Image as the most important cognitive component in the functioning of figurative meanings

This article attempts to consider the mechanisms of metaphoric conceptualization of the anthropomorphic space of human life activity through identification, systematization, and description of the semantic structure and functional properties of metaphoric units. The current stage in the study of the functional development of figurative meanings finds its utmost relevance when linguistic phenomena are analyzed on the basis of the anthropocentric approach with an emphasis on a human as the object of conceptual awareness. It can be said that the very nature of polysemy is anthropomorphic since it is initially inherent in the human consciousness to handle the experience gained in the processes of conceptualization and categorization of the surrounding world. Yet, the images resulting from the interaction of a person as a subject of language with the real objects surrounding him / her emerge as the brain constructions rather than mirror reflections of the surrounding reality. The system of images is included in both collective and individual view of the world as mentality that reflects the ideas about the world around us, about a person’s place in it and the subsequent verbalization of this experience. The practical part of this study considers imagery as a holistic model of the semantic structure exemplified by the word suit with 10 definitions and 15 functioning patterns. The paper argues that the image has an undifferentiated nature, like gestalt. It is syncretic in the way that it combines different sensually perceived mental aspects and objects into a single whole.