The connection between language and cognition: the interaction of meaning and categorical functions in Cognitive Linguistics

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DOI:

https://doi.org/10.31513/linguistica.2025.v21n2a67886

Abstract

This article focuses on Cognitive Linguistics (CL) and its interaction with other human cognitive capacities. The central objective is to understand how language, as an integral part of the human cognitive system, interacts with other cognitive abilities and how we transfer our sensations, images, thoughts, and desires into linguistic forms that enable expression and mutual communication. The methodology employed is based on a systematic and rigorous literature review, including a survey of relevant sources from academic platforms. The findings highlight the importance of meaning in the grammatical structure and the categorical function of language, criticizing the dominant syntactic approach and exploring how language reflects and influences the human conceptual world. Furthermore, the study investigates the structural and functional principles of language by analyzing structural features of natural language categorization, such as prototypicality and metaphor, and examining functional principles of linguistic organization, such as iconicity and naturalness, as well as the conceptual interface between syntax and semantics.
Keywords: Cognitive Linguistics. Meaning. Categorical functions.

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Author Biographies

Bruno Alexandre Scapolan, Universidade Federal de Uberlândia (UFU)

Bruno Alexandre Scapolan is a Ph.D. candidate and holds a Master’s degree in Linguistic Studies from the Federal University of Uberlândia (UFU), Brazil. He has completed postgraduate specializations in Brazilian Sign Language (LIBRAS) Translation, Interpretation, and Teaching, Special Education, Psychopedagogy, Religious Education, among others, in addition to holding a Master in Formazione degree from the Pontifical Antonianum University (Rome). He holds teaching degrees in Portuguese Language with emphasis on LIBRAS, Libras, Pedagogy, and Philosophy, as well as a Bachelor’s degree in Theology. He currently works as a LIBRAS teacher and Educational Support Professional in the public school system of Uberlândia-MG and also teaches LIBRAS and Italian at Flexus Idiomas. His research focuses on translation, conceptual metaphor, and the teaching of LIBRAS within the context of deaf education.

Letícia de Sousa Leite, Universidade Federal de Uberlândia (UFU)

Letícia de Sousa Leite has been a Brazilian Sign Language (Libras) translator and interpreter at CEPAE of the Federal University of Uberlândia (UFU) since 2014. She has a solid academic background in the fields of education and language, holding a degree in Pedagogy from the Center for Distance Education at the Federal University of Ouro Preto (UFOP), completed in 2014. She earned a specialization in Special Education and Specialized Educational Support from UFU (2015), as well as a Master’s degree in Linguistic Studies from the same institution (2018), where she also completed her Ph.D. in Linguistic Studies in 2024 through the Graduate Program in Linguistic Studies (PPGEL). Throughout her academic journey, she has focused on issues related to deafness, with special attention to her dissertation entitled "Assessment processes and mechanisms for evaluating the learning of deaf students in graduate education" (DOI: 10.14393/ufu.te.2024.5510), supervised by Professor Eliamar Godoi.

capa v.21 n.2

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Published

2025-08-30

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Vol. 21 No. 2 (2025): Cognitive Linguistics: diversity and interfaces on Translation and Interpretation Studies

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Articles

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