Cognitive Semantics is part of Cognitive Linguistics. As such, it rejects the formal traditions modularisation of linguistics into phonology, syntax, pragmatics, etc. Instead it divides semantics (meaning) into Meaning-construction and Knowledge Representation. As such, Cognitive Semantics studies much of the area traditionally devoted to pragmatics as well as semantics.

The four tenets of Cognitive Semantics are:

• Semantic Structure is Conceptual Structure
• Conceptual Structure is Embodied
• Meaning Representation is Encyclopaedic
• Meaning-construction is Conceptualisation