COGNITIVE DICTIONARY: A REPRESENTATION OF SHARED REALITY

Abstract

Language is a cognitive map of concepts. A cognitive dictionary maps our shared reality as represented by linguistic competence of all speakers. COG offers a systematic description of concepts defined by their language usage. The ‘usage’ is formalized and the paper describes format and rules employed in constructing this new type of lexicographic COG data-bases. A concept “entry” is a description of a “spectrum of aspects”, i.e. all cognitive points-of-view from which anyone can view a given concept. Each aspect is serviced by a comprehensive list of Operators (Active, Passive and Modifiers). Finally, the paper offers two ways of indexing word-forms (and concepts): by their semantic weight and by semantic index. By providing a shared metalingual framework, COG(s) might become a useful tool in human-human and human machine interactions.