scholarly journals Moving beyond ‘Next Wednesday’: The interplay of lexical semantics and constructional meaning in an ambiguous metaphoric statement

2015 ◽  
Vol 26 (4) ◽  
pp. 633-656 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michele I. Feist ◽  
Sarah E. Duffy
Keyword(s):  
Lexical Semantics ◽  
Temporal Reference ◽  
Source Domain ◽  
Temporal Semantics ◽  
Final Interpretation ◽  
Lexical Items

AbstractWhat factors influence our understanding of metaphoric statements about time? By examining the interpretation of one such statement – namely, Next Wednesday’s meeting has been moved forward by two days – earlier research has demonstrated that people may draw on spatial perspectives, involving multiple spatially based temporal reference strategies, to interpret metaphoric statements about time (e.g. Boroditsky 2000; Kranjec 2006; McGlone and Harding 1998; Núñez et al. 2006). However, what is still missing is an understanding of the role of linguistic factors in the interpretation of temporal statements such as this one. In this paper, we examine the linguistic properties of this famous temporally ambiguous utterance, considered as an instantiation of a more schematic construction. In Experiment 1, we examine the roles of individual lexical items that are used in the utterance in order to better understand the interplay of lexical semantics and constructional meaning in the context of a metaphoric statement. Following up on prior suggestions in the literature, we ask whether the locus of the ambiguity is centred on the adverb, centred on the verb, or distributed across the utterance. The results suggest that the final interpretation results from an interplay of verb and adverb, suggesting a distributed temporal semantics analogous to the distributed semantics noted for the metaphoric source domain of space (Sinha and Kuteva 1995) and consistent with a constructional view of language (Goldberg 2003). In Experiment 2, we expand the linguistic factors under investigation to include voice and person. The findings suggest that grammatical person, but not grammatical voice, may also influence the interpretation of the Next Wednesday’s meeting metaphor. Taken together, the results of these two studies illuminate the interplay of lexical and constructional factors in the interpretation of temporal metaphors.

Unweaving the embodied nature of English temporal prepositions

2021 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Javier A. Morras Cortés ◽  
Xu Wen
Keyword(s):  
Conceptual Metaphor ◽  
Temporal Structure ◽  
Weak Version ◽  
Conceptual Metaphor Theory ◽  
Temporal Reference ◽  
Temporal Semantics ◽  
Temporal Cognition ◽  
Metaphor Theory ◽  
Temporal Structures

Abstract The metaphor time is space (Lakoff & Johnson 1999) and the pervasiveness of metaphor and image-schematic structure in human conceptualization (Johnson 1987; Hampe 2005) have been widely accepted among cognitive scientists as constructs that help explain non-spatial and temporal linguistic constructions. However, Conceptual Metaphor Theory (CMT) might not be the whole story. While it is acceptable that moments in time can be construed as being analogous to points in space as in utterances such as at the corner vs. at 2:30, there seems to be much more temporal cognition than previously thought. It turns out that time exhibits its own structure (following Evans 2004, 2013; Galton 2011) that is based on transience. This idea has made some scholars support the weak version of CMT which posits that the temporal meaning of prepositions is represented and processed independently of the corresponding spatial meanings (see Kemmerer 2005 for such a view). The present article supports the idea that spatial and temporal structures complement each other in order to achieve temporal conceptions. This is indeed a conceptual pattern showed by the English preposition at that makes use of an extrinsic temporal reference to activate its temporal semantics. To analyze the different temporal realizations that at may have, the paper aims to identify the topological structure that underlies the conceptual basis of this preposition. This allows us to appreciate how the spatio-conceptual structure of at partially structures temporal conceptions. The paper also identifies the nature of the temporal structure that is involved in temporal realizations. The article concludes with some remarks, among them the pivotal role of the schematic temporal structure that is captured by the extrinsic temporal reference, and the role of conceptual metaphor in underdetermining temporal thinking.

Uzbek re-modeled

2017 ◽  
Vol 16 (2) ◽  
pp. 313-333
Author(s):  
Lydia Catedral
Keyword(s):  
Language Use ◽  
Language Planning ◽  
Russian Language ◽  
Semantic Classes ◽  
Unique Approach ◽  
Lexical Items ◽  
The Relationship

Abstract This study investigates the relationship between Russian language use and language planning in the context of newly independent, post-soviet Uzbekistan (1991–1992). It is guided by the question: In what ways does the use of Russian loanwords in Uzbek language newspapers accomplish language planning in newly independent Uzbekistan? The main finding from this analysis is that post-independence use of Russian loanwords from particular semantic classes in particular contexts reinforce overtly stated ideologies about Russian and construct difference between soviet Uzbekistan and independent Uzbekistan. These findings demonstrate the need to reexamine the role of Russian language in post-soviet contexts, and they contribute a unique approach to analyzing links between lexical items and ideology in language planning.

