Journal

Volume 14, Issue 1 (March 31, 2013)

3 articles

• Emergent Metaphor Theory: Frequency, Schematic Strength, and the Processing of Metaphorical Utterances
  by Daniel Sanford
  J. CS. 2013, 14(1), 1-45;
  Abstract Emergent Metaphor Theory, as described in Sanford 2012, asserts that metaphors are schemata that link cognitive domains, that differences in the frequencies of metaphors are a core aspect of metaphorical systems, and that metaphor is operated upon by frequency effects at the level of both overall ma... [Read more].
  Abstract Emergent Metaphor Theory, as described in Sanford 2012, asserts that metaphors are schemata that link cognitive domains, that differences in the frequencies of metaphors are a core aspect of metaphorical systems, and that metaphor is operated upon by frequency effects at the level of both overall mappings and individual utterances. This paper presents a corpus study and a series of experiments that support key predictions of Emergent Metaphor Theory. The corpus method makes use of a preliminary survey to elicit core terminology from speakers of English on ten metaphorical source domains; these are used as search terms in identifying similes that instantiate each of ten metaphorical mappings. The survey method supports the assertion that metaphors differ in their frequency, as well as that some terms from a given source domain are used more frequently than others to invoke the mapping. A series of experiments uses the corpus frequencies of metaphors as established in the corpus study to test whether more frequent mappings are more productive, more accessible, and more acceptable to speakers than less frequent metaphors. Both the results of the corpus study and experimental approaches support the view that metaphor is a usage-based phenomenon, and that many of the properties of metaphorical utterances are best accounted for as arising from the interaction of the conceptual schemata that license cross-domain mappings, and syntactic schemata that link meanings to syntactic templates. [Collapse]
• The Interpretation of Spatial ‘At’:An Experimental Study
  by Francesco-Alessio Ursini & Nobuaki Akagi
  J. CS. 2013, 14(1), 47-76;
  Abstract This paper presents an experimental study on the interpretation of the spatial preposition at in adult speakers, based on a variant of the Truth Value Judgment Task. It is shown that speakers can interpret at as denoting a spatial relation that stands in the “lexical entailment” relation with other ... [Read more].
  Abstract This paper presents an experimental study on the interpretation of the spatial preposition at in adult speakers, based on a variant of the Truth Value Judgment Task. It is shown that speakers can interpret at as denoting a spatial relation that stands in the “lexical entailment” relation with other spatial prepositions (e.g. inside, in front of, on top of, behind). For instance, if multiple located entities are involved in this relation, then they may occupy locations that can be “internal”, “external”, or placed on different verses of the same direction, e.g. in front or behind a certain landmark object. It is discussed which semantic hypothesis correctly predicts these findings, and what the implications could be, for a theory of spatial prepositions and their Semantics. [Collapse]
• Temporal Marking in Korean Attributive Clauses and Linguistic Encoding of Human Memory
  by Min-Joo Kim
  J. CS. 2013, 14(1), 77-109;
  Abstract Subscribing to the widely held view among linguists that human language provides a window on the human mind, the present paper attempts to establish a connection between grammatical structures and the organization of human memory by looking at a set of temporal markers that appear in realis attribut... [Read more].
  Abstract Subscribing to the widely held view among linguists that human language provides a window on the human mind, the present paper attempts to establish a connection between grammatical structures and the organization of human memory by looking at a set of temporal markers that appear in realis attributive clauses in Korean, namely, -(u)n, -nu-n, and -te-n. The central claim will be that the behavior of these three markers showcases how human language may encode “semantic memory” and “episodic memory” in the sense of Tulving (1972, 1983, 2002, 2005). The analysis proposed here provides indirect support for differentiating between semantic memory and episodic memory as well as dividing memory systems into sub-types. Additionally, the semantic properties of the Korean attributive clause markers uncovered here advances our understanding of the intricate relations that hold between grammatical categories that are known as Tense, Aspect, Mood, and Evidentiality (or TAME) in the linguistics literature. [Collapse]