Concept as the basic term of the cognitive linguistics

First of all we will consider the theoretical aspect of concept.

Conceptualization is the process of the creation and construction of concept in the human recognition. It is also the process of thought concerning the new information that causes the creation of concept [13; 67].

The cognitive activity of the human is the skill to orient in the world. This activity also combines the need to distinguish objects. So concepts appear in order to provide this operation. The formation of concepts is based on the recognition of the world and formation of the images about it. 

The study of concept is the main task of the cognitive linguistics. Every attempt to realize the nature of concept causes the realization of the fact of presence of closely-related concepts and terms. Concept is the intellectual category that may not be recognized visually. This fact causes the presence of the wide area for the interpretation of concept. Every language mark represents concept in the language, but it does not represent concept in a whole. With the assistance of its meaning the language mark represents several conceptual features that are relevant for the transmission of the information. If we need to express concept in a whole it is necessary to apply different linguistic means and the whole nominative field of concept. So both concept and its compounds may be verbalized and non-verbalized. It is difficult to define concepts that are non-verbalized.

The native speaker is the origin of widening of some conceptual systems. Concepts are the essence of the mental reality. Every concept combines knowledge about the world and unreal imaginations. The system of concepts creates the world picture that reflects the human comprehension of the reality and its peculiar conceptual picture. The human understands the world on the base of the mentioned conceptual picture.

The word is the main mean of the access to the conceptual knowledge. Due to the mentioned access we have an ability to add other conceptual features to the intellectual activity even in case if these features are not named by this word. The linguistic nomination is the key mean for the use of concept in the intellectual activity. The word brings concept into our recognition, makes it active and causes the process of thought.

Words can be classed according to different principles: morphological (parts of speech), semantic (synonyms, antonyms, thematic), stylistic and other types of classification. In each of these classifications lexical or/and grammatical meanings assume different manifestations. In a morphological classification words are grouped according to their grammatical meanings; in a semantic classification, according to their logical (referential) meanings, in a stylistic classification, according to their stylistic meaning.

Lexical meanings are closely related to concepts. They are sometimes identified with concepts. But concept is a purely logical category, whereas meaning is a linguistic one. In linguistics it is necessary to view meaning as the representation of a concept through one of its properties. Concept, as is known, is versatile; it is characterized by a number of properties. Meaning takes one of these properties and makes it represent the concept as a whole. Therefore meaning in reference to concept becomes, as it were, a kind of metonymy. This statement is significant inasmuch as it will further explain the stylistic function of certain meanings. The same concept can be represented in a number of linguistic manifestations (meanings) but, paradoxal though it may sound, each manifestation causes a slight (and sometimes considerable) modifica­tion of the concept, in other words, discloses latent or unknown properties of the concept [7; 13].

A word can be defined as a unit of language functioning within the sentence or within a part of it which by its sound or graphical form expresses a concrete or abstract notion or a grammatical notion through one of its meanings and which is capable of enriching its semantic structure by acquiring new meanings and losing old ones.

It is not easy to explain the semantic structure of a word. Only lexicographers know how difficult it is. This difficulty is mainly caused by the very nature of the word. It may in some circumstances reveal such overtones of meaning as are not elements of the code [7; 25].

The following analogy will not come amiss. There are in nature sounds that we do not hear, there is light that we do not see, and heat that we do not feel. Special apparatus is necessary to detect these phenomena. Almost the same can be said about almost every language sign: sound, morpheme, word, sentence, stylistic device. These signs can bring to life subtleties of meaning which are passed unnoticed by the untrained mind and which can be detected only through the employment of a special method, called supralinear analysis. This method requires some faith in intuition.

There is a difference in the treatment of the potentialities of language signs in grammar, phonetics and lexicology, on the one hand, and in stylistics, on the other. In stylistics we take it for granted that a word has an almost unlimited potentiality of acquiring new meanings, whereas in lexicology this potentiality is restricted to semantic and grammatical acceptability. In stylistics the intuitive, and therefore to a very great extent subjective, perception of meaning in words is raised to the level of topicality. The issue touched upon here is the well-known contradis­tinction between the scientific (abstract), intellectually precise percep­tion of world phenomena and the sensory, intuitive, vague and uncertain impressions of an artistic perception of these same phenomena.

