Hontarenko N. Modelling the semantics of English human locomotion verbs from a cognitive linguistics perspective.

The dissertation presents a comprehensive study of human locomotion verbs from a cognitive semantics perspective. Linguistic meaning is regarded as a cognitive model which involves both conceptual content and certain construal operations imposed on it. The paper offers a near-complete inventory of human locomotion verbs compiled on the basis of a novel, integrated methodological framework. The author constructs а HUMAN LOCOMOTION conceptual model which is regarded as a broad sphere of knowledge underlying the meaning of human locomotion verbs. The conceptual model is then modified to represent cognitive models profiled by the verbs with a view to analyzing metaphoric construals. The paper also identifies and systematizes the target and source domains of substantive metaphors underlying metaphorical verbs of human locomotion. The analysis reveals systemic correlations between the conceptual, semantic, and syntactic characteristics of the verbs.