Cognitive Semantics

Cognitive Semantics is part of Cognitive Linguistics. As such, it rejects the formal traditions modularisation of linguistics into phonology, syntax, pragmatics, etc. Instead it divides semantics (meaning) into Meaning-construction and Knowledge Representation. As such, Cognitive Semantics studies much of the area traditionally devoted to pragmatics as well as semantics.

The four tenets of Cognitive Semantics are:

• Semantic Structure is Conceptual Structure
• Conceptual Structure is Embodied
• Meaning Representation is Encyclopaedic
• Meaning-construction is Conceptualisation