The lexical meaning of the word which may be described as the component of meaning proper to the word as a linguistic unit; i.e. recurrent in all the forms of this word. The difference between the lexical and the grammatical components of meaning is not to be sought in the difference of the concepts underly­ing the two types of meaning, but rather in the way they arc conveyed. The concept of plurality, e.g., may be expressed by the lexical meaning of the world plurality; it may also be expressed in the forms of various words irrespective of their lexical meaning, e.g. boys, girls, joys, etc. The concept of relation may be expressed by the lexical meaning of the word.

Besides concept are the idea that combines the abstract, concrete-associative and emotional-estimate features and history of the conception. Concept is the personal interpretation of the objective meaning and conception as the minimum of the meaning. Concept is also the abstract scientific conception expressed by its forms of the meaning. These forms are: image, conception and symbol.

The most wide-spread definition of concept is following: concept is the discrete mental creation that is the basic unit of the intellectual code of the human. This code is characterized by the internal structure. It is a result of the cognitive activity of the human and society and brings the complex and encyclopedic information about the subject and phenomenon and the social attitude to this phenomenon.

Concepts may be classified according to the type of knowledge and reflection of reality because these types are the foundation of the method of the assignment and description of concept.

The most wide-spread features of concept are following:

1) concept is the minimum unit of the human experience in the ideal imagination that is verbalized with the assistance of the word;

2) concept is characterized by the field structure;

3) concept is the main unit of processing, keeping and transmission of knowledge;

4) concept has the mobile borders and concrete functions;

5) concept is social, its associative field causes its pragmatics;

6) concept is the main cell of culture [11; 45].

So concepts represent the world in the human recognition creating the conceptual system. Besides, the marks of the human language codify the content of this system in the world. Concepts appear in the human recognition as a result of the activity, interpretation of the world and socialization. Every concept includes the generalized content of different forms of expression in the natural language and in spheres that are based on the language and their presence is impossible without language. Concepts as the results of the intellectual activity should be verbalized. The language connects the people into the nation with the assistance of concepts.

Imagination is the type of concept that is the generalized sensual-visual image of the subject or phenomenon.

Scheme is the type of concept represented by some generalized graphical or contour scheme. It is the hyperonym with the weak image. Conception is the type of concept that reflects the most general and considerable features of the subject or phenomenon. It is the result of the rational reflection and interpretation. Frame is the type of concept that is interpreted and has many compounds. It is the volumetric imagination and totality of standard knowledge about the subject or phenomenon. Scenario is the sequence of several episodes in time. Geshtalt is the complex and integral functional structure of thought that organizes the separate phenomenons of the human recognition.

Concepts can be also divided into group and individual, abstract and concrete. These classifications are topical for the linguistic-cognitive study because these types of concept need different methods of analysis and description. Some concepts are typical for limited quantity of people. They are group concepts. They are not applied by the nation in a whole. They also may be unrelevant in communicative side. At present concept is the synonym of the conception and content.

The conceptual sphere is the branch of knowledge that includes concepts as its units. Besides the conceptual sphere is the totality of concepts created by the nation. It is also the informational base of thought. There are different types of the conceptual sphere. They are: emotional, educational, textual, etc.

Besides, concept is the base of the linguistic picture of the world, because the human imaginations about the world are the result of the interaction between people and world. If the people got some experience they transform it into concepts. As a result the conceptual system is created in this case. The picture of the world is the reality of the human recognition. And the language is the base of the cognitive process. The picture of the world is reflected in the content of the language. The linguistic picture of the world causes the communicative behavior, interpretation of the external world and internal world of the person.

