Review of Cognitive Linguistics. Published under the auspices of the Spanish Cognitive Linguistics Association - Volume 19, Issue 1, 2021

Abstract

This paper aims to construct a cultural model of qi in Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) by probing into its conceptual metaphors based on a contextualized semantic analysis of qi in Huang Di’s Inner Classic (HDIC). It is found that there are eight conceptual metaphors of qi, each involving experiential correlation between source and target concept. To be specific, cause for effect builds up a major metonymic basis for the metaphorical mappings from the source concept of qi (i.e., substance) to the target concepts, including physiological function, breathing, climate, pathogenic factor, disease/syndrome, odor, property of drugs and time. It is worth special noting that time is understood in terms of the motion of qi in TCM. The conceptual metaphor time is qi is Chinese culture-specific. On the whole, conceptual metaphors of qi form a conceptual network and further constitute a cultural model: qi as the substance origin of human life is believed in TCM to function by ceaseless motion, giving rise to wellness or illness. This cultural model reflects a pair of inseparable concepts in ancient Chinese philosophy, viz. substance and (its) function, with the former being primary, essential and original, while the latter, secondary, concomitant and derivational.

Abstract

This study aims to examine the target concepts of metaphorical and metonymical uses of blood in Jordanian Arabic (JA) through adopting Conceptual Metaphor Theory as based on the notion of main meaning focus (Kövecses, 2010, 2011) as a theoretical framework. A 40,000 words specialized corpus was built for the purpose of this study. Data was analyzed employing WordSmith Tools (version 6), which enables the processing of Arabic data. The results reveal that blood as a source domain can be used to conceptualize character traits, essence and emotion in JA through metonymy-based-metaphors and scenic metaphors in which the source domain is constructed metonymically. Similarities and differences were detected between JA and other languages investigated in the literature. Similarities were ascribed to cognitive embodiment of bodily substances, i.e., blood, to conceptualize abstract concepts such as character traits and emotion, while differences were attributed to socio-cultural embodiment of certain qualities of blood shared by members of the Jordanian community.

Abstract

In accord with Verhagen’s (1996) insights regarding epistemic uses of the predicator promise (e.g., Tomorrow promises to be a fine day), this paper identifies another type of these epistemic uses. It focuses on constructional cues in complex-clause utterances of the form I promise X: whether or not the subject of the embedded clause X is congruent with ‘I’ in the main clause and whether the tense of X is past or non-past. It investigates how it is used epistemically, especially in its colloquial uses; how the constructional cues (the kind of subject and the tense information) influence its construal; and how the different conceptual structures underlying the construals of the commissive and the epistemic modal senses of the construction can be modeled within Mental-spaces theory. It also discusses that the conceptual structures may be differently reified cross-linguistically briefing on the Korean constructs yaksokha- ‘(I) promise’ and cangtamha- ‘(I) assure’.

Abstract

According to the dynamic view of metaphor, the complexities of metaphorical expressions are emergent products of language use. However, this view lacks an explicit mechanism to account for the process. This paper puts forward a model named single-scope integration network with entrenchment (SINE), and uses if-then rules in the model to explain the temporal order and regularities that the metaphoremes of a metaphor should follow in their emergence. The validity of the model is tested in the case studies of Chinese verb metaphors, which reveal four if-then rules that govern the metaphoreme emergence of Chinese verb metaphors. These if-then rules are obtained via the analysis of the occurrence order of metaphoremes by performing DepCluster, a machine learning tool for collostruction generation, over a large-scale diachronic corpus. The case studies demonstrate that the proposed model is applicable to Chinese verb metaphors.

Abstract

In this paper, we analyze a large-scale corpus of Arab cartoons to measure the correspondence between grammatical gender in Arabic and personified gender in images. The results show that the effect is very strong for males (a near-perfect relationship between the two, grammatical and visual depiction), but the reverse is the case for females (the grammatical description is almost the opposite in perceived meaning of the graphical depiction). It can be a substantive cartoon effect. That is, there is more ambiguity in images depicting females due to some implicit cultural effect (i.e., males/gendered maleness dominates even in the text in ‘male-centric’ cultures). We look at the implications of this androcentric behavior for understanding the complex set of relationships linking language, thought, and culture. Such research will aid both gender studies and cognition scholarship based on multimodal stimuli.

Abstract

Military recruitment advertising, as a type of authoritative political video advertisement, demonstrates a country’s military culture. This paper will provide a brand-new perspective in researching Chinese military culture from the approach of multimodal metaphor. Currently, a multimodal analysis of military recruitment advertising in terms of short video clips does not exist, and most of the existing multimodal studies have focused on Western mainstream media, whereas media with Chinese characteristics have remained mostly untouched by research. With Forceville and Urios-Aparisi’s (2009) Multimodal Metaphor Theory (MMT) as a theoretical basis, and the newly-released recruitment advertising “The Power of China” as the research object, this paper utilizes the MIPVU and ELAN image tagging software to identify and analyze the multimodal metaphors in “The Power of China” under the framework of MMT.

Abstract

While phrasal verbs (PVs) represent “a problematic feature of English vocabulary” (Garnier & Schmitt, 2016, p. 29) for a large number of learners, research into L2 English PVs remains insufficient. This study examines 150 tertiary-level L2 English learners’ knowledge of figurative meaning senses of PVs and the influence of congruence in the figurative meaning senses between L1 and L2 on their knowledge of the meaning senses. The research instruments consisted of a form-recall and a meaning-recall task, questionnaires, and focus group interviews. The results indicate that the learners’ PV knowledge differed significantly according to proficiency level and task type – production and reception. Further, L1 congruence influenced the learners’ knowledge of PVs differently depending on proficiency levels.

Abstract

This article presents an original three-component model of the linguistic sign. It shares with the established triadic models of Peirce (1955 [1897]) and Ogden and Richards (1923/1949) in identifying thought, word and thing as essential components; but differs in being linear, with thought and thing at opposite poles. It is argued that this arrangement reflects the way the components of the sign relate to reality and thereby serves well as an explanatory tool for linguistic research. The model is further modified at each of the ontological realms using concepts from cognitive linguistics, renamed cognition, language and reality. The new model is employed as a research tool in two case studies: one illustrates its use in making sense of the complex field of language grammar; the other does the same for figurative language – metaphor and metonymy. The article’s conclusions include that interrogating established cornerstones of linguistic theory in the light of new theory can lead to the development of improved research tools.

Abstract

The present study investigates the relation between temperature and non-sensory domains conceptually close to it. Observing metaphorical extensions of the Italian basic temperature terms caldo ‘hot’ and freddo ‘cold’, individuated through a collocational analysis performed on the ItTenTen16 corpus, mental operations responsible for the association of temperature with other domains are assessed. Interestingly, many associations are first elaborated onto warmth/heat and then used to map concepts onto cold. Although conceptual associations are primarily motivated by embodiment, in some cases they stem from a shared “vertical” image-schematic structure: warmth and heat are up, while cold is down on the axis, resembling the configuration of other domains with a positive/negative orientation (e.g., good/bad). A visual representation of the semantic network of temperature highlights that domains associated with temperature are mirrored in its two poles: for instance, high and low temperature are associated, respectively, with friendliness and unfriendliness.

This article reviews Thought-based linguistics: How language turns thoughts into sounds

This article reviews Extended Conceptual Metaphor Theory