Conceptual Integration Theory – the key for unlocking the internal cognitive choreography of idiom modification

Abstract: The paper represents an attempt to reveal the internal choreography of idiom modification. It is argued that modified idiomatic expressions can be explained using the postulates of the Conceptual Integration Theory. Optimality principles and vital relations, proposed by Fauconnier and Turner, clarify and regulate the relations within the conceptual integration network. The main aim of this paper is to analyze the extent to which vital relations and optimality principles at work in conceptual integration can account for mechanisms of idiom modification.