Current progress in linguistic theorizing is more and more informed by cross-linguistic (including cross-modal) investigation. Comparison of languages relies crucially on the concepts that can be coded with similar effort in all languages. These concepts are part of every language user's ontology, the network of cross-connected conceptualizations the mind uses in coping with the world. How are ontological structures reflected in intra- and cross-linguistic regularities? This question defines the ontolinguistic research program. The volume unites contributions from linguistics, neuroscience, philosophy, and Artificial Intelligence into the outline of an approach that promises to develop into a vital branch of cognitive science.
