This book presents a study of meaning relations, linking the philosophical tradition of conceptual analysis with recent theories and methodologies in cognitive semantics. Its main concern is the extent to which analyzing meaning relations between cognate words reveal the infrastructure of the actual and mental lexicon, assuming that language mirrors thought. Sovran aims to elucidate their infrastructure and the metaphorical and perceptual models that constitute abstract concepts, dealing finally with the role of abstraction in poetic metaphors. Overall, this volume addresses major contemporary issues in the philosophy of language and theoretical semantics.

Tobias Jung is Senior Lecturer, School of Management, University of St Andrews, UK. He is a founding member of the UK’s Centre for Charitable Giving and Philanthropy (CGAP), and a former Governor and Trustee of the St Katharine and Shadwell Trust and London’s East End Community Foundation.

Susan Phillips is Professor, and from 2005-2014 served as Director, School of Public Policy and Administration, Carleton University in Ottawa, Canada. In 2013, she founded and continues as Supervisor of Canada’s only graduate program in Philanthropy and Nonprofit Leadership.

Jenny Harrow is Professor of Voluntary Sector Management, Cass Business School, City University London, UK. She is founding Co-Director of the Centre for Charitable Giving and Philanthropy, funded by the UK’s Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC).