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Chapter 3. “… all spirits, and are melted into air, into thin air”

Metaphorical connections in the history of English
  • Marc Alexander and Christian Kay✝
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Sociocultural Dimensions of Lexis and Text in the History of English
This chapter is in the book Sociocultural Dimensions of Lexis and Text in the History of English

Abstract

This article uses data from Mapping metaphor with the Historical thesaurus to describe conceptual connections between the supernatural and other areas of the lexicon across the history of English. By discussing the cases of angels and evil in some detail, we also argue that the data and worldview presented here about the spirit world challenge the conventional concrete/abstract division found in metaphor theory, and propose an alternative.

Abstract

This article uses data from Mapping metaphor with the Historical thesaurus to describe conceptual connections between the supernatural and other areas of the lexicon across the history of English. By discussing the cases of angels and evil in some detail, we also argue that the data and worldview presented here about the spirit world challenge the conventional concrete/abstract division found in metaphor theory, and propose an alternative.

Chapters in this book

  1. Prelim pages i
  2. Table of contents v
  3. Foreword vii
  4. Introduction 1
  5. Part 1. Conspicuous lexical choice in past societies
  6. Chapter 1. Old English ead in Anglo-Saxon given names 15
  7. Chapter 2. News and relations 41
  8. Chapter 3. “… all spirits, and are melted into air, into thin air” 61
  9. Part 2. Historical layers in text and genre
  10. Chapter 4. Conservatism and innovation in Anglo-Saxon scribal practice 79
  11. Chapter 5. Old English wills 103
  12. Chapter 6. Spatio-temporal systems in Chaucer 125
  13. Chapter 7. “A riddle to myself I am” 151
  14. Part 3. Lexis, morphology, and a changing society
  15. Chapter 8. Common to the North of England and to New England 183
  16. Chapter 9. Betwixt, amongst , and amidst 201
  17. Chapter 10. English word clipping in a diachronic perspective 227
  18. Index 253
https://doi.org/10.1075/cilt.343.03ale

Chapters in this book

  1. Prelim pages i
  2. Table of contents v
  3. Foreword vii
  4. Introduction 1
  5. Part 1. Conspicuous lexical choice in past societies
  6. Chapter 1. Old English ead in Anglo-Saxon given names 15
  7. Chapter 2. News and relations 41
  8. Chapter 3. “… all spirits, and are melted into air, into thin air” 61
  9. Part 2. Historical layers in text and genre
  10. Chapter 4. Conservatism and innovation in Anglo-Saxon scribal practice 79
  11. Chapter 5. Old English wills 103
  12. Chapter 6. Spatio-temporal systems in Chaucer 125
  13. Chapter 7. “A riddle to myself I am” 151
  14. Part 3. Lexis, morphology, and a changing society
  15. Chapter 8. Common to the North of England and to New England 183
  16. Chapter 9. Betwixt, amongst , and amidst 201
  17. Chapter 10. English word clipping in a diachronic perspective 227
  18. Index 253
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