The book outlines a new approach to the study of motivation in language, which is firmly rooted in the paradigm of cognitive linguistics, but it is developed in critical (and constructive) dialogue with classical theories in semiotics: Ferdinand de Saussure's structural linguistics and Charles S. Peirce's model of the sign. The author's proposal hinges upon the Peircean distinction between iconic, indexical, and symbolic signs, but the classical typology is reinterpreted within the framework of cognitive linguistics. The approach does not seek to -categorize- different linguistic...

The book offers a novel exploration into the semantic development of English terms concerning the concept of 'joy' (bliss, cheer, delight, dream, game, gladness, glee, joy, and mirth). The analysis, carried out within the framework of cognitive and historical linguistics, employs the notions of cognitive domains, profiling, and categorisation. The author adopts a panchronic perspective, according to which language reflects the way speakers experience the world. This allows her to provide a new insight into the intrinsic nature of semantic change.

The book offers an in-depth analysis of English loanword adaptation process in Russian. It is based on a rich body of data presenting the major nativisation patterns of those English sounds absent from Russian in both established and online loans. The formal analysis of the uncovered patterns is couched within the framework of Optimality Theory.