaphors in Persian could be explained based on the narrowing and expanding of meaning. The findings suggested that while systematicity is universal, there are also differences among the metaphor structures cross-linguistically and cross-culturally. The results could also provide another evidence for cognitivists’ claim that the conceptual system by which we understand and communicate (about/with) the world around us is mostly metaphorical. Finally, the significance and implications of studies of this nature for the learning and teaching of Persian as a second/foreign language were discussed.

The semantic analysis of Qur’anic vocabulary has emerged as a significant area of study in recent years. In the Holy Qur’an, God specifically uses the phrase mītẖāqā gẖalīẓā (a firm covenant) to describe the marriage agreement, warranting a semantic investigation to understand the reasoning behind this choice. This study adopts a qualitative approach to explore why this phrase was selected for the marriage covenant. It employs historical, descriptive, and cognitive analyses of the phrase. The term mītẖāqā gẖalīẓā appears three times in the Qur’an: first, in reference to God’s covenant with the prophets (Al-Ahzab: 7); second, regarding God’s covenant with the people of Israel (An-Nisaa’: 154); and third, in the context of marriage (An-Nisaa’: 21). Through historical semantics, the study traces the semantic evolution of mītẖāq . Using descriptive semantics, it analyzes the phrase contextually and examines its paradigmatic and syntagmatic dimensions to uncover its semantic features and components. Furthermore, by applying the principle of authenticity of Qur’anic terms within cognitive semantics, the study concludes that no synonym or alternative phrase adequately conveys the profound semantic depth and layers of mītẖāqā in the given contexts.

This research explores metaphors of temporal concepts within the novel "The Fig Tree of Temples," utilizing cognitive semantics regarding time. This concept manifests in concrete representations of places and objects in literature and poetry, rendering temporal concepts objective and comprehensible. The study employed a qualitative approach to examine metaphors associated with temporal concepts, dividing the analysis into primary and secondary temporal concepts understood through cognitive semantics. The novel was authored by Mahmoud in 1979. The investigation focused on identifying source and target terms within the metaphors of temporal concepts, assessing their frequency, and analyzing the sentences that featured these temporal concept mappings. Ultimately, a total of 1137 mappings were identified and categorized into 12 domains of source and target metaphorical concepts related to temporal concepts, following the theoretical framework established by Evans and Green (2006). The findings indicated that temporal concepts-motion mappings, particularly those related to temporal concepts sequence, exhibited the highest frequency, while observer-motion temporal mappings were the least frequent. Additionally, the occurrence of primary temporal concepts was found to be lower than that of secondary temporal concepts. The implications of findings are expected to enhance readers' comprehension of novels that incorporate metaphorical representations of temporal concepts, thereby fostering a semantic understanding of narrative coherence.