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Modelling metaphorical conceptualisation in Traditional Chinese Medicine terminology

An exploratory use of multimodal generative artificial intelligence

 | Xi’An Jiaotong-Liverpool University
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Abstract
Metaphorical conceptualisation is central to the structuring of specialised knowledge in Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM), yet poses challenges for terminology description in cross-cultural contexts. This study examines how metaphor-based conceptual structures in TCM can be modelled for terminology description and explores the methodological implications of externalising such models through the constrained use of multimodal generative artificial intelligence (GAI).
Focusing on Zang–Xiang theory, the study adopts metaphorical Idealized Cognitive Models (m-ICMs) (Lakoff, George. 1987. Women, Fire, and Dangerous Things: What Categories Reveal about the Mind. University of Chicago Press. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar) as theory-driven modelling resources and instantiates them through analysis of a Chinese–English parallel corpus. These models are then externalised through constrained multimodal generation to examine alignment and divergence between modelled conceptual structures and generated outputs. The findings show that m-ICMs provide a structured and relational framework for modelling metaphor-based terminology, while multimodal externalisation was particularly selective in cases involving high conceptual density and cultural embedding. A small bilingual prototype consolidates corpus evidence, m-ICM modelling and representational choices. Multimodal GAI thus provides a methodological setting for examining cross-cultural terminological representation.
Article outline
  • 1.Introduction
  • 2.Theoretical foundations
    • 2.1Metaphorical conceptualisation as a cognitive mechanism in knowledge structuring
    • 2.2Cognitive approaches to terminology
    • 2.3Metaphorical Idealized Cognitive Models (m-ICMs) in TCM terminology
    • 2.4Representing metaphor-based conceptual structures in terminology description
  • 3.Methodology
    • 3.1Modelling metaphorical conceptualisation in TCM terminology
      • 3.1.1Theoretical derivation of m-ICMs
      • 3.1.2Corpus-based instantiation of m-ICMs
    • 3.2Operationalising m-ICMs for multimodal generation
      • 3.2.1From m-ICMs to prompts
      • 3.2.2Multimodal generation
    • 3.3Analysing generated outputs
  • 4.Findings
    • 4.1Corpus-Based Instantiation of m-ICMs
    • 4.2Multimodal Generation Outcomes: Patterns of Alignment and Divergence
    • 4.3A prototype for metaphor-based terminology description
  • 5.Discussion
    • 5.1M-ICMs as a Scaffold for Metaphor-Based Terminology Description
    • 5.2Multimodal GAI as a Site of Diagnostic Externalisation
    • 5.3Conditions for Visual Representation in Terminology Description
    • 5.4Scope, Variability, and Ethical Constraints
  • 6.Conclusion
  • Notes
  • References
References (40)
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