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Outer space is, and has historically been, subject to human curiosity, imagination, and scientific inquiry. Yet it remains beyond direct human experience. While technological advancements have transformed our understanding of outer space from an abstract unknown into a place of scientific exploration, political ambition, and human interaction, the way people understand it is also influenced by language, culture, history, and imagination.

A growing body of humanities and social science research on outer space recognizes that outer space is not just a physical place, but a place shaped by human knowledge, interaction, and narratives. However, linguistic perspectives remain scarce. This thesis situates and contributes to this field as it aims to explore, and by doing so, shed light on how outer space is conceptualized and linguistically construed.

Situated within the theoretical framework of Cognitive Linguistics, this study approaches language as a lens through which conceptualization can be explored. Rather than just serving as a means of communication, language also reflects the relationship between thought, experience, and reality. In the case of outer space – a place that humans cannot directly interact with – the thesis offers insights into how people understand the unfamiliar.

The thesis comprises five empirical studies, primarily employing corpus linguistic methods to analyze American English, given its prominence in scientific, technological, and cultural discourses on space. The studies examine motion verbs, prepositional constructions, compound nouns, and metaphors, analyzing these via a combination of qualitative and quantitative perspectives to capture both common usage patterns involving these constructions and trends as well as finer details of how space is conceptualized.

The results show that language about space is firmly rooted in embodied experiences. Even in an environment where fundamental physical principles such as gravity no longer apply embodied experience influence how people think and talk. Furthermore, outer space is also understood through personifications and metaphors that draw upon familiar, embodied experiences, offering ways to make sense of abstract and unfamiliar places in both conventional and creative ways. Finally, the results encompass conceptualizations specific to the United States' cultural context, influenced by the Cold War, colonial expansion, and economic or political discourse on space exploration and tourism. By means of a detailed examination of how outer space is linguistically construed and conceptualized in American English, this thesis shows that studying the patterns of language and thought can provide insights into how people understand, engage with, and imagine outer space now and in the future.