scholarly journals I can't believe it's not lexical: Deriving distributed veridicality

2019 ◽  
Vol 29 ◽  
pp. 665
Author(s):  
Tom Roberts
Keyword(s):  
Lexical Semantics ◽  
Lexical Items ◽  
Clausal Negation ◽  
The Right ◽  
Clausal Complements ◽  
Excluded Middle ◽  
Linguistic Material

Given the assumption that selection is a strictly local relationship between a head and its complement, we expect the ability of a head to take a particular argument to be insensitive to linguistic material above that head. The verb believe poses a puzzle under this view: while believe ordinarily only permits declarative clausal complements, interrogative complements are allowed when believe occurs under clausal negation and can or will, and a veridical reading becomes available. I argue that this provides evidence that believe is not simply a standard Hintikkan representational belief verb, but rather is fundamentally question-embedding,and that the verb's lexical semantics, including an excluded middle presupposition, interact with the modal and negation to derive the veridicality of can't believe. I conclude that veridicality need not be lexical: the right mix of semantic ingredients can conspire to yield a veridical interpretation, even if those ingredients are distributed across multiple lexical items.

Metaphors in Business Applications

2021 ◽  
pp. 134-153
Author(s):  
Sunny Rai ◽  
Shampa Chakraverty ◽  
Devendra Kumar Tayal
Keyword(s):  
World Wide ◽  
Online Reviews ◽  
Human Communication ◽  
Target Domain ◽  
Source Domain ◽  
Business Applications ◽  
The World ◽  
Figure Of Speech ◽  
Domain Concept

Commercial advertisements, social campaigns, and ubiquitous online reviews are a few non-literary domains where creative text is profusely embedded to capture a viewer's imagination. Recent AI business applications such as chatbots and interactive digital campaigns emphasise the need to process creative text for a seamless and fulfilling user experience. Figurative text in human communication conveys implicit perceptions and unspoken emotions. Metaphor is one such figure of speech that maps a latent idea in a target domain to an evocative concept from a source domain. This chapter explores the problem of computational metaphor interpretation through the glass of subjectivity. The world wide web is mined to learn about the source domain concept. Ekman emotion categories and pretrained word embeddings are used to model the subjectivity. The performance evaluation is performed to determine the reader's preference for emotive vs non emotive meanings. This chapter establishes the role of subjectivity and user inclination towards the meaning that fits in their existing cognitive schema.

On the role of frame-based knowledge in lexical representation

2003 ◽  
Vol 26 (6) ◽  
pp. 667-668
Author(s):  
József Andor
Keyword(s):  
Theoretical Model ◽  
Lexical Semantics ◽  
Lexical Representation ◽  
Conceptual Semantics ◽  
Types Of Knowledge ◽  
Conceptual Structures

In this commentary I discuss the role of types of knowledge and conceptual structures in lexical representation, revealing the explanatory potential of frame-based knowledge. Although frame-based lexical semantics is not alien to the theoretical model outlined in Jackendoff's conceptual semantics, testing its relevance to the analysis of the lexical evidence presented in his book has been left out of consideration.

Moving yet being still: exploring source domain reversal and force in explanations of enlightenment

2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (02) ◽  
pp. 310-339 ◽  
Author(s):  
PETER RICHARDSON ◽  
CHARLES M. MUELLER
Keyword(s):  
Figurative Language ◽  
Ultimate Reality ◽  
The Other ◽  
Source Domain ◽  
Cognitive Linguistic ◽  
Object Based ◽  
Domain Reversal ◽  
Linguistic Framework

abstractBuddhist and Hindu discourse often juxtapose statements about the inexpressibility of ultimate reality with descriptions drawing on metaphor and paradox. This raises the question of how particular types of metaphor fulfill the role of expressing what is believed to be inexpressible. The current study employs a cognitive linguistic framework to examine how modern Buddhist and Hindu religious teachers use metaphor to talk about enlightenment. Adopting a usage-based approach focusing on how figurative language is recontexualized by the same speaker within a stretch of discourse, the study identifies a recurrent pattern within the discourse on enlightenment that consists of four elements. The first is source domain reversal, which we define as a speaker making use of a particular source domain to refer to a target, and then later, in the same discourse segment, using a source domain with a seemingly opposite meaning to refer to the same target. The other three involve a movement from force to object-based schemas, from the perceived revelation of more conventional to deeper truths, and from description of a process to description of a state. We conclude by briefly discussing our findings within the context of research on apophatic discourse in other religions.

