Studia Filologiczne UJK

Summary

By using the titular metaphor “a term’s life cycle” I claim that scientific terms need not be static or have definitive boundaries. As pointed out by cognitively-oriented researchers, the dynamics and openness of terminology to novel content results from a constant development of scientific knowledge. The present study inquires into the validity of some of the proposals of cognitive linguists.
In the schematic case study I look at the evolution of the term konotacja ‘connotation’: it accounts, to a large extent, for its non-monosemic nature. I also analyse the structure of a scientific term in the context of its similarity to the prototype category organization and its fuzzy, open boudaries.