The dissertation is devoted to the study of methods and mechanisms for
conceptualising the English-language commercial sphere. The relevance of the
presented research is determined by the general vector of modern linguistics, aimed
at researching the methods and mechanisms of conceptualisation of empirical
fragments, an important one of which is the sphere of trade, since it is an integral
part of any developed society and covers, to a greater or lesser extent, practically all
its members. Given the scarcity of works that detail the principles and mechanisms
of conceptualisation and linguistic objectification in the English-language
commercial sphere, the proposed study can be considered relevant and current for
modern linguistic-cognitive studies.
The purpose of the dissertation is a comprehensive study of the peculiarities
of the conceptualisation of the commercial sphere in the English language.
The scientific novelty of the dissertation lies in the fact that it presents, for the
first time, a comprehensive analysis of the conceptualisation of the English-language
TRADE domain. In particular, the study:
- proposes and tests a two-component approach to the analysis of a
conceptualised fragment of reality (the conceptual level and the frame level), which
ensures a coherent integration of matrix and frame modelling;
- models the synchronic matrix organisation of the macroconcept TRADE and
establishes the structure of its nominative field;
- reconstructs the etymological basis of the conceptualisation of the TRADE
domain using the method of figure–ground correlation;
- systematises the features of the metaphorical objectification of the
macroconcept TRADE;
- constructs a cognitive model of the TRADE frame and elucidates its domain
structure;
- improves the approach to the analysis of intra-frame relations by combining
frame modelling with the concept of force dynamics, which makes it possible to
typologise patterns of interaction within trade scenarios;
- further develops the methodology for analysing basic frames as propositional
templates for the verbalisation of trade relations within the scenarios of the TRADE
frame;
- identifies the role of space in the conceptualisation of abstract trade relations.
The following fundamental concepts, principles and provisions served as the
scientific-methodological basis of the study: the provisions of the theory of cognitive
linguistics (A. Wierzbicka, S. Zhabotinska, O. Kubryakova, A. Prykhodko), the
theory of basic frames (S. Zhabotynska), the concept of force dynamics (L. Talmy,
P. Wolff), the theory of spatial semantics (L. Talmy, P. Wolff, J. Taylor, J. Zlatev,
B. Bloom), the concept of embodied cognition (R. Langacker, T. Rohrer), the theory
of conceptual metaphor (G. Lakoff, M. Johnson, Z. Kövecses), the theory of the
inner form of lexical units (O. Potebnia, V. von Humboldt, V. Manakin), theory of
frames (M. Minsky, A. Cienki).
The material of the study was 250 units that verbalize the notions and relations
of the English-language commercial sphere and 1215 contexts selected from 82
sources, in particular, two corpora of the English language – English Corpora and
Sketch Engine, conceptual networks ConceptNet 5.8 and WordNet 3.1, eight
lexicographic sources and 70 resources dedicated to commercial discourse,
including articles, blogs, business talks, advertising texts, etc.
The research methods are determined by the features of the object and subject
of the research, the set goal and related tasks and included methods of lexicographic,
semantic and corpus analysis, method of linguistic inventory, method of cognitive
analysis, methods of collocational, contextual and linguistic and conceptual analysis,
methods of etymological analysis and figure-background correlation, methods of
continuous sampling and contextual analysis, method of metaphorical analysis,
method of interpretive analysis, method of trajectory-orientational correlation,
modelling method, method of structural-semantic analysis.
The results of the study prove that the representation of the trade sphere in the
mental lexicon of a person has a dual nature, in particular, it can be represented as a
macro concept TRADE, which consists of concepts that are less voluminous in terms
of cognitive content, and as a frame of the same name, which, in turn, is also
constituted by a number of domains formed by terminal nodes and slots. The core
of the nominative field of the concept TRADE is constituted by the verbalizers
business, commerce, sales, deal, import, export enterprise, exchange, industry,
market and barter. The cognitive background of its conceptualisation consists of five
domains: BUYER, SELLER, PRICE/MONEY, PRODUCT and the schematic
domain MARKET. These domains include a number of conceptual parcels, some of
which are divided into sub-parcels that are constituted by separate concepts.
