GRADATION AS A COGNITIVE-DISCURSIVE OPERATION

GRADATION AS A COGNITIVE-DISCURSIVE OPERATION

Author:  А. A. Krishtaliuk

Abstract: 
In this article we argue that gradation is a cognitive-discursive operation based on human interaction with the world around and involved in different kinds of conceptualization. We make an attempt to prove that gradation is an embodied abstract operation structured by the image schema SCALE, that arranges the relations between the referents in the aspect of ‘more’ or ‘less’ and determines their intensity. This operation is realized in discourse by means of linguistic units that represent gradual specification of meaning.

Keywords:  image schema, scale, conceptualization, implicit negation