Moving Time vs. Frame-relative motion: A frame-based account of the distinction between primary metaphor and fictive motion

Publication Date

10-30-2020

Document Type

Article

Publication Title

Constructions and Frames

Volume

12

Issue

2

DOI

10.1075/cf.00042.moo

First Page

272

Last Page

314

Abstract

There is an elaborate analogy between Moving Time (composed of primary metaphors; e.g. Christmas is approaching) and Frame-relative Fictive Motion (e.g. Your destination is approaching). It has been suggested that this analogy could be involved in the motivation of Moving Time. However, a semantic frame analysis that includes all stages of the motion event shows that this analogy could not be involved in the motivation of Moving Time. It is further argued that Moving Time and Frame-relative Fictive Motion are instances of different types of cognitive-semantic structure. Moving Time is a selective integration of concepts from frames that do not share elements with each other, whereas Frame-relative Fictive Motion presupposes a single semantic frame. For the purpose of distinguishing fictive motion from primary metaphor (e.g. Moving Time), Coextension-path and Pattern-path fictive motion are studied in addition to Frame-relative. These three types of fictive motion can be distinguished from primary metaphor because they involve the integration of concepts from frames that share specific structure, whereas primary metaphor involves frames that do not share specific structure. In a preliminary classification of fictive motion as a type of metaphor, all three types of fictive motion discussed may be classified as resemblancebased metaphors. Coextension-path and Frame-relative fictive motion are also motivated by correlations in experience. These correlations, however, are different in kind from those that motivate primary metaphor.

Keywords

Blending, Coextension-path, Conceptual integration, Conceptual metaphor, Fictive motion, Frame-relative, Frames, Image metaphor, Pattern-path, Primary metaphor, Resemblance-based metaphor

Department

General Engineering; World Languages and Literatures

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