METAPHORICAL INSTANTIATION OF IDIOMATIC EXPRESSIONS IN MODERN POLITICAL DISCOURSE

Abstract

The present paper is a study of English idiomatic expressions denoting cooperation in terms of Cognitive Linguistic Critical Discourse Analysis, which is herein referred to as a form of applied cognitive linguistics that investigates the links between language, cognition and social action in contexts of political communication. The methodological underpinnings involve principles of Critical Discourse Analysis proper, such as analysis of ideology (a system of values and/or ideas that shape and are shaped by discourse), framing (the way language and discourse shape how individuals or groups interpret and understand certain events, values or ideas), pragmatic inference (understanding intended meaning), lexical choices (words or phrases employed to convey a certain meaning), and discourse strategies (the conscious selection and use of language to achieve specific goals in communication). The cognitive linguistic dimension of the survey relies on the principles of schema induction and hierarchical schematic modeling of the idiomatic expressions under analysis. It is argued that meaning in context, instantiated by an idiomatic expression, is a schematic representation on two distinct conceptual levels: the dynamic, provided for by mental spaces, and the static, realized by frames, conceptual domains, and image schemas. A case study to verify this hypothesis was performed on the idiom stand shoulder to shoulder, and its findings were then employed to exemplify the extended cognitive structure of the idiomatic expressions, such as play ball, build bridges, in concert, hitch horses together, on the same page, close ranks, sing from the same hymn sheet, and it takes two to tango