Publications

Publication details [#13597]

Ruiz de Mendoza Ibáñez, Francisco José and Alba Luzondo Oyón. 2016. Figurative and non-figurative motion in the expression of result in English. Language and Cognition 8 (1) : 32–58. 27 pp.
Publication type
Article in journal
Publication language
English
Place, Publisher
Cambridge University Press

Abstract

This contribution examines the changing nature of the resultative and caused-motion constructions in English on the basis of our conceptualisation of motion and state change/transformation affecting a certain entity. The authors observe that when the affected entity goes though a complete transformation, the caused-motion construction is more likely to take on a figurative meaning. On the other hand, if the transformation only entails the acquisition of a new property without changing the very essence of the entity, there is a preference for the use of an adjectival phrase. In addition, there appear to be various ways to conceptualise change by means of resultatives that formally employ the caused-motion construction, but the underlying cognitive mechanism motivating these constructions is the metaphor A CHANGE OF STATE IS A CHANGE OF LOCATION. The paper also investigates the role played by other high-level metaphors and metonymies for the purpose of expressing result.