COGNITIVE LINGUISTICS AND THE CONSTRUCTION OF MEANING: A CONCEPTUAL PERSPECTIVE

Abstract

Cognitive linguistics investigates language as a cognitive phenomenon that arises from human interaction with the physical, social, and cultural world. Rather than treating grammar as an autonomous system of formal rules, this approach explains linguistic structure in terms of conceptual organization, embodied experience, and usage. The present thesis explores the theoretical orientation of cognitive linguistics by examining its central assumptions and explanatory mechanisms. Through a qualitative synthesis of highly cited theoretical models, the study demonstrates how meaning is constructed through processes such as conceptual metaphor, construal, and usage-based patterning. The analysis shows that Cognitive linguistics provides a dynamic account of language that captures semantic flexibility, variation, and context sensitivity. The thesis argues that Cognitive linguistics represents a paradigm shift toward a meaning-driven and cognitively plausible theory of language.