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Introduction
Thebookhasadualorientationandadualaim:theoreticalandanalytical.
Onthetheoreticalside,itpresentsarelativelylitleknowncognitivemodelof
categorization,VantageTheory(henceforthalsoVT),surveysitslinguisticap-
plicationsandproposesitsadaptation,calledExtendedVantageTheory(EVT).
Theadaptationisdesignedtosuitaspecificpurpose,anextendedanalysisof
theEnglisharticles,whichconstitutestheanalyticalpart.Thebookisthusas
muchatestinggroundforatheoryasitisahands-onstrugglewithspecific
data.
Inthecognitivelinguisticenterprise,towhichthebooksubscribes,the
mostfundamentalquestionisthatofthenatureoftherelationshipbetween
languageandcognition.Anin-depthdiscussionoftheproblemwouldadd
athird,probablyasuperfluousdimensiontothebook;instead,theissuereap-
pearsasarecurrentthemeinthepresentationofVTandofitsmodifiedver-
sion.Inbriefterms,thecognitiveabilitiesoftheconceptualizerandlanguage
speakerasanactiveagentactasthedrivingforceresponsibleforlanguageuse.
Thisviewoflanguageandcognitionhasbeenshapedbythescholarlymilieu
inwhichthepresentworktookshape,namelythecognitivistapproachtolan-
guagepursuedattheDepartmentofEnglish,MariaCurie-SkłodowskaUniver-
sityinLublin,Poland.Inspiredbytheworkofe.g.GeorgeLakof,MarkTurner,
GillesFauconnier,AdeleGoldberg,butpredominantlyRonaldLangacker,the
researchconductedinthedepartmentextendedtheworkoftheseandotherlin-
guiststoanalysesofSlavic,especiallyPolishdata.SuchisforexampleHenryk
Kardela’s(2000)accountofnounmorphology,aspect,complementationandthe