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Figurative Language – Intersubjectivity and Usage
Edited by Augusto Soares da Silva
[Figurative Thought and Language 11] 2021
► pp. 41–74

Desiderata for metaphor theory, the Motivation & Sedimentation Model and motion-emotion metaphoremes

| Centre for Languages and Literature, Lund University | Centre for Language Evolution, Nicolaus Copernicus University
| Centre for Languages and Literature, Lund University
| Centre for Languages and Literature, Lund University

Metaphor research has increasingly diversified, leading to extensive disagreements. A set of desiderata for any contemporary theory of metaphor are (i) to account for both communication and cognition, (ii) to explain both universal and culture-specific aspects, (iii) to achieve a balance between stable structures and contextual processes, (iv) to apply not only to different languages, but to other semiotic systems such as gesture, (v) to provide clear theoretical and operational definitions. We argue that a recent cognitive-semiotic theory, the Motivation & Sedimentation Model (MSM) is capable of fulfilling these desiderata. To evaluate predictions from the theoretical model we compare motion-emotion metaphoremes, such as my heart jumped, in six differentially related European languages – English, Swedish, Spanish, Bulgarian, Finnish and Estonian.

Keywords: metaphoricity, semiotic systems, motion, emotion, cognitive semiotics
Article outline
  • 1.Introduction
  • 2.Five desiderata for a contemporary theory of metaphor
    • 2.1Combining communication and cognition
    • 2.2Combining the universal and the culture-specific
    • 2.3Combining stable and dynamic aspects
    • 2.4Metaphors across semiotic systems
    • 2.5Explicit theoretical and operational definitions
    • 2.6Summary
  • 3.Metaphor within the Motivation & Sedimentation Model
  • 4.Comparing motion-emotion metaphoremes across languages
    • 4.1General considerations
    • 4.2Methodology
    • 4.3Results
    • 4.4Summary
  • 5.Conclusions
  • Acknowledgements
  • Notes
  • References
Published online: 19 May 2021
DOI logo
https://doi.org/10.1075/ftl.11.02zla
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