The Spatial Language of Time

Metaphor, metonymy, and frames of reference

Kevin Ezra Moore | San José State University

Hardbound – Available

ISBN 9789027223968 | EUR 95.00 | USD 143.00

e-Book –

ISBN 9789027270658 | EUR 95.00 | USD 143.00

The Spatial Language of Time presents a crosslinguistically valid state-of-the-art analysis of space-to-time metaphors, using data mostly from English and Wolof (Africa) but additionally from Japanese and other languages. Metaphors are analyzed in terms of their most direct motivation by basic human experiences (Grady 1997a; Lakoff & Johnson 1980). This motivation explains the crosslinguistic appearance of certain metaphors, but does not say anything about temporal metaphor systems that deviate from the types documented here. Indeed, we observe interesting culture- and language-specific metaphor phenomena. Refining earlier treatments of temporal metaphor and adapting to temporal experience Levinson’s (2003) idea of frames of reference, the author proposes a contrast between perspective-neutral and perspective-specific frames of reference in temporal metaphor that has important crosslinguistic ramifications for the temporal semantics of FRONT/BEHIND expressions. This book refines the cognitive-linguistic approach to temporal metaphor by analyzing the extensive temporal structure in what has been considered the source domain of space, and showing how temporal metaphors can be better understood by downplaying the space-time dichotomy and analyzing metaphor structure in terms of conceptual frames. This book is of interest to linguists, psychologists, anthropologists, philosophers, and others who may have wondered about relationships between space and time.

[Human Cognitive Processing, 42] 2014. xxv, 340 pp.

Publishing status: Available
Published online on 28 April 2014

https://doi.org/10.1075/hcp.42

Table of Contents

List of diagrams | pp. xv–15

List of tables | pp. xvii–17

Abbreviations and special symbols | pp. xix–xx

Transcription conventions | pp. xxi–21

Acknowledgments | pp. xxiii–xxv

Part I. Temporal metaphor and ego’s perspective

Introduction: Talking about time as if it were space | pp. 3–20

The deictic nature of Moving Ego and Ego-centered Moving Time expressions | pp. 21–27

The experiential bases (grounding, motivation) of Moving Ego and Ego-centered Moving Time | pp. 29–42

From earlier to later | pp. 43–50

Frame of reference and alternate construals of ego-centered time | pp. 51–61

Part II. Perspectival neutrality

A field-based frame of reference | pp. 65–79

The psychological reality of sequence is relative position on a path | pp. 81–85

Illustrating the field-based/ego-perspective contrast: The case of sequence is relative position in a stack | pp. 87–93

Space-to-time metonymy | pp. 95–104

Part III. The temporal semantics of in-front and behind

The contrasting front/behind schemas of sequence is relative position on a path and Moving Ego | pp. 107–119

The crosslinguistic pairing of in-front and behind with ‘earlier’ and ‘later’ | pp. 121–131

The alignment of ego with a field-based frame of reference | pp. 133–152

When back is not the opposite of front: A temporal relative frame of reference in Wolof | pp. 153–168

The Ego-opposed temporal metaphor and contexts of shared perspective | pp. 169–189

Modes of construal of front and behind | pp. 191–205

In search of primary metaphors of time | pp. 207–212

Part IV. Location without translational motion

Expressions of static temporal “location” | pp. 215–226

Beyond metaphor and metonymy: Mental spaces and conceptual integration | pp. 227–234

Other-centered Moving Time and Wolof fekk ‘become co-located with’ | pp. 235–262

Times as bounded regions | pp. 263–270

Part V. Fundamentally different temporal concepts

Having and wasting Wolof counterparts of time | pp. 273–300

Conclusions | pp. 301–318

References

Name index | pp. 335–336

Subject index | pp. 337–340

“Time is not a mystery when you examine how people talk about events—remembered, ongoing, anticipated. Kevin Moore has done just that, in a detailed and insightful exploration of temporal expressions in several unrelated languages. His in-depth description of Wolof is worth a book in itself. With the addition of English, Japanese, and Aymara the result is a valuable contribution to comparative cognitive linguistics. And above all, Moore has contributed an exhaustive and carefully considered reanalysis of the conceptual domains of time and space, showing that conceptions of space also have temporal characteristics. Moore’s fresh approach goes beyond space-based metaphors to include metonymy and blending, and to solve old puzzles by distinguishing between motion and location in space, and between ego-centered and field-based fields of reference. The Spatial Language of Time is a landmark in a series devoted to cognitive foundations of language structure and use.”

Dan I. Slobin, University of California, Berkeley

“In everyday life, we take for granted the metaphors we live by, and have no awareness of the extraordinary thought processes that lie behind them. Kevin Moore's admirable book explores the many dimensions involved for "time as space," with unprecedented rigor and scholarship.
Moore's compelling analysis of surprisingly deep conceptual mappings is a major contribution to cognitive science and linguistics.”

Gilles Fauconnier, UCSD

“Spatial metaphors for time have become a major theme in cognitive science and linguistics. Kevin Moore's thoughtful book, The Spatial Language of Time, not only adds to the crosslinguistic comparative range of our understanding of spatiotemporal metaphor - it also raises the level of detail in linguistic analysis of the mappings between the two domains. It is a valuable contribution to linguistics, but also to the general study of cognition and of culture.”

Eve Sweetser, University of California, Berkeley

“The book has a cohesive objective about metaphor that is established in Chapter 1 and restated again in the conclusion, namely to “explore the details of certain spatial construals of time as thoroughly as possible for a few languages, in order to gain an understanding of some of the principles involved in applying spatial concepts to time.” Each of the book’s 22 chapters helps develop and further this objective through a detailed description of metaphor in both English and Wolof. Moore weaves connections between the two languages with finesse, letting the reader clearly see the commonalities and providing explanations for areas of difference. This book is an excellent resource for researchers interested in conceptual metaphors of time, providing a unique, cross-linguistic perspective to the ongoing conversation.”

Kathryn Bailey Farmer, University of North Texas, on Linguist List 26.1329 (09/03/2015)

“Moore provides a comprehensive account of the metaphorical understanding of time through space, with a new focus on Wolof, his language of specialization. His work represents a valuable contribution to the literature on human cognition in general, and on how people in Anglo-American and Senegalese cultures use the Spatial Language of Time.”

José Antonio Jódar-Sánchez, San José State University, in Metaphor and the Social World Vol. 5:1 (2015)

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