Evaluation of the Embodied Cognition Hypothesis in the Formation of the Concept of "POSSESSION" in the Language of Quran

Abstract

Body cognition is one of the theoretical frameworks in cognitive sciences based on which cognition is a physical phenomenon that is formed through the interaction between body, environment, and mind. This is associated with many abstract concepts of the Qur'an, of which "POSSESSION" is one of the most important. This research has tried to measure and evaluate the effect of body cognition on the formation of the abstract concept of "POSSESSION" in the Quran language using a descriptive-analytic approach and cognitive semantics perspective. The data examined in this study were the lexical elements related to body organs and the verbs associated with these organs which were used to refer to POSSESSION. The results of this research show that understanding the concept of OWNERSHIP and its types in the Qur'an depends on the physical experience and physical activities of the human being and that the human experiential knowledge of the body parts, such as hands, feet, head, mouth and their related actions, such as: taking, making, earning, grabbing, standing and eating, is the basis of metaphorical mapping for understanding abstract concept of POSSESSION in Quran language, and can help us to better understand this concept in the Qur'an and improve our knowledge in this field.

Keywords

• cognitive semantics
• embodied cognition
• conceptual metaphor
• quran
• possession