Time will tell: Temporal landmarks influence metaphorical associations between space and time

Heng Li; Yu Cao

doi:10.1515/cog-2017-0043

Article

Time will tell: Temporal landmarks influence metaphorical associations between space and time

Heng Li and Yu Cao

Published/Copyright: October 11, 2018

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From the journal Cognitive Linguistics Volume 29 Issue 4

Abstract

According to the Temporal Focus Hypothesis (TFH), people’s implicit spatial conceptions are shaped by their temporal focus. Whereas previous studies have demonstrated that people’s cultural or individual differences related to certain temporal focus may influence their spatializations of time, we focus on temporal landmarks as potential additional influences on people’s space-time mappings. In Experiment 1, we investigated how personally-related events influence students’ conceptions of time. The results showed that student examinees were more likely to think about time according to the past-in-front mapping, and student registrants, future-in-front mapping. Experiment 2 explored the influence of calendar markers and found that participants tested on the Chinese Spring Festival, a symbol of a fresh start, tended to conceptualize the future as in front of them, while those tested on the Tomb Sweeping Day, an opportunity to remember the ancestors, showed the reversed pattern. In Experiment 3, two scenarios representing past or future landmarks correspondingly were presented to participants. We found that past-focused/future -focused scenarios caused an increase in the rate of past-in-front/future-in-front responses respectively. Taken together, the results from these three studies suggest that people’s conceptions of time may vary according to temporal landmarks, which can be explained by the TFH.

Keywords: temporal focus hypothesis; temporal landmark; Mandarin speakers; conceptual metaphor; space-time mappings; representational flexibility

Acknowledgements

We would like to thank Sarah Duffy, John Newman, the Associate Editor and three anonymous reviewers for their valuable feedback. This research was supported by the National Program on Key Basic Research Project (2014CB340502) and the Priority Academic Program Development of Jiangsu Higher Education Institutions (PAPD).

Appendix

A Time Diagram Task (Experiment 1 and 2)

请阅读以下场景，然后给出你的答案。请不要花太多时间思考正确与否，也不要修改你的答案，我希望得到你的第一反应，非常感谢！

李华昨天去拜访了一位喜欢植物的朋友，这位朋友送了他一盆植物；他明天会去拜访另一位喜欢动物的朋友，这位朋友会送他一只动物。从上往下看，李华身体的前方和后方各有一个箱子（见下图），请你将植物（用“植”表示）放在表示昨天发生事情的箱子里，将动物（用“动”表示）放在另一个箱子里表示明天发生的事情。

English Translation: Please read the following scenario and provide your answer below. Do not spend too much time thinking about it and do not change your answer: I am interested in your initial reaction. Thank you very much!

Li Hua went to visit a friend who liked plants yesterday, and tomorrow he would be going to visit a friend who liked animals. Now, seen from above, there is one empty box in front of him and another behind him. Please write the Chinese character “植” for plant in the box indicating the past event and the letter Chinese character “动” for animal in the box indicating the future event.

B Temporal Focus Scale (Experiment 1 and 2)

Past focus:

我回想过去的记忆。 ‘I replay memories of the past in my mind.’
我反思生命中发生过的事情。‘I reflect on what has happened in my life.’
我考虑过去的事情。‘I think about things from my past.’
我回想我早先的日子。‘I think back to my earlier days.’

Future focus:

我思考我的未来会发生什么。‘I think about what my future has in store.’
我思考即将到来的时代。‘I think about times to come.’
我关注我的未来。‘I focus on my future.’
我想象明天会为我带来什么。‘I imagine what tomorrow will bring for me.’

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Received: 2017-04-03

Revised: 2018-03-06

Accepted: 2018-05-10

Published Online: 2018-10-11

Published in Print: 2018-11-27

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https://doi.org/10.1515/cog-2017-0043

Keywords for this article

temporal focus hypothesis; temporal landmark; Mandarin speakers; conceptual metaphor; space-time mappings; representational flexibility