2020
How to Represent Abstract Concepts? From the Perspective of Conceptual Metaphor Theory
Huang YanliCorresponding author
Nanjing Normal University, Nanjing, China
Overview
Cognitive linguistics is an approach to the study of language that treats linguistic structure and meaning as grounded in human cognition, perception, and bodily experience rather than as an autonomous formal system. It views language as reflecting general cognitive processes such as categorization, attention, mental imagery, and conceptualization. A central commitment is that meaning is embodied, arising from how people interact with the world. One of its most influential frameworks is conceptual metaphor theory, associated with Lakoff and Johnson, which holds that abstract concepts are understood through systematic metaphoric mappings from more concrete, experiential source domains to abstract target domains. Other key topics include image schemas, prototype and category structure, conceptual blending, frame semantics, and the relationship between language and thought. Cognitive linguistics has shaped research in semantics, psychology, second-language learning, and discourse analysis, and it intersects with cognitive psychology in studying how people represent and process meaning. Open-access research offers peer-reviewed studies on conceptual metaphor, abstract-concept representation, and the cognitive foundations of language.
Research published in this journal
1 peer-reviewed article, ranked by relevance. Each links to its DOI.
How this research is being cited
The 1 article above has been cited 3 times in the scholarly literature. Citation data via OpenAlex and Crossref, updated Jun 2026.
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2026 · Journal of Language, Literature, and Educational Research
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Tao Feng et al. · 2025 · International Conference on Learning Representations
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2025 · IEEE Transactions on Visualization and Computer Graphics
A sample of recent works citing this journal's research on Cognitive Linguistics, linking to each citing work.