scholarly journals The pragmatic function of intonation in English and Slovene

2006 ◽  
Vol 39 (1-2) ◽  
pp. 155-166
Author(s):  
Smiljana Komar
Keyword(s):  
European Languages ◽  
Communicative Functions ◽  
Pragmatic Function ◽  
Lexical Items ◽  
Prime Function

The article examines the pragmatic role of intonation whose prime function is to enable the hearer to make inferences from the utterance's context in order to enrich the interpretation. Intonation does not alter the sense of lexical items. Instead it provides the hearer with an opportunity to choose between different interpretations at the lexico-syntactic level. The intonation systems of different European languages exhibit quite a large number of similarities regarding the pragmatic role of intonation. The analysis of the communicative functions of tone, key and termination in English and Slovene was an attempt to prove the hypothesis of natural, iconic-meanings of intonation.

scholarly journals Concept “time” in English proverbs and sayings

2018 ◽  
Vol 5 (2) ◽  
pp. 82-90 ◽  
Author(s):  
L.N. Utkina ◽  
D.S. Kovalevich
Keyword(s):  
English Language ◽  
Common Features ◽  
Language System ◽  
Nature Of Time ◽  
Lexical Items ◽  
World Image

The article examines lexical means verbalizing the concept “time” in English proverbs and sayings. The nature of time phenomenon and the role of the concept “time” in the language system are also briefly described. The groups of lexical units that verbalize temporality in the English language are analyzed, as well as the results of the analysis of proverbs and sayings containing these lexical items. As the result of the study, thematic groups which define common features of the concept “time” in phraseological world image of the speakers of English are presented.

scholarly journals The role of metaphtonymy in verbalizing futurological concepts

2020 ◽  
pp. 251-263
Author(s):  
E. N. Kovyazina ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Hierarchical Structure ◽  
Conceptual Analysis ◽  
Third Wave ◽  
Target Domain ◽  
Source Domain ◽  
Verbal Representation ◽  
The Third ◽  
Dominant Member ◽  
Metaphor And Metonymy

The paper touches upon the problem of metaphtonymy in futurological discourse as well as its role in verbalizing futurological concepts FUTURE SHOCK, THE THIRD WAVE, and SUI-CIDE. The investigation aimed to determine the peculiar features of metaphtonymy and de-fine its role in the verbal representation of futurological concepts. The investigation is based on the novels of a prominent American futurologist A. Toffler “The Future Shock,” “The Third Wave” and a famous American publicist P. Buchanan “Suicide of a Superpower: Will America Survive to 2025?”. The techniques employed include conceptual analysis, metaphor, and metonymy modeling. 75 contexts of metaphtonymy of certain types (“metaphor in me-tonymy,” “metonymy in metaphor,” “metonymy, metaphor in metaphor”, “metaphor, meton-ymy, metaphor in metaphor,” etc.) were identified, and all of them proved to be involved in the verbal representation of the futurological concepts. The analysis showed that all the metaphtonymic unities had a hierarchical structure with one prevailing component and one or several subordinate elements. Moreover, metaphors are more likely than metonymies to act as a dominant member of the hierarchy, their target domain or/and source domain being motiva-tors for other components emerging in a metaphtonymic unity. As for the forms of metaphor and metonymy thinking in metaphtonymies under analysis, we found extended metaphors and metonymic chains and clusters. Metaphors (their target or/and source domains) turned to be most active in verbalizing the futurological concepts. The variants of verbalization are as fol-lows: “future shock as a disease,” “the third wave as evolution design,” “suicide as ethnomasochism,” etc.

scholarly journals Confrontation in ‘Confrontation’: A Multimodal Analysis of Bob Marley’s Lyrics

2019 ◽  
Vol 4 (3) ◽  
pp. 337
Author(s):  
Cosmas Rai Amenorvi
Keyword(s):  
The Other ◽  
Multimodal Analysis ◽  
Lexical Items ◽  
Cover Design

<p>This study investigates multimodally the theme of confrontation in Bob Marley’s posthumous <em>Confrontation</em> album. Specifically, the study analyses how the theme of confrontation is conveyed by the artwork of the album cover design. Besides, the study shows linguistically, literarily and by any other aesthetic ways how the theme of confrontation runs through the album. Findings reveal that the artwork of the album cover design speaks volumes without words and is embedded with conscious sophistication in projecting the theme of confrontation. Linguistically, Marley employs deliberate and conscious fiery lexical items inherently confrontational in projecting the theme of confrontation. Literarily, repetition, allusion, pleonasm and metaphors among others play the key role of confrontation in the <em>Confrontation </em>album. Finally, the name of the album, the name of each song and their numerical placement reveal the other aesthetic ways that the theme of confrontation is projected in Marley’s Confrontation, making the album not just a lyrical genius but a discourse masterpiece.</p>

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document