The Language of Space & Time

Svetlana Nedelcheva1

Embodied meaning and spatial experience

The real world provides the raw substrate for our sensory perceptions and the conceptualizations

which arise from them.

• humanly perceived experience is fundamental to human cognition • determined by the nature of the bodies we have

• => experience is embodied

Meaning itself is embodied (Evans, 2000; Heine, 1997: Jackendoff. 1983, 1990, 1992; Johnson, 1987;

Lakoff, 1987; Langacker. 1987; Talmy, 2000, etc.)

the concept of CONTAINMENT

• the surrounding LM will often offer physical protection from outside forces

• hide the TR from outside view

the spatial particle in codes the concept of CONTAINMENT

• I awoke in my bedroom• I went to the cupboard in the kitchen• I found the box of cereal in the cupboard

• I read it in the newspaper• Anne Frank lived in perilous times

• Will is in love

not limited to English

Spatial scenes

• we segment our perceptions of the world into spatial scenes

• these spatial scenes result from entities in the world - which exist independently of human beings

• perceived, then analysed and understood in ways which are wholly dependent upon the kind of neural architecture of the human brain, the particularities of the human body and the way these bodies interact with the world

My cup is on the table.

• contact• functionally - support • gravity • prevents a cup from falling• an understanding of the

physical properties of the entities involved (e.g. size, materials they are made of, etc.)

the earliest formative experiences humans undergo

• battling with gravity to remain upright

• discovery of force dynamics (e.g. we can cause sth to move away from us when we push it and towards us when we pull it)

Polysemous lexemes, such as English spatial

particles, form semantic polysemy networks

Polysemy networks form as a result of speakers perceiving communicatively useful connections between a non-

primary use and the primary sense.

OVER

• Its distinct senses did not just accidentally arise because, for instance, speakers could not think of another phonological string with which to label the distinct concept.

• Speakers must have found something in the basic spatio-physical configuration of over which connected to the concept of, say, 'completion' (e.g. The movie is over [=complete]).

Principled polysemy

• a particular form is conventionally associated with a number of distinct but related meanings

• not all contextually varying uses of a form constitute distinct senses

• the distinct senses constitute a semantic network in a systematic and motivated way

a spatial particle such as over has a number of distinct meanings or senses

associated with it

• there has been a tendency among some cognitive linguists, especially those working on lexical polysemy, to exaggerate the number distinct senses associated with a particular form

Methodology for determining distinct sensesTyler & Evans (2003)

• The reason - to minimize the subjective nature of our analysis

• First, a distinct sense must involve non-spatial meaning or a different configuration between the TR and LM than found in the proto-scene.

• Second, there must be instances of the sense that are context independent.

The helicopter hovered over the ocean. The bird hovered over the flower.

• over designates a spatial relation in which the TR is located higher than the LM

• the same basic TR-LM configuration

holds in both and no additional non-spatial meaning is prompted for by one and not the other

TR

LM

TR

LM

Determining the primary sense - problems

• in terms of over, Lakoff (1987) following Brugman ([1981] 1988), argued that the primary sense for over is 'above and across', including a path, as in The plane flew over the city.

• Kreitzer (1997) disagreed, suggesting that the primary sense is something akin to an above sense, as in The bird hovered over the flower.

Tyler and Evans (2003) - methodology to narrow the arbitrariness in the selection of a

primary sense

• earliest attested meaning • pre dominance in the semantic network • relations to other spatial particles

One likely candidate for the primary sense is the HISTORICALLY EARLIEST SENSE.

• The earliest attested uses have to do with a spatial configuration holding between the TR and the LM.

• Predominance within a semantic network - the unique spatial configuration that is involved in the majority of the distinct senses found in the network.

Certain clusters of particles appear to form compositional sets that divide up various

spatial dimensions.

• the particles above, over, under and below appear to form a compositional set which divides the vertical dimension into 4 related subspaces

• up and down, before and after, and in front of and behind, and in and out

A spatial scene is an abstract representation of a recurring real-world spatio-physical

configuration mediated by human conceptual

processing.

• configurational element

• functional element

configurational element

• a trajector (TR), (i.e., the element located) and is typically smaller and movable;

• a landmark (LM), which is the element with respect to which the TR is located and is typically larger and immovable;

• and a conceptual spatial relation between the TR and the LM.

The infant is in her playpen.

