scholarly journals Argument structure, conceptual metaphor and semantic change

Diachronica ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 36 (4) ◽  
pp. 463-508
Author(s):  
Cynthia A. Johnson ◽  
Peter Alexander Kerkhof ◽  
Leonid Kulikov ◽  
Esther Le Mair ◽  
Jóhanna Barðdal

Abstract In contrast to grammaticalization studies of lexical verbs changing into auxiliaries, the realm of semantic changes associated with lexical verbs is an understudied area of historical semantics. We concentrate on the emergence of verbs of success from more semantically concrete verbs, uncovering six conceptual metaphors which all co-occur with non-canonical encoding of subjects in Indo-European. Careful scrutiny of the relevant data reveals a semantic development most certainly inherited from Indo-European; hence, we reconstruct a dat-‘succeeds’ construction at different levels of schematicity for Proto-Indo-European, including a novel reconstruction of a conceptual metaphor, success is motion forward, and the mapping between this metaphor and the verb-class-specific argument structure construction. Hence, this article offers a systematic analysis of regularity in semantic change, highlighting the importance of predicate and argument structure for lexical semantic developments.

Author(s):  
Zoltán Kövecses

The chapter reports on work concerned with the issue of how conceptual metaphor theory (CMT) functions as a link between culture and cognition. Three large areas are investigated to this effect. First, work on the interaction between conceptual metaphors, on the one hand, and folk and expert theories of emotion, on the other, is surveyed. Second, the issue of metaphorical universality and variation is addressed, together with that of the function of embodiment in metaphor. Third, a contextualist view of conceptual metaphors is proposed. The discussion of these issues leads to a new and integrated understanding of the role of metaphor and metonymy in creating cultural reality and that of metaphorical variation across and within cultures, as well as individuals.


2012 ◽  
Vol 49 (3) ◽  
pp. 459-472 ◽  
Author(s):  
María Inclán

This study represents the first systematic analysis of the interactions between pro-Zapatista and counter-Zapatista protestors in Chiapas, Mexico, and the first empirical test of movement–countermovement theories in a transitional democracy. Three claims are tested: (1) movement protests trigger countermovement protest activity; (2) different political parties at different levels of government trigger movement–countermovement protest activity; and (3) victories won by one side of a conflict, viewed as procedural concessions, trigger further pro- and countermovement protest activity. These hypotheses are tested using negative binomial models and data on Zapatista-related protest activity between 1994 and 2003. The results show that: (1) movement and countermovement protests have a positive, reciprocal effect on both groups' future protest activity; (2) movement and countermovement protesting groups use the dominant political party as a target of protest. The characteristics of the electoral cycle and rise of multi-party competition at all levels of government do not have a consistent effect on protest activity; (3) granting procedural concessions to pro-movement actors generates more protest activity among both groups. However, granting procedural concessions via social programs and public works to the population irrespective of its sympathy to either side of the movement–countermovement conflict decreases movement protests and increases countermovement protests.


Author(s):  
Nenad Blaženović ◽  
Emir Muhić

An analysis was carried out with two interviews given by the tennis-player Novak Djokovic, one of which was in English and the other in his native Serbian. In both instances, Novak Djokovic used many conceptual metaphors throughout his speech, some of which were analysed in more detail. The main premise of the research was that people’s personalities change in accordance with language they speak at any given time and that they use different conceptual metaphors to describe the same events in different languages. The aim of the paper was to investigate whether personality shift in bilingual speakers can be observed through the speaker’s use of conceptual metaphors in different languages. Through the framework of conceptual metaphor theory, it was shown that Djokovic’s personality does change with the language he speaks. This change was shown through the conceptual metaphors, i.e., source and target domains that Djokovic used during the interviews. He does indeed use different source domains to conceptualise the same target domains in different languages.


Author(s):  
Nicholas Welch ◽  
Marie-Louise Bouvier White

AbstractA widely accepted assumption in both the syntactic and semantic literature is that copulas lack semantic content. A consequent question is how to explain the existence in certain languages of two copular verbs that give rise to different interpretations. Such is the case in numerous languages of the Dene family (formerly known as Athapaskan). We explain this situation with the hypothesis that the copulas realize an underlying three-copula system differing in argument structure. Differences between the interpretations of copular clauses in these languages originate in the compositional semantics of these structures, not in any lexical semantic differences.This hypothesis successfully predicts the distributional differences between the surface forms of the Dene copulas, such as their compatibility with adjuncts of time and intentionality, interactions with accusative case, and semantic lifetime effects.


