A Cognitive Semantic Study of Some English Riddles and Their Answers in Amidst a Tangled Web

The aim of this paper was to identify meaning construction strategies in selected English riddles and account for the mental processes involved in their production. In pursuance of this aim, 38 riddles, together with their answers, were downloaded from Amidst a Tangled Web, an online source for English riddles. The answers supplied by the riddlers were subjected to cognitive semantic reading. The riddlers’ answers were tested against our cognitive perception of the riddles, which served as clues for conducting and categorizing our analysis. Analysis of the data, based on insights from cognitive semantic theory, proclaimed the primacy of cognitive context in the semantics of the discourse of the riddle by revealing that its production and interpretation required more than conventional linguistic knowledge. The paper showed that the meaning of a riddle is an imposed meaning that relates to the logical, experiential, linguistic, literary and intuitive judgments of the riddlers. The paper concluded that a riddle is an exemplar of cognitive dimension of power dominance expressed in discourses.