METAPHORICAL ASPECTS OF SELECTED SIGNS IN POLISH SIGN LANGUAGE

Cognitive linguistics studies language as a reflection of human mind. Many cases of concept-formation are based on metaphor. Though most of the analyses point out to the presence of metaphor in natural languages, also sign languages involve this conceptual mechanism. Comparative analysis of linguistic expressions and signs for such fundamental concepts as time, support, illness, and others, proves that they reflect the same conceptual metaphors. This, in turn, supports the Generalisation Commitment and the Cognitive Commitment as fundamental hypotheses of cognitive linguistics.