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Article published In:
Review of Cognitive Linguistics
Vol. 19:1 (2021) ► pp.232–258

The semantic network of temperature

Non-sensory domains accessed with metaphorical extensions of the Italian adjectives caldo and freddo

| University of Bergamo | University of Pavia

The present study investigates the relation between temperature and non-sensory domains conceptually close to it. Observing metaphorical extensions of the Italian basic temperature terms caldo ‘hot’ and freddo ‘cold’, individuated through a collocational analysis performed on the ItTenTen16 corpus, mental operations responsible for the association of temperature with other domains are assessed. Interestingly, many associations are first elaborated onto warmth/heat and then used to map concepts onto cold. Although conceptual associations are primarily motivated by embodiment, in some cases they stem from a shared “vertical” image-schematic structure: warmth and heat are up, while cold is down on the axis, resembling the configuration of other domains with a positive/negative orientation (e.g., good/bad). A visual representation of the semantic network of temperature highlights that domains associated with temperature are mirrored in its two poles: for instance, high and low temperature are associated, respectively, with friendliness and unfriendliness.

Keywords: Italian, ItTenTen16, temperature , embodiment, image-schema, cognitive metaphor, semantic network
Article outline
  • 1.Introduction
  • 2.Theoretical framework
  • 3.The temperature domain
  • 4.Data and methodology
  • 5.Analysis and results
    • 5.1Pleasant is warm and unpleasant is cold
    • 5.2Enclosing is warm and not enclosing is cold
    • 5.3Lack of self-control is heat and self-control is cold
    • 5.4Activity is heat and inactivity is cold
  • 6.Conclusions and prospective work
  • Notes
  • References
Published online: 28 April 2021
DOI logo
https://doi.org/10.1075/rcl.00082.cos
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