John Benjamins Publishing Company
Ontological and orientational metaphors in Latin
Abstract
Ontological and orientational metaphors arise from general cognitive processes and rely on our embodied experience of the physico-spatial world, providing us with image schemas that we commonly exploit in order to interpret and express abstract notions in terms of spatial configurations. This is particularly true in the case of emotions and feelings, which are much less clearly defined than our bodily functions. Indeed, recurrent embodied patterns building bridges between spatial orientations and feelings occur in a great variety of languages. It has long been noted, for instance, that the vertical axis up vs. down offers the basis for portraying many experiential metaphors in terms of ‘happy/positive is up’, ‘sad/negative is down’. This paper shows that both ontological and orientational metaphorization is largely attested in this domain of experience in Latin, and provides corpus-based evidence for frequency and productivity effects and cross-linguistic comparisons that testify how the human body is a universal cognitive key to interpret and categorize emotions in modern as well as in ancient languages.
Abstract
Ontological and orientational metaphors arise from general cognitive processes and rely on our embodied experience of the physico-spatial world, providing us with image schemas that we commonly exploit in order to interpret and express abstract notions in terms of spatial configurations. This is particularly true in the case of emotions and feelings, which are much less clearly defined than our bodily functions. Indeed, recurrent embodied patterns building bridges between spatial orientations and feelings occur in a great variety of languages. It has long been noted, for instance, that the vertical axis up vs. down offers the basis for portraying many experiential metaphors in terms of ‘happy/positive is up’, ‘sad/negative is down’. This paper shows that both ontological and orientational metaphorization is largely attested in this domain of experience in Latin, and provides corpus-based evidence for frequency and productivity effects and cross-linguistic comparisons that testify how the human body is a universal cognitive key to interpret and categorize emotions in modern as well as in ancient languages.
Chapters in this book
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents v
- Introduction 1
- A matter of perspective 15
- Vertical scales in temporal sub constructions in Latin 57
- The embodied sources of purpose expressions in Latin 85
- Ontological and orientational metaphors in Latin 115
- The metaphorical structuring of kinship in Latin 141
- Abstract and embodied colors in Pliny the Elder’s Natural History 177
- Embodiment in Latin technical texts 209
- Embodied historiography 237
- Index 269
Chapters in this book
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents v
- Introduction 1
- A matter of perspective 15
- Vertical scales in temporal sub constructions in Latin 57
- The embodied sources of purpose expressions in Latin 85
- Ontological and orientational metaphors in Latin 115
- The metaphorical structuring of kinship in Latin 141
- Abstract and embodied colors in Pliny the Elder’s Natural History 177
- Embodiment in Latin technical texts 209
- Embodied historiography 237
- Index 269
