COGNITIVE MODEL OF THE LINGUISTIC CONCEPT OF “FREEDOM” BASED ON THE ASSOSIATION SURVEY RESULTS

Abstract

The paper examines the perception of the linguocultural concept of “freedom” in the modern English-speaking context within the framework of cognitive linguistic research. The concept of freedom is often associated with philosophy and demonstrates a high degree of verbal explicability whose interpretative potential is highly discourse-related. The study argues for the need to construct cognitive frameworks that would enable the development of an integrated conceptual model of freedom as a linguocultural phenomenon. The research aims to conceptualize the discrete components of the “freedom” concept and to integrate them into a unified cognitive model. The proposed model is developed through linguistic analysis and interpretation of data obtained from an associative experiment involving words that explicate the given concept. The model identifies the core, peripheral, and background elements of the concept. The practical implementation of this model may enhance further linguistic and cognitive studies of conceptual structures.