TR

LM

• TR is the infant • LM is the playpen• conceptual spatial

relation - in

functional element

• reflects the interactive relationship b/n the TR and the LM in a particular spatial configuration (Herskovits, 1986; Vandeloise, 1991, 1994)

• in designates a relation in which the TR is enclosed by the LM - containment

• LM is three-dimensional in nature, and the TR is located within the bounded area of the LM

A proto-scene with more than one functional element

The kids sat on the table

• the table supports the kids

• the table constrains the actions of the kids

• they place pressure on the table

• their bodies cover part of the table and that part is not visible

A proto-scene is an idealized mental representation across the recurring spatial scenes associated with

a particular spatial particle.

• It is an abstraction across many similar spatial scenes.

• It combines idealized elements of real-world experience (objects called TRs and LMs) and a conceptual relation (a spatial configuration b/n the objects).

The cat is in the box.The convict is in his cell.

the conceptual spatial relation (in)

• TR - the shaded sphere

• LM - diagrammed by the dark lines

• the functional element of the configuration – containment

• the vantage point for construing

(i.e. viewing) the spatial scene is 'off-stage' (Langacker, 1987, 1991a)

The notion of a vantage point suggests how a particular spatial scene is construed.

The tablecloth is on the table. The cloth is over the table.The table is under the tablecloth.

• Certain parts of the spatial scene are profiled (see Langacker, 1987,1992).

Temporality / atemporality

a spatial particle does not profile a relation which evolves through time

• represents a conceptualized relation holding between two entities (a TR and a LM)

• independent of sequential evolving • profiles atemporal relations

Experiential correlation Joseph Grady (1997a, 1999)

a consequence of the nature of interaction between humans and their environment is that certain kinds of experiences are frequently correlated (e.g. vertical elevation of a physical entity and an increase in the quantity of the entity)

The notion of two distinct experiences being correlated is an important one, as it leads to two

distinct concepts becoming linked at the conceptual level.

• Prices have gone up recently.• The stock market is rising.• She's just got her highest test score of the

semester.• The population size is on the way up.

another example of experiential correlation -the experiences of knowing and seeing

• I see what you mean.• I see what you're trying to say.• Now I see! [= understand]• Your vision is just what our company needs.Seeing, sight and vision are conventionally

interpreted as representing knowledge and understanding.

IMAGE SCHEMAS FORM THE BASIS FOR ABSTRACT THOUGHT

Lakoff (1987, 1990, 1993) and Johnson (1987)

The birds are in love.Птиците са влюбени.

Ben is in trouble. Бен е в беда.

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Some more examples:

• The boss is in good mood today. Шефът е в добро настроение днес.

• The government is in a deep crisis.Правителството е в голяма криза.• She’s coming out of the coma. Тя излиза от комата.• I’m slowly getting into shape. Бавно влизам във форма.• He fell into a depression. Той изпадна в депресия.• He is on duty. Той e на дежурство.• Val and his men were on alert. Вал и хората му бяха нащрек/

в пълна готовност.

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‘State’ senses of English prepositions

• We are on alert/best behaviour/look-out/the run.

‘state’ sense

cf. We are on the bus.

‘spatial’ sense

• Ние сме в готовност/ с най-добро държане/ нащрек/ на свобода.

‘state’ sense

cf. Ние сме в автобуса.

‘spatial’ sense

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‘State’ senses of English prepositions

• We are at war/ variance/ dagger’s drawn/ loggerheads

‘state’ sense

cf. We are at the bus stop. ‘spatial’

sense

• Ние сме във война/ в разногласие/ на нож/ в конфликт ‘state’ sense

cf. Ние сме на автобусната спирка.

‘spatial’ sense

(see Evans and Green 2006: chapter 10, for a review; see also

Evans, Bergen and Zinken 2007) 34

ABSTRACT CONCEPTS

• our conceptual system organises abstract concepts in terms of more concrete kinds of experiences: motion, vertical elevation and physical proximity

• Christmas is fast approaching. TIME• The number of shares has gone up. QUANTITY• Those two have a very close friendship.

AFFECTION

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To sum up

• rigorous criteria for determining the primary sense of a spatial particle

• and for determining when an occurrence of a particle represents an independent sense in the network

• an interpretation created on-line for purposes of local understanding

• even with these constraints, different speakers may have somewhat different intuitions concerning the precise relationship b/n the proto-scene and a particular 'extended' sense.

• Spatial scenes are complex and can be construed in many ways.

• The synchronic network reflects many aspects of its diachronic development.

However,