scholarly journals Lexico-grammatical alignment in metaphor construal

2019 ◽  
Vol 30 (1) ◽  
pp. 165-203 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jenny Lederer

AbstractThis study concerns the distribution of metaphorical lexis in discrete syntactic constructions. Source and target seed language from established conceptual metaphors in economic discourse is used to catalogue the specific patterns of how metaphorical pairs align in five syntactic constructions: A-NP, N-N, NP-of-NP, V-NP, and X is Y. Utilizing the Corpus of Contemporary American English (Davies, Mark. 2008–present. The corpus of contemporary American English: 450 million words, 1990–present [Online Corpus]), the examination includes 12 frequent metaphorical target triggers combined with 84 source triggers to produce 2,016 ordered collocations, i.e. investment freeze and turbulent market. Through detailed type and token counts, results confirm that source domains function as conceptual material used to structure the target domain and disproportionally fill syntactic positions associated with predication (cf. Sullivan, Karen. 2009. Grammatical constructions in metaphoric language. In B. Lewandowska-Tomaszczyk & K. Dziwirek (eds.), Studies in cognitive corpus linguistics. Frankfurt: Peter Lang Publishers; Sullivan, Karen. 2013. Frames and constructions in metaphoric language. Amsterdam: John Benjamins Publishing). Given a lexeme’s origin – source or target – when used in source-target metaphors, syntactic alignment can be predicted, market climate is metaphorical, climate market is not. Exceptions to these strong tendencies are explained through genre-specific lexicalization processes in which predicate denoting terms like bubble (market bubble) establish themselves as domain modifiers (bubble market) in economic jargon. Through quantitative techniques to gage metaphorical conventionality and lexical versatility, corpus methodology is used to define and inform the value of frequency effects in cataloguing and understanding metaphorical lexicalization.

2020 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
pp. 16-50
Author(s):  
Heiko Motschenbacher ◽  
Eka Roivainen

There have been linguistic studies on the gendering mechanisms of adjectives and psychological studies on the relationship between personality traits and gender, but the two fields have never entered into a dialogue on these issues. This article seeks to address this gap by presenting an interdisciplinary study that explores the gendering mechanisms associated with personality traits and personality trait-denoting adjectives. The findings of earlier work in this area and basic gendering mechanisms relevant to adjectives and personality traits are outlined. This is followed by a linguistic and a psychological analysis of the usage patterns of a set of personality trait adjectives. The linguistic section draws on corpus linguistics to explore the distribution of these adjectives with female, male and gender-neutral personal nouns in the Corpus of Contemporary American English. The psychological analysis relates the usage frequencies of personality trait adjectives with the nouns man, woman and person in the Google Books corpus to desirability ratings of the adjectives.


2021 ◽  
Vol 66 (2) ◽  
pp. 215-238
Author(s):  
Zsuzsa Máthé

"What Time Does in Language: a Cross-Linguistic Cognitive Study of Source Related Variation in Verbal Time Metaphors in American English, Finnish and Hungarian. Such a universal yet abstract concept as time shows variation in metaphorical language. This research focuses on metaphorical language within the framework of the cognitive metaphor theory, investigating time through a contrastive cross-linguistic approach in three satellite-framed languages. By combining qualitative and quantitative methods, this study attempts to identify what time does in language in a metaphorical context, with a focus on verbs in causative constructions (e.g. time heals) as well as manner of motion verbs (e.g. time rushes), through an empirical corpus-based study complemented by the lexical approach. The two main conceptual metaphors that are investigated in this study are TIME IS A CHANGER and TIME IS A MOVING ENTITY. While these two conceptual metaphors are expected to be frequent in all three languages, differences such as negative/positive asymmetry or preference of a type of motion over another are expected to be found. The primary objective is to explore such differences and see how they manifest and why. The hypothesis is that variations among the three languages related to the source domain (CHANGER and MOVING ENTITY), are more likely to be internal and not external. The purpose is to investigate these variations and to determine what cognitive underpinnings they can be traced back to, with a focus on image schemas. The study reveals that source internal variation does prevail over source external variation. The results show that cross-linguistic differences of such a relevant concept as time do exist but more often through unique characteristics of the same source domain rather than new, distinctive domains. Keywords: cognitive linguistics, corpus linguistics, conceptual metaphor theory, metaphorical entailments, source domain "