Concept is the unit of the conceptual sphere or, in other words, totality of the units of the national thought. It includes all mental features of some phenomenon that are reflected during some period of the development of the nation. Concept provides the intelligent interpretation of reality. The conceptual sphere is the totality of the national concepts and informational base of the intellect. The cognitive linguistics represents the study concerning different national conceptual spheres. So we have an ability to define the similar phenomenon of different nations.

There are some peculiarities of the description of concept. For instance:

1) traditional linguistic and experimental methods are applied in case of the description of concept;

2) during the creation of the model of concept the cognitive features instead of the separate means are determined;

3) description of the image, informational content and interpretative field is applied in case of the analysis of the structure of concept;

4) the content of concept is described as the totality of the cognitive features organized according to the principle of the nucleus to the near, far and last periphery.

Generally the structure and dissimilar features of concept are studied by the cognitive linguistics. Image, informational content and interpretative field are the structural parts of concept.

Images may be individual. But if the sensual image is group this image may be studied as the fact of the conceptual sphere. The sensual image is created be the organs sense (the perceptive image) and by the image features formed with the assistance of the metaphorical interpretation of some subject of phenomenon. This image is named metaphorical or cognitive. The perceptive image includes visual, tactual, gustatory and other images [11; 49].

The informational content includes the minimum of cognitive features that determine the main considerable features of the conceptual subject or phenomenon. These features are the most important for the subject and it’s applied. They create the characteristics of the most considerable differential features, obligatory compounds, main function and sex.

The interpretative field includes the cognitive features that interpret the main informational content of concept. It also includes the features that have some derivative knowledge or estimate it. The interpretative field is dissimilar. There are several zones in it. These zones are characterized by the internal content and combine the cognitive features that have the similar content. It is possible to define the estimate and encyclopedic zone. Besides, the encyclopedic features are divided into utilitarian, regulative, social-cultural and paremiological zones.

The structure of concept may be described only after the definition and description of its content. So firstly it is necessary to define the compounds that create the cognitive features of concept.

The proportion between the structural components of concept and its field organization are not symmetrical. Such basic compounds of concept as image, informational content and interpretative field are spread on different field zones of concept. There is no exact consolidation of the structural components according to every field zone.

Image does not always come into the nucleus of concept, though the concrete image comes into the nucleus of concept in case of the individual recognition. In this case it codifies concept for the native speaker.

It is necessary to distinguish the content and structure of concept in the process of the practical description of concept. The content of concept is created with the assistance of the cognitive features. These features reflect the features of the conceptualized subject or phenomenon. The content is usually described as the totality of these features. It is characterized by the internal organization. The mentioned organization is based on the field principle – nucleus, near, far and last periphery.

The structure of concept includes the basic structural components that create concept and are characterized by the different nature. These structural components are following: sensual image, informational content and interpretative field. The structure of concept is usually described as the calculation of the cognitive features that are related to each of these structural components of concept.

Besides, the nominative field of concept is based on the conceptual or, in other words, semantic fields. Words may be classified according to the concepts underlying their meaning. This classification is closely connected with the theory of conceptual or semantic fields. By the term “semantic fields” we understand closely knit sectors of vocabulary each characterized by a common concept. For example, the words blue, red, yellow, black, etc. may be described as making up the semantic field of colors, the words mother, father, brother, cousin, etc. – as members of the semantic field of kinship terms, the words joy, happiness, gaiety, enjoyment, etc. as – belonging to the field of pleasurable emotions, etc. [10; 61].

Semantic dependence of the word on the structure of the field may be also illustrated by comparing-members of analogous conceptual fields in different languages. Comparing, for example, kinship terms in Russian and in English we observe that the meaning of the English term mother-in-law is different from either the Russian as the Eng­lish term covers the whole area which in Russian is divided between two words.

The theory of semantic field is severely criticized by the linguists mainly on philosophical grounds since some of the proponents of the semantic field theory hold the idealistic view that, language is a kind of self-contained entity standing between man and the world of reality.

Words making up such semantic fields may belong to different parts of speech. For example, in the semantic field of space we find nouns: expanse, extent, surface, etc.; verbs: extend, spread, span; adjectives: spacious, roomy, vast, broad, etc.

