LIGHT and DARK: oppositional metaphor as the interaction of cognitive mechanisms

Abstract: Cognitive Linguistics, which primarily deals with the conceptual structures of human mind via their language manifestation, opens new prospects in studying binary oppositions. Despite numerous researches of this phenomenon, lots of questions raised here do not have exhaustive answers. What we need is not only inquiry oriented toward ascertainment of the universality (or the degree of universality) of some binary oppositions, but studies of their system in a certain linguaculture within a given time period. The precise study of interrelations among various symbolic domains in this sphere is another important problem. Furthermore, binary oppositions should not be seen as stable and unchangeable structures presented within human consciousness but they must be regarded as the external manifestation of specific cognitive mechanisms. This paper presents an empirical investigation of the binary opposition LIGHT-DARK based on the method of an associative experiment. The analysis of the responses clearly reveals binary oppositions which are deep-rooted in the speakers’ consciousness and which closely interact. These oppositions build a rich background for the metaphorical interchange between corresponding domains which create a whole system where the correlating parts are used for the metaphoric designation of each other. The main focus of this study is the interaction of cognitive mechanisms of contradistinction with conceptual metaphor and further analysis of the result of this process in a language.