This research is a further step towards a crosslinguistic generalization concerning the metaphor cluster called the Event Structure Metaphor (ESM). Cognitive linguists (e.g. Lakoff 1990; 1993; Lakoff & Johnson 1980; 1999) have speculated that ESM, among other conceptual metaphors, may be a candidate for a metaphorical universal because of its universal experiential motivation.In ESM, various aspects of events, such as STATES, CHANGES, PROCESSES, ACTIONS, CAUSES, PURPOSES, DIFFICULTIES, and MEANS are systematically conceptualized in terms of the concrete concepts of space, motion, and force. This study investigates whether ESM, with its OBJECT-LOCATION duality, exists in Arabic, just as it does in English, Chinese, and Hungarian, and whether Arabic exhibits the same or different submappings as those realized in English, hence same or different patterns of metaphorical abstract reasoning. Investigating the existence of ESM in Arabic, a language from yet another linguistic family, should provide more insight into the nature of ESM and its potential universality.This study suggests that metaphor in general is central to the comprehension of abstract and complex concepts. ESM, in particular, is found to be generally manifested in Arabic as well. The notions incorporated in ESM seem to be systematically conceptualized in Arabic and English in the same way; in general, they are comprehended in terms of the concrete, image-schematic concepts of space, motion, and force. Further, the study suggests that speakers of different languages appear to have similar cognitive structures, especially at the higher, generic levels of the inheritance hierarchy. However, as conceptualizations move down the hierarchy, they may diverge crosslinguistically so as to reflect culture-specific models.The potentially universal conceptualizations are a consequence of the sensorimotor, image-schematic experience that is common to all human-beings, and which is bound to surface linguistically in the same way at the higher, generic levels. This research, therefore, strengthens earlier claims about the potential universality of ESM. / Department of English
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:BSU/oai:cardinalscholar.bsu.edu:handle/174742 |
| Date | January 2008 |
| Creators | Aldokhayel, Reyadh S. |
| Contributors | Riddle, Elizabeth M |
| Source Sets | Ball State University |
| Detected Language | English |
| Format | 156 leaves : ill. ; 28 cm. |
| Source | Virtual Press |
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