The Oxford Handbook of Cognitive Linguistics Part 18. In the past decade, Cognitive Linguistics has developed into one of the most dynamic and attractive frameworks within theoretical and descriptive linguistics The Oxford Handbook of Cognitive Linguistics is a major new reference that presents a comprehensive overview of the main theoretical concepts and descriptive/theoretical models of Cognitive Linguistics, and covers its various subfields, theoretical as well as applied. | 140 BARBARA LEWANDOWSKA-TOMASZCZyK it carries in the analysis of meaning. As stated by Wierzbicka 1985 11 It goes without saying that polysemy must never be postulated lightly and that it has always to be justified on language-internal grounds but to reject polysemy in a dogmatic and a priori fashion is just as foolish as to postulate it without justification. In this respect Cognitive Linguistics tries to do justice to earlier opinions like that of Stephen Ullmann whose 1951 book is an excellent overview of the development of linguistic semantics from its nineteenth-century beginnings to the middle of the twentieth century who stated that polysemy is the pivot of semantic analysis 1951 117 . The specific perspective taken by Cognitive Linguistics in the study of polysemy is to analyze polysemy as a form of categorization. In the course of this chapter I will present four features that are crucial for the cognitive linguistic approach and its relation to polysemy the flexibility of meaning the prototype-theoretical model of semantic structure the radial set model and the schematic network I will conclude by presenting major open questions for Cognitive Linguistics as well as prospects and areas of possible future research on these matters. Given the wide range of the material to be considered it would be impossible to exhaust the topic at hand polysemy radial sets and schematic networks but an attempt will be made to present some main features of cognitive linguistic theorizing with reference to these semantic issues. Cognitive Linguistics in fact has been prolific in studying semantic questions. Even though classical polysemy refers first of all to lexis Cognitive linguistic tools make it possible to observe polysemic effects in phonology morphology and syntax . Taylor 1989 . Polysemic words abound in the language used in early childhood in language development see Tomasello 1992 and in language The phenomenon of polysemy also accounts for a .