2018 ◽  
Vol 9 (3) ◽  
pp. 166
Author(s):  
Victor Ondara Ntabo ◽  
Moses Gatambuki Gathigia ◽  
Naom Moraa Nyarigoti

A review of literature on pop songs reveals that composers use metaphors to communicate their feelings. In particular, the meaning of the metaphors in EkeGusii pop songs needs to be interpreted to reveal the message of the composers. The EkeGusii pop singer Christopher Mosioma’s (Embarambamba) songs have gained fame in Kenya because of their richness in the usage of metaphors. One of Christopher Mosioma’s songs, amasomo (education) which was launched in 2015 has gained acclaim from Kenyans. The song amasomo (education) is basically presented as a piece of advice to students to embrace education in order to optimally reap from its benefits. The study identified 10 metaphors in the song amasomo (education) through the Metaphor Identification Procedure Vrije Universiteit. In order to interpret the metaphors in the EkeGusii pop song amasomo (education), the Conceptual Metaphor Theory complemented by the folk conception of the generic Great Chain of Being Metaphor were employed. The study employed four coders (including the researchers) in the identification of the metaphors. The study found that, inter alia, animal, plant and object metaphors are used in the song amasomo (education). The study concludes that the metaphors in the EkeGusii pop songs belong inherently to different levels of the generic Great Chain of Being Metaphor.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sinan Kurtyigit ◽  
Maike Park ◽  
Dominik Schlechtweg ◽  
Jonas Kuhn ◽  
Sabine Schulte im Walde

Author(s):  
Lucienne C. Espíndola

This work aims at presenting some results of the research developed in the Project named Metaphor, Discursive Genre and Argumentation (MGDA) which has the purpose of describing linguistic expressions that materialize conceptual metaphors in several discursive genres, searching for the identification of the semantic-discursive function(s) of such expressions. The researches were done by my students and me and the present results reveal some discursive functions not seen in the literature so far: the presence of metaphorical expressions that materialize conceptual metaphors with the function of approaching the advertiser to the interlocutor in publicity and linguistic expressions that literalize the everyday life conceptual metaphor, producing laughter in humor, among other semantic-discursive functions.


Lexicon ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 6 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Stephanie Melinda Pramudita ◽  
Sharifah Hanidar

This research aims to classify the conceptual metaphors in Paramore’s After Laughter (2017) album. The data for the research were taken from 11 songs in the album After Laughter. The data were analyzed using Lakoff and Johnson’s (1980) theory of conceptual metaphor. From the 11 songs, 47 data were identified containing conceptual metaphors. Overall, the data mostly consist of orientational metaphors. There were 37 data containing orientational metaphors, which are used by the songwriters to convey to their listeners that they had experienced ups and downs in their lives. Eight structural metaphors were used to deliver the message that life is full of challenges and struggle. However, it also conveys a lesson of the most genuine forgiveness. Only 2 data containing ontological metaphors were found. The conceptual metaphors depict the devastation in their lives, as it is tangible through human imagination and has human characteristics. By using conceptual metaphors in the song lyrics, the songwriters enable the listeners to acknowledge the message, as well as the story that they meant to convey.


2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mohamed Ayed Ibrahim Ayassrah ◽  
Mohd Nazri Latiff Azmi

Of the rhetorical tools, metaphor still has insufficient interest, primarily as a crosscultural phenomenon though it is an attractive and vivid area, so it should be studied and highlighted (Suhadi, 2018) and (Barton, 2017). This comparative study investigated the conceptual metaphor in modern Arabic versus English poetry with reference to Al-Sayyab and T. S. Eliot as two poles of modern poetry in Arabic and English. This study tried to shed light on the frequency of the conceptual metaphors in Al-Sayyab’s The Rain Song versus Eliot’s The Waste Land. Besides, it aimed to explore the similarities and differences between the two poems in using the CMT orientational ’Up’ and ’Down’ strategy. However, to accomplish its aims, this study adopted Lakoff and Jonson’s Conceptual Metaphor Theory ’CMT’ (1980); this theory asserted that metaphor is an inborn mental system in which we understand a certain concept in terms of another by drawing a logical mapping between the source domain and the target one. Finally, the study found that modern poetry was wealthy of conceptual metaphors. It also discovered that The Rain Song involved 65.29% conceptual metaphors of its total lines, so it exceeded The Waste Land which comprised only 39.40%. Furthermore, the study revealed that the two poems were generally pessimistic in which the ’Down’ domain exceeded the ’Up’ one in each poem. Also, it detected that Eliot was more pessimistic than Al Sayyab who was more optimistic.


2018 ◽  
Vol 1 (5) ◽  
pp. 545
Author(s):  
Sintia Purnama ◽  
Muhammad Akbar Nurhakim

This research is entitled Conceptual Metaphors of Setya Novanto'case; In the newspaper. The purpose of this research is to know the meaning and function of the metaphor, this study also tries to find out the conceptualizations of politics. In this case, the author uses the theory of Lakoff and Johnson. Data were taken from 4 news from people's mind newspaper Tuesday 28 November 2017, Kompas daily pad Monday 20 November 2017, new compass on 22 November 2017 and people's mind on 20 November 2017 . in this research the writer use a qualitative research Method. Which all of the data are they presented descriptively. From the analysis, the result found 4 political discourses in conceptual metaphor in the newspaper about Setya Novanto cases. From 175 metaphorical statements, the researcher found 55 metaphors. that is found 45 % as objects or goods that can be traded.30 % politics as a battle,10% as a war and 15 % as a race. It shows that in the political discourses.Keywords:      Newspaper, Conceptual, Metaphor, Setya Novanto’s case.


Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document