Prospects of diachronic studies of metaphor in cognitive historiography

Statistical analysis of historical material as a way of using practical approach in cognitive historiography can include diachronic research of conceptual metaphor. The nature, role in sociocultural interaction and mechanisms of metaphorical understanding lead to the conclusion that conceptual metaphor is a basic tool of human semiosis, the study of which has a rich potential of exploring how people in past societies thought. The following aspects of diachronic research of conceptual metaphor are highlighted: the evolution of metaphorical understanding of concepts, the description and comparison of abstract notions paradigms, which characterize national cultures and subcultures, the dynamics of using metaphorical containers in linguoculture. The metaphorical nature of human interaction with environment and society provides plenty of examples which help to draw well-substantiated conclusions about models of understanding ideal and material phenomena.