MEDICAL PROFESSIONAL DISCOURSE WITHIN THE COGNITIVE LINGUISTIC ANALYSIS FRAMEWORK

Abstract

Research into professional discourse is closely connected with the multilayer analysis of ESP within the cognitive linguistic framework. It is very important to consider the anthropocentric focus of the cognitive discursive paradigm and the special attention traditionally paid to the linguistic representation of certain mental structures which serve as a basis for professional communication. Medical discourse studies have a lot to do with the communicative activity involving human life and health, that is why medical discourse needs to be analyzed from the viewpoints of anthropocentric and functional linguistic approaches, as research into various kinds of verbal interactions encompasses both professional communication among specialists and patient-doctor communication, a patient functioning simultaneously as the subject and the recipient of medical aid. As far as specific mental structures are concerned, verbal expressiveness depends on the functional properties of corresponding language units, their pragmatic and communicative characteristics, which tend to be manifested in conceptual metaphorical representation. The aim of this article is to analyze vast empirical material and single out the most significant cognitive linguistic peculiarities of modern English medical discourse. Cognitive linguistic approach allows scientists to define the essence of professional languages as well as to contemplate other research prospects in the context of medical discourse analysis.