There may be comparatively small lexical groups of words belonging to the same part of speech and linked by a common concept. The words bread, cheese, milk, meat, etc. make up a group with the concept of food as the common denominator of meaning. Such smaller lexical groups consisting of words of the same part of speech are usually termed lexico-semantic groups. It is observed that the criterion for joining words togeth­er into semantic fields and lexico-semantic groups is the identity of one of the components of their meaning found in all the lexical units making up these lexical groups. Any of the semantic components may be chosen to represent the group. For example, the word saleswoman may be analyzed into the semantic components “human”, “female”, “professional”. Conse­quently the word saleswoman may be included into a lexico-semantic group under the heading of human together with the words man, woman, boy, girl, etc. and under the heading female with (he words girl, wife, woman and also together with the words teacher, pilot, butcher, etc., as professionals [18; 29].

It should also be pointed out (hat different meanings of polysemantic words make it possible to refer the same word to different lexico-semantic groups. Thus, e.g. make in the meaning of “construct” is naturally a mem­ber of the same lexico-semantic group as the verbs produce, manufacture, etc., whereas in the meaning of compel it-is regarded as a member of a dif­ferent lexico-semantic group made up by the verbs force, induce, etc.

The nominative field of concept is the totality of all linguistic means that objectificate concept during some period of social development. The nominative field is characterized by the complex structure and includes the lexico-semantic group, lexico-semantic field, lexico-phraseological field, synonymic line, associative field, etc. Some concepts are characterized by the presence of the wide nominative field which may be found easily. Other concepts are characterized by the limited nominative field which has not synonymic lines and hyperhyponymic character. There are also concepts that have only subjective and occasional nominations without the name of concept.

The nominative field includes the following components:

1) direct nominations of concept (the key word-represent and its methodical synonyms);

2) derivative nominations;

3) one-root words, units of different parts of language connected with the main lexical means of the verbalization of concept;   

4) similar;

5) contextual synonyms;

6) occasional individual nominations;

7) stable word combinations that are synonyms of the key word;

8) phraseological units that include the name of concept;

9) proverbs, aphorisms, etc.;

10) metaphorical nominations;

11) stable comparisons that include the key word;

12) free word combinations that include features for the characteristics of concept;

13) associative field as a result of the experiment on the word-stimulus that names concept;     

14) subjective word definitions proposed for the interpretation of concept;    

15) lexical interpretation of language units that objectificate concept;

16) articles of the encyclopedia or reference book (informational-explicative texts);

17) thematic texts that represent the content of concept;

18) sociopolitical texts and belles-lettres that represent the content of concept;

19) totality of the texts in case of need in explication or discussion of the content of complex, abstract or individual concepts) [15; 29].

It is necessary to notice that the proportion between the word and concept is the main theoretical problem of the cognitive linguistics.

Meaning is the unit of semantic area of language. So it is the element of the totality and system of meanings of the concrete language. Meaning includes a small quantity of semantic features that are famous in some social environment. These features are connected with the functioning of the sound cover. The semantics of the word provides the mutual comprehension in the process of communication.

The description of the units of the nominative field gives an ability to image the content of concept in the form in which it is reflected and fixed in the language. It also gives an ability to reconstruct and describe only a part of concept. This part includes the most relevant features. If the nominative field of concept is characterized by the larger volume and a greater quantity of units the results of the reconstruction and the description of the content and structure of concept are better.

The construction of the nominative field of concept is the definition and description of the totality of linguistic means that represent concept and its separate features. It is possible to determine only the direct nominations (key words and its synonyms). This method gives an ability to create the nucleus of the nominative field. Besides it is possible not to make such limitations and determine the nominative field in a whole. The key word is the lexical unit that is characterized by the nominative function concerning concept.

The nucleus of the nominative field is usually determined by the following ways:

1) with the assistance of the synonymic widening of the key word (it is necessary to use dictionaries in this case);

2) with the assistance of the analysis of the contexts that are characterized by the nomination of concept we are interested in.