Author(s):  
Irzam Sarif S ◽  
Yuyu Yohana Risagarniwa ◽  
Nani Sunarni

Abstract. Conceptual metaphors are the result of mental construction, conceptualization of the experience of human life. In Japanese, metaphorical features are often found in conveying information so that information can be easily understood. This study aimed to describe the conceptual metaphors found at the Japanese Prime Minister's Press Conference, Shinzo Abe on March 14 and 28, 2020 through the official website kantei.go.jp. The research method used was descriptive qualitative analysis. Data were collected by taking text that contained metaphorical elements and then selected. Data selection was based on the basic principle of metaphor, which was the mapping from the source domain to the target domain. Then the data were classified based on the type of metaphor by Lakoff and Johnson and the type of image scheme by Cruse and Croft. Based on the study done, there were three types of conceptual metaphors, 1) Structural metaphors with conceptuals meaning of enemy, medical treatment, control, and mind; 2) Orientational metaphors with conceptual meaning of disadvantage, and approval; 3) Ontological metaphors with conceptuals meaning of finance, and emotion. In addition, there were also six types of image schemes, namely the image scheme of Strength, Existence, Identity, Scale, Space, and Unity.Keywords: Conceptual Meaning, Press Conference, Cognitive Semantic, Image Scheme


Author(s):  
Somaye Piri ◽  
Dara Tafazoli

The current study aims to investigate Iranian EFL learners' cognitive styles and their explanations of conceptual metaphors, offering a possible range of individual differences in metaphor processing. 71 participants were asked to explain some established conceptual metaphors that are commonly used in English. Then, their cognitive styles were classified into “analytic” or “holistic” and “imager” or “verbalizer” by means of cognitive styles test. Data analysis revealed that 29 participants (40.85%) explained the three conceptual metaphors by making structural correspondences between source and target domain. Moreover, 20 participants (28.17%) explained at least one of the metaphors by applying elements which were not part of the source domain. The results of the experiment revealed that learners with “holistic” cognitive styles were more likely to blend their conception of the target domain with the source domain in comparison to participants with “analytic” styles; also, “imagers” were more likely than “verbalizers” to refer to stereotypical images to explain the metaphors.


2018 ◽  
Vol 7 (2) ◽  
pp. 145-174 ◽  
Author(s):  
Heiko Motschenbacher

Abstract As an introduction to the special issue, this paper presents an overview of previous corpus linguistic work in the field of language and sexuality and discusses the compatibility of corpus linguistic methodology with queer linguistics as a central theoretical approach in language and sexuality studies. The discussion is structured around five prototypical aspects of corpus linguistics that may be deemed problematic from a poststructuralist, queer linguistic perspective: quantification and associated notions of objectivity, reliance on linguistic forms and formal presence, concentration on highly frequent features, reliance on categories, and highlighting of differences. It is argued that none of these aspects rules out an application of corpus linguistic techniques within queer theoretically informed linguistic work per se and that it is rather the way these techniques are employed that can be seen as more or less compatible with queer linguistics. To complement the theoretical discussion, a collocation analysis of sexual descriptive adjectives in the Corpus of Contemporary American English (COCA) is conducted in an attempt to address some of the issues raised. The concluding section makes suggestions for future research.


Trama ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 16 (37) ◽  
pp. 4-17
Author(s):  
Luiz Henrique Mendes BRANDÃO ◽  
Jesiel Soares SILVA

