Nosolevska V. Dynamic Predicates in English Texts on Aircraft Construction: Cognitive / Semantic and Discursive Aspects

The object-matter of this paper is verbal dynamic predicates which function in English texts on aircraft construction, its subject-matter is their cognitive / semantic and discursive properties. The study purports to expose cognitive / semantic and discursive features of verbal dynamic predicates in English academic discourse of aircraft construction. The research methods employed include componential and contextual analyses, discourse, genre and metaphoric modeling, elements of quantitative analysis. The study is novel since it is the first one to provide the definition for a verbal dynamic predicate on the cognitive / discursive basis; to present a two-level classification of English verbal dynamic predicates; to bring to light the hybrid genre nature of study texts on aircraft construction; to trace the correlation between types of verbal dynamic predicates and types of passages in which they are used; to elucidate the cognitive mechanism of predicative metaphor and to identify the types of cognitive metaphors which underpin the meaning of verbal dynamic predicates. The theoretical relevance of the research is accounted for by its contribution into cognitive linguistics, discourse and genre studies, cognitive metaphor theory. Practical implications of the results obtained concern their application in teaching mandatory courses of English Grammar Theory ("Verb", "Parts of Speech", "Semantic Syntax") and English Lexicology ("Semasiology", "Word Meaning"), optional courses in discourse analysis and cognitive linguistics, practical classes of English for Specific Purposes, as well as in research work at different levels.