2026

This article investigates conceptual metaphors of spaceSpace in the inaugural discourse of K. K. Tokayev (2022), V. V. Putin (2024) and J. Biden (2021). The article focuses on a complex analysisAnalysis of expressive means representing the cognitive dominants of space, direction, and motion. The study relies on the methods of cognitive modellingCognitive modelling, lexicographic analysis, contextual analysis, and lexico-semantic analysis. Spatial metaphors are considered within the Conceptual MetaphorConceptual Metaphor Theory of G. Lakoff and M. Johnson. It is stated that spatial metaphors are based on the following conceptual oppositions: up-down, in–out, front-back, deep-shallow, and central-peripheral. The results show that the use of orientational metaphors is peculiar to all inaugural speechesInaugural speech of the mentioned presidents. At the semantic level, it is expressed by the meanings of lexemes actualising different orientation schemes. It is emphasised that the actualisation of semantic components characterises the value picture of the world as a dynamic structure, assigned by the utterances and implemented for definite goals.