Author: Juliana Chakarova
Paisii Hilendarski University of Plovdiv
Published in Slavyanski dialozi, XIII, 2016, 18
Abstract: The present paper seeks an answer to the question that still remains unsolved in the academic field of linguistics, namely: whether or not Cognitive Linguistics pos- sesses its own research methodology. According to the author, the fact that some of the methods used for analysis in this contemporary conceptual frame are borrowed from other academic disciplines doesn’t justify denying its unique epistemology. In general, such borrowing from neighboring academic fields is well known in methodology of acquiring knowledge. In addition to that, the study outlines also methods that are not disputed even by the most fierce opponents of Cognitive Linguistics (the method of analyzing the material through the Conceptual Metaphor Theory or theo- retical constructs such as concept, frame, image schema, idealized cognitive models, etc.). This way, “western” methods create a fruitful dialogue with the methods of the Russian cognitive linguistics. The study outlines and defines a comprehensive set of methods which, in the author’s opinion, only in their holistic combination define the unique physiognomy of cognitive linguistics epistemology.
Key words: epistemology of Cognitive Linguistics, holistic set of methods, Conceptual Metaphor Theory, concept, frame, Idealized Cognitive Model