After our research we can make conclusion that concept is a rather compound linguistic phenomenon.

 

The notion of theatre

We have considered the theoretical aspect of concept, let us found out what the THEATRE concept is.

Theatre is a branch of the performing arts. While any performance may be considered theatre, as a performing art, it focuses almost exclusively on live performers creating a self-contained drama. A performance qualifies as dramatic by creating a representational illusion. By this broad definition, theatre has existed since the dawn of man, as a result of the human tendency for storytelling. Since its inception, theatre has come to take on many forms, utilizing speech, gesture, music, dance, and spectacle, combining the other performing arts, often as well as the visual arts, into a single artistic form. The word derives from the Ancient Greek theatre meaning “the seeing place”. [39]

The word “theatre” means a “place for seeing». The two most common types of theatre plays are comedy and tragedy, symbolized by the theatre masks. The first recorded theatrical event was a performance of the sacred plays of the myth of Osiris and Isis in 2500 BC in Egypt. This story of the god Osiris was performed annually at festivals throughout the civilization, marking the beginning of a long relationship between theatre and religion.

The ancient Greeks began formalizing theatre as an art, developing strict definitions of tragedy and comedy as well as other forms, including satyr plays. Like the religious plays of ancient Egypt, Greek plays made use of mythological characters. The Greeks also developed the concepts of dramatic criticism, acting as a career, and theatre architecture. In the modern world these works have been adapted and interpreted in thousands of different ways in order to serve the needs of the time. Examples are offered by Antigone, used in 1944 by Anouilh to make a statement about the Nazi occupation of France, and by Brecht in 1948, likening Creon to Hitler and Thebes to defeated Germany. [39]

Western theatre continued to develop under the Roman Empire, in medieval England, and continued to thrive, taking on many alternate forms in Spain, Italy, France, and Russia in the 16th, 17th and 18th centuries. The general trend over the centuries was away from the poetic drama of the Greeks and the Renaissance and toward a more realistic style, especially following the Industrial Revolution. A uniquely North American theatre developed with the colonization of the new world.

The history of Eastern theatre is traced back to 1000 BC with the Sanskrit drama of ancient Indian theatre. Chinese theatre also dates back to around the same time. Japanese forms of Kabuki, Noh, and Kyogen date back to the 17th century AD. Other Eastern forms were developed throughout China, Korea, and Southeast Asia.

The most popular forms of theatre in the medieval Islamic world were puppet theatre (which included hand puppets, shadow plays and marionette productions) and live passion plays known as ta’ziya, where actors re-enact episodes from Muslim history.

The most recognizable figures in theatre are the directors, playwrights, and actors, but theatre is a highly collaborative endeavor. Plays are usually produced by a production team that commonly includes a scenic or set designer, lighting designer, costume designer, sound designer, stage manager, props mistress or master and production manager. Depending on the production, this team may also include a dramaturge, video designer or fight director. The artistic staff is assisted by technical theatre personnel who handle creation and execution of the production.

Drama (literally translated as action, from a verbal root meaning ‘To do”) is the branch of theatre in which speech, either from written text (plays), or improvised is paramount. And the companion word drama is also Greek, dran meaning to do. Classical forms of drama, including Greek and Roman drama, classic English drama including William Shakespeare and Christopher Marlowe and French drama including Moliere is still performed today.

Music and theatre have always had a close relationship. Musical theatre is a form of theatre combining music, songs, dance routines, and spoken dialogue. Modern musical theatre emerged from the variety, vaudeville, and music hall genres of the late 19th and early 20th century. Musical theatre generally includes a combination of dialogue, song and dance, and spectacle. Contemporary Broadway musicals often include lavish costumes and sets supported by million dollar budgets.

Theatre productions that use humor as a vehicle to tell a story qualify as comedies. This may include a modern farce such as “Boeing Boeing” or a classical play such as “As You Like It”. Theatre expressing bleak, controversial or taboo subject matter in a deliberately humorous way is referred to as black comedy.

 

2. The THEATRE concept in the semantic space of W.S.Maugham’s “Theatre”