A Uniform Model of Computational Conceptual Blending

[EN]We present a mathematical model for the cognitive operation of conceptual blending that aims at being uniform across di↵erent representation formalisms, while capturing the relevant structure of this operation. The model takes its inspiration from amalgams as applied in case-based reasoning, but lifts them into the theory of categories so as to follow Joseph Goguen’s intuition for a mathematically precise characterisation of conceptual blending at a representationindependent level of abstraction. We prove that our amalgam-based categorytheoretical model of conceptual blending is essentially equivalent to the pushout model in the ordered category of partial maps as put forward by Joseph Goguen. But unlike Goguen’s approach, our model is more suitable for a computational realisation of conceptual blending, and we exemplify this by concretising our model to computational conceptual blends for various representation formalisms and application domains.This research was supported by the COINVENT project funded by the Seventh Framework Programme for Research of the European Commission, under FET-Open Grant No. 611553; by CSIC’s Proyecto Intramural Especial DIVERSIS, under Grant No. 201750E064; and by the Ajuts a grups de recerca consolidats from the Generalitat de Catalunya, under Grant No. 2017 SGR 00172.Peer reviewe