Spatial metaphors in present-day Norwegian newspaper language

The present investigation is a continuation and extension of our previous work on Norwegian opp/ned (‘up/down’) metaphors; cf. Swan & Breivik (2005) and Swan (2010). The investigation will be conducted within the framework of cognitive linguistics. Our primary concern will be with Norwegian opp/ned metaphors. The use of spatial words such as høy ‘high’, lav ‘low’, topp ‘top’, bunn ‘bottom’, over ‘over’ and under ‘under’ will be shown to support Lakoff (1987; inter alia) and Taylor (1995); the concepts oppe/høyt ‘up/high’ on the whole have positive associations, whereas the associations of nede/lav ‘down/low’ are negative. This of course mirrors one of the main tenets of cognitive theory, namely that language reflects experience. We will focus on two issues. Firstly, Norwegian uses the spatial words in question less in their concrete meaning than as metaphors; why should this be the case if the concrete use is basic and anterior? Secondly, the frequency of the opp-words seems to be lower than the ned-words. Our Norwegian data will be drawn from the Norwegian Newspaper Corpus.

Published online: 23 March 2012
https://doi.org/10.1075/scl.49.14swa