Neste trabalho, objetivou-se analisar as transformações ocorridas no uso da linguagem por parte de seus usuários tendo como base o período correspondente ao início dos anos 90, momento histórico em que a internet ainda não havia sido popularizada no mundo, em comparação ao ano de 2017, período marcado pelo amplo acesso à internet, principalmente nos países mais desenvolvidos. Para tal, realizou-se uma investigação tendo como base o COCA (Corpus of Contemporary American English) com o intuito de se verificar, através da associação de palavras com seus colocados, como alguns termos eram utilizados antes da popularização da internet e após o mesmo fenômeno. Através da análise estatística dos insumos, foi possível identificar que certos termos da língua (neste caso da língua inglesa) passaram a ser utilizados mais frequentemente para expressar algo relacionado à tecnologia, tendo sido os sentidos anteriores rebaixados, nesta transformação semântica, a uma frequência menor ou muito menor de uso após a realidade do acesso amplo à internet, o que representa uma transformação léxico-semântica propiciada por um fenômeno de alcance global que influencia a vida das pessoas de modo a ressignificar o uso que fazem do mundo e consequentemente a metalinguagem que utilizam nas trocas que realizam com o mesmo.REFERÊNCIASBENSON, M., BENSON, E., ILSON, R. (orgs.)The BBI dictionary of english word combinations. Amsterdã/Filadélfia: John Benjamins, 1986.BIBER, D. Variation across speech and writing. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1988Davies, Mark. The Corpus of Contemporary American English (COCA): 600 million words, 1990-present, 2008. Disponível em: https://www.english-corpora.org/coca/. Acesso em: 19 fev. 2020.CASTELLVI, Maria Teresa CABRÉ. La clasificación de neologismos. Alfa, São Paulo, 50 (2): 229-250, 2006DAVIES, Mark. The Corpus of Contemporary American English as the first reliable monitor corpus of English. Literary and Linguistic Computing, Brigham, v. 25, n. 4, 2010. Disponível em: https://academic.oup.com/dsh/article-abstract/25/4/447/997323?redirectedFrom=fulltext. Acesso em: 21 ago. 2019.FRANCIS, W. N.; KUCERA, H. Frequency analysis of English usage: lexicon and grammar. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1982DAVIES, Mark; KIM, Jong-Bok. Historical shifts with the INTO-CAUSATIVE construction in American English. The Gruyter mouton, [S.L.], v. 57, n. 1, 2019. Disponível em: http://web.khu.ac.kr/~jongbok/research/2019/2019-ahci-into-historical-shift-linguistics.pdf Acesso em 21 ago. 2019DICIONÁRIO PRIBERAM DA LÍNGUA PORTUGUESA. Desenvolvido por Lello editores, Porto, 1996 e 1999. Licensiado à Priberam em 2008. Disponível em: https://dicionario.priberam.org/sobre.aspx Acesso em 21 ago. 2019KJELLMER, G. A. A dictionary of English collocations: based on the Brown Corpus, v. 3. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1994KREMELBERG, David. Practical statistic: a quick and easy guide to IBM ℗ SPSS ℗ Statistics, STATA, and other statistical software. Sage: Los Angeles, 2011.MC ENERY, Tony, et al. Corpus Linguistics, Learner Corpora, and SLA: Employing Technology to Analyze Language Use. Annual Review of Applied Linguistics (2019), 39, 74–92MODIS, Theodore. The end of the internet rush. Technological Forecasting Social Change, Lugano, v. 72, n. 8, 2005. Disponível em: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0040162505000843 Acesso em: 21 ago. 2019OLIVEIRA, Lúcia Pacheco de. Linguística de corpus: Teoria, interfaces e aplicações. Matraga, Rio de janeiro, v. 16, n. 24, 2009. Disponível em: https://www.e-publicacoes.uerj.br/index.php/matraga/article/view/27796. Acesso em: 21 ago. 2019PARTINGTON, A. Patterns and meanings: using corpora for english language research and teaching. Amsterdã/Filadélfia: John Benjamnins, 1998ROBINSON, Mary; DUNCAN, Daniel (2019) Holistic Approaches to Syntactic Variation: Wh-all Questions in English. University of Pennsylvania Working Papers in Linguistics: v. 25, n. 1 , 2019. Disponível em: https://repository.upenn.edu/pwpl/vol25/iss1/23/. Acesso em: 21 ago. 2019SANCHEZ, A. Definición e historia de los corpos. In: SANCHEZ, A. et al. (orgs.). CUMBRE: corpus linguístico de español contemporaneo. Madri: SGEL, 1995, p. 7-24.BERBER SARDINHA.  T. Linguística de Corpus. Barueri, SP: Manole, 2004.SINCLAIR, J. McH. Beginning the study of lexis. In: BAZELL, C. E. In memory of R. Firth. Londres: Longman, 1966, p. 410-430.SVARTVIK, Jan. Corpora are becoming mainstream. In: THOMAS, J. and SHORT, M. (orgs). Using corpora for language research. London and New York: Longman,1996. p 3-13.Recebido em 16-11-2019 | Aceito em 12-02-2020


2020 ◽  
pp. 11-24
Author(s):  
Linas Selmistraitis ◽  
Renata Boikova

The paper discusses source domains of smell related metaphorical collocations. The research is limited to metaphorical collocations with pleasant smell denoting words scent, fragrance, aroma, and perfume in the Corpus of Contemporary American English (COCA). The scope of the research is 2187 concordance lines (CL) containing metaphorical collocations with the words scent, fragrance, aroma, and perfume from 3580 CL containing any word phrase with the target words. The research is based on identification and description of the source domains of the collected metaphorical collocations with pleasant smell words, relating the source domains to underlying conceptual metaphors and determining the frequency distribution of the identified source domains. The following source domains were identified in the research: object, substance, physical force, and food. The analysis showed the frequency of source domains across all four groups forming smell related conceptual metaphors: object with 1833 instances of metaphorical collocations (84%), substance with 202 instances (9%), physical force with 130 instances (6%), and food with 22 instances (1%). The present study contributes to the development of cognitive semantics and its findings demonstrate which meanings are prevalent in human mentality when pleasant smell related metaphorical collocations are used.


