Chapter I. Language analysis in cognitive linguistics

1.3 Knowledge structure as a cognitive units
Knowledge is the ability to have experience and understanding that is both subjectively and objectively correct, and based on objective and subjective aspects (thinking and drawing conclusions) it is possible to think and draw conclusions that provide purposeful behavior (behavior). Knowledge is a dynamic functional structure that shapes the “world style” and is the product of the processing of
webral and novebral experiences.
It should be mentioned that the notion of knowledge structures was first used by F. Bartlett, one of the forerunners of cognitive psychology. F. Bartlett claimed that humans have core knowledge in the form of unconscious mental structures and that this knowledge interacts with new incoming information and produce schemas³⁵. Later knowledge structures were reintroduced into modern cognitive science by M. Minsky, who worked in the field of artificial intellect. He attempted to develop machines that showed human-like abilities and proposed that human knowledge is represented in memory in frames. Later, the notion of knowledge structures was widely used in Cognitive Linguistics³⁶.
One of the key issues in Cognitive Linguistics is the problem of knowledge structures classification. There are many approaches to this problem since scholars provide different classifications taking into account this or that aspect of knowledge structures. Some scholars study different ways of configuration of the conceptual system, i.e. revealing knowledge formats or models: frames, scripts, scenario, categories, etc. Others concentrate their attention on the linguistic means representing conceptual systems, i.e. concepts verbalizing national, ethnic, linguistic peculiarities. So, knowledge structures are based on the idea that people organize information into patterns that reflect the relationships between concepts and the features constituting them.
The heterogeneity of the content and organization of different foundations of concepts, as well as the variety of ways of their presentation (representation) in the human mind reflects the heterogeneous nature of objects and phenomena of the surrounding world. This is manifested in the diversity and diversity of linguistic means used to express them. According to the method of linguistic expression, the following types of concepts are distinguished:
а) lexical, which are conveyed by the meaning of a particular word, for example: Родина/Fatherland;
b) phraseological, transmitted by the meanings of phraseological combinations, for example: на седьмом небе от счастья/to be in seventh heaven/on cloud nine;
c) grammatical, which are reflected in grammatical forms, categories, syntactic structures, for example: the concept of precedence is conveyed in all three languages by the system of past tenses; the concept of a set - by plural forms, etc. A concrete sensory image is conveyed by the meanings of most words containing specific, visual external characteristics, for example:
table — a flat surface, usually supported by four legs, used for putting things on (CIDE, 1998, p. 1483);
Sometimes such concepts are illustrated in dictionaries using pictures. Specific visual images are also associated with the names of famous historical, political and public figures, famous actors, musicians, athletes, for example:
Finston Churchill, Queen Elizabeth, Bismark, Boris Becker, Jeanne D’Arc.
Representation, or a mental image/picture, is expressed by lexical units that name a class of specific objects. Accordingly, their meanings are conveyed by generalized sensual images, a set of the most visual, sensually perceived visible signs, for example: sing - to make musical sounds with voice, usually producing words to match a tune (CIDE, 1998, p. 1340);
Sometimes the mental picture is revealed in the most internal form of the word, for example: колокольчик, подснежник
Similar concepts are associated with proper names, naming objects/persons with certain external characteristics, as well as phraseological units, for example: Humpty-Dumpty,
Concept-schemes as spatial-contour representations are conveyed by the meanings of such words as street, path, road: track — a mark or line of marks left on a surface, esp. the ground, by an animal, person or vehicle which has moved over the surface, and which shows which direction the animal, etc. has taken (CIDE, 1998, p. 1544—1545);
A concept diagram, on the one hand, is close to a representation, or "mental picture", since it can evoke a specific visual image or can be depicted graphically; on the other hand, this is already the next stage of abstraction on the way to the concept.
Concepts are represented by the meanings of words that convey only verbal definitions of the designated objects, for example: biology - the scientific study of the natural processes of living things (CIDE, 1998, p. 127);
Conceptual signs of a conceptual nature can also be expressed by proper names that have become common nouns, for example: Don Quixote / Don Quixote - a man who fights for justice, and this struggle is often doomed or meaningless; Robin Hood / Robin Hood - a noble man, the protector of the underprivileged.
The concept frame is presented in the meaning of words associated with associative links with other words and lexical-semantic groups, for example: school, museum, library, university.
These words evoke an associative array in the mind of the speaker: university - faculty - dean's office - department - department - students - teachers - audiences - classrooms, etc.
In the meaning of such words, the individual details that characterize the named object are reduced, as it were, into a single whole, into a three-dimensional representation of a certain complex situation. Knowledge of this situation, as well as the possible sequence of events within this situation, allows us to perceive the meaning of a specific language unit as a conveying concept frame. Similar meanings are also conveyed by phraseological units: приемный покой, hall of residence.
The scenario is expressed in words, in the meaning of which there is a certain dynamics of the development of events, a scheme of actions, for example: лекция, exam, wedding,
These are mainly verbal names and names of event semantics, as well as phraseological combinations of the type: бить баклуши, to come up against a brick wall.
So, knowledge structures are structured and organized into cognitive patterns that can be imprinted in the human’s memory. The terms such as schema, script, frame and mental model are used along with the term knowledge structures or idealized cognitive models. They are also called “units” of knowledge, or a set of mental representations of the world.
The meanings of such words and phrases imply a sequence of certain stages unfolding in time, for example: concert - public performance of musical works (possibly in combination with choreographic, declamatory other numbers); In addition, the definition may specify the distribution of roles between the participants in these events, for example: exam — a test of a student’s knowledge or skill in a particular subject which results in a qualification if a student is successful.
The concept gestalt can be embodied in the language not only in separate words, but also in whole texts, being the highest level of knowledge about the object, a holistic, undivided idea of the essences of the real world. Sometimes a gestalt image can be hidden behind the simplest, “ordinary”, at first glance, words.