Conceptual structure of the binary axiological opposition truth — lie

Abstract

Axiological categories and the concepts they consist of have always been a major area of interest in science. The development of cognitive linguistics has opened new perspectives for the study of axiological events, categories and concepts within them. This article explores the structure of the axiological binary opposition truth-lie, based on the material of the English language. In English, the verbalised concept truth encodes information about both objective truth as well as its subjective perception and re-translation. A combination of methods — definitional, frame and conceptual analyses — makes it possible to investigate and model the structure of the frames TRUTH and LIE, identify their main slots and the type of conceptual information they encode. The results of the analyses suggest that the two frames have the same structure and the same number and type of slots. However, the conceptual content of the slots is different. From the conceptual point of view, the axiological binary opposition truth — lie is a continuum having an intermediate blend zone “neither truth nor lie”, incorporating the axiological paradoxes, which form the conceptual basis of manipulation.