2020 ◽  
Vol 8 (2) ◽  
pp. 248-269
Author(s):  
Nataliia Tatsenko ◽  
Vitalii Stepanov ◽  
Hanna Shcherbak

Purpose of the study: The research is aimed at reconstructing a conceptual model of POLITICS as a social phenomenon that is activated by the word politics in the minds of American people. Methodology: As an appropriate methodology, “the semantics of lingual networks” (SLN)is used to analyze a 1000-context sample of the word politics from the Corpus of Contemporary American English (COCA). Specifically, a range of logical predicates (associated with POLITICS) is established and sorted by propositional schemas of basic frames. The latter is reproduced graphically in the network conceptual form and equated to the denotative meaning of POLITICS. Main findings: The conducted research made it possible to define 26 propositional schemas that are regarded as the conceptual model of POLITICS in American English. Novelty/originality: The research is the first attempt to study social phenomena via linguistic tools only – those of cognitive linguistics (the SLN methodology) and corpus linguistics (analysis of a COCA sample where these phenomena are represented) – rather than via techniques of politology, sociology, psychology and other social sciences themselves. Along with the conceptual model of POLITICS, the first-ever idea to convert it into the field cognitive model is offered as well (via operations of cognitive interpretation and prominence). As a result, the final model can be used to define what features of POLITICS are mentally the most relevant for the American community. The possibility of comparing several cognitive models of POLITICS is also stated. Applications of the study: The research results can be used for politological, sociological and psychological studies; to compile new curricula for philology undergraduates and postgraduates.


2020 ◽  
Vol 16 (1) ◽  
pp. 119-143
Author(s):  
Xia Zhao ◽  
Rong Shen ◽  
Xincheng Zhao

AbstractCognitive semiotics is a new field for the study of meaning in trans-disciplines, such as semiotics, cognitive linguistics, and corpus linguistics. This paper aims at studying how cognitive semiotics is employed to construe conceptual metaphors in discourse. We conducted a corpus-based study, with Lakoff and Johnson’s Conceptual Metaphor Theory (CMT) and Fauconnier and Turner’s Blending Theory (BT), to illustrate our cognitive-semiotic model for metaphors in Dragon Seed, written by Nobel Prize winner Pearl S. Buck. The major finding is that metaphors are mental constructions involving many spaces and mappings in the cognitive-semiotic network. These integration networks are related to encoders’ cognitive, cultural, and social contexts. Additionally, cognitive semiotics can be employed to construe conceptual metaphors in discourse vividly and comprehensively and thus is helpful to reveal the ideology and the theme of the discourse.


2019 ◽  
Vol 21 ◽  
pp. 152-168
Author(s):  
Pablo Figueiredo Palacios

El presente artículo detalla la construcción de una muestra de datos con significación sobre la cual investigar, de manera comparada, la emergencia del componente fónico en el período de 1;6 a 3;6 en dos entornos idiomáticos (español peninsular e inglés americano). Se abordan dos cuestiones sobre la lingüística de corpus, como son la representatividad de los datos y el tratamiento de los mismos (se confrontan las perspectivas corpus-based y corpus-driven) en los repertorios de datos de habla infantil. Se analizan, asimismo, los proyectos CHILDES y PhonBank, que constituyen las fuentes de las que provienen los datos. Y se explican detalladamente los criterios psicolingüísticos manejados y su relevancia para el diseño de la muestra de datos. This paper deals with the elaboration of a significative sample which will be used to study, comparatively, the emergence of the phonological component in children aged 1;6 – 3;6 in American English and Peninsular Spanish. Two issues concerning corpus linguistics will be addressed, namely, the representativeness of data and its treatment (corpus-based and corpus-driven approaches shall be discussed) in child language corpora. The sources of our data, the projects CHILDES and PhonBank, will also be analyzed. Additionally, the psycholinguistic criteria which we shall employ will be closely scrutinized, as well as their relevance in the design of the data sample.


Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document