Conceptual Blending Mechanisms in Kurdish Sign Language.

Abstract

This research, entitled “Mechanisms of Conceptual Blending in Kurdish Sign Language,” constitutes a cognitive linguistic study drawing upon the foundational principles of Conceptual Blending Theory as established by Gilles Fauconnier and Mark Turner. The significance of this study lies in elucidating the core mechanisms underlying the composition, completion, and elaboration of conceptual structures, alongside the processes of compression and selective projection. This research aims to extend the application of the theory to Kurdish Sign Language, particularly within the communities of the deaf themselves, interpreters, and sign language specialists, who encounter numerous cases of miscommunication and interpretive challenges on a daily basis.

The research comprises two principal parts; the first is devoted to the theoretical framework of Conceptual Blending Theory, encompassing its core concepts and definitions, wherein six conceptual patterns are presented, with particular attention given to the mental spaces and the cognitive operations occurring within them, as examined through the cognitive mechanisms functioning across those spaces. The problem with such studies is the lack of a scientific explanation for the role of conceptual mixing in the construction of abstract meaning and subtle emotions and the creation of new signs in sign language. This requires cognitive research that contributes to filling this gap, which is related to the mechanisms of meaning construction and the production of new words and concepts, although if there are only a theoretical perspective. Although this theory has received considerable attention in cognitive research, traditional linguistics based on perceived languages ​​have been developed in linear and sequential structures and focus only on morphological, syntactic, and semantic features. They cannot adequately explain complex and simultaneous phenomena in sign language. When a signer combines several levels of information in a single sign by moving his hands, gesture space, and facial expressions, they fail to accurately describe this complex linguistic structure and analyze its semantic and syntactic structures. Moreover, the lack of a detailed linguistic description of blending mechanisms in sign languages ​​limits our ability to understand linguistic production, lexical retrieval, and semantic development in this language, requiring the development of new analytical methodologies that take into account the visuomotor nature of these language systems .