(Luận văn thạc sĩ) a study of space – time conceptual metaphor in english

VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES & INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF POST – GRADUATE STUDIES ***************** NGUYỄN THỊ PHƯƠNG NHUNG A STUDY OF SPACE – TIME CONCEPTUAL METAPHOR IN ENGLISH Nghiên cứu ẩn dụ ý niệm không gian – thời gian tiếng Anh (Chương trình loại 1) M.A Minor Programme Thesis Field: Linguistics Code: 60220201 HÀ NỘI – 2018 VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES & INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF POST – GRADUATE STUDIES ***************** NGUYỄN THỊ PHƯƠNG NHUNG A STUDY OF SPACE – TIME CONCEPTUAL METAPHOR IN ENGLISH Nghiên cứu ẩn dụ ý niệm không gian – thời gian tiếng Anh (Chương trình loại 1) M.A Minor Programme Thesis Field: Linguistics Code: 60220201 Supervisor: Prof Nguyễn Hòa HÀ NỘI – 2018 DECLARATION I hereby declare that the thesis entitled “A study of Space-time Conceptual Metaphor in English” is the result of my own research for the Degree of Master at the University of Languages and International Studies (ULIS), Viet Nam National University, and this thesis has not been submitted for any other degrees I also accept all the requirement of ULIS relating to the retention and use of M.A Graduation Thesis deposited in the library Hanoi, 2017 Nguyen Thi Phuong Nhung i ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS On completion of this thesis, I am indebted to many people First and foremost, I would like to express my sincere thanks to Prof Nguyễn Hoà for helping me complete this study This paper would not be finished without his valuable advice, guidance and support His useful suggestions and valuable critical feedback encouraged me during the process of conducting this study Much gratitude also go to all my lecturers and officers from Faculty of Post-Graduate Studies, University of Languages and International Studies, Vietnam National University, who facilitated the best possible conditions during my whole course of studying I also would like to show my warmest thanks to my friends who encouraged and assisted me a lot At the same time, their valuable comments and criticism are extremely important and helpful during the process of writing this paper Last but not least, I would like to express my deepest gratitude to my parents and my brothers for their love, care and encouragement Hanoi, 2017 Nguyen Thi Phuong Nhung ii ABSTRACT This study investigates into the space - time conceptual metaphor in English, which the abstract domain of time gets its relational structure from the more concrete domain of space through metaphorical mappings The research focuses on two spatial prepositions before and behind in the light of cognitive perspective Hence, the meanings of these two particles are clarified through the analysed image schemas and two moving models The spatial orientation has an important impact on human thought and our understanding of time as the domains of space and time share conceptual structure, thus how people conceptualize spatial information affects people’s thinking of temporal information It is suggested that the spatial models of before, behind are also useful to the mappings between space and time, from which the ego-moving and time-moving models of before, behind are developed From the analysis and discussion based on data source, limitations and recommendations for further studies were included in this research iii TABLE OF CONTENTS DECLARATION i ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ii ABSTRACT iii LIST OF ABBRIVIATIONS iv LIST OF FIGURES, TABLES v PART A: INTRODUCTION 1 Rationale for the research Aims of the research Research question Data source Scope of the research Significance of the research Organization of the research PART B: DEVELOPMENT Chapter - LITERATURE REVIEW 1.1 Definition of term (key constructs) 1.2 Theoretical background 1.2.1 The conceptual nature of meaning 1.2.2 Metaphor: 1.3 Conceptual metaphor Time as Space: Chapter – METHODOLOGY 10 2.1 Research method 10 2.2 How to determine distinct senses 11 Chapter – ANALYSIS AND DISCUSSION 14 3.1 Analysis 14 3.2 Discussion 30 PART C: CONCLUSION 34 Summary 34 Implication 34 Limitations and suggestions for further studies 35 REFERENCES 37 LIST OF ABBRIVIATIONS Eg: Example Fig: Figure LM: Landmarks TR: Trajector iv LIST OF FIGURES, TABLES Fig 1: Image schema of before in Eg 14 Fig 2: Image schema of before in Eg 15 Fig 3: Image schema of before in Eg 16 Fig 4: Image schema of before in Eg 16 Fig 5: Image schema of before in Eg 12 Fig 6: Image schema of before in Eg 18 Fig 7: Image schema of before in Eg 18 Fig 8: Image schema of behind in Eg 10 Fig 9: Image schema of behind in Eg 20 Fig 10: Image schema of behind in Eg 10 21 Fig 11: Image schema of behind in Eg 11 21 Fig 12: Ego-moving and Object-moving models 22 Table 1: Space-time correspondences in English 24 Fig 13: Image schema of Ego-moving model from space to time 25 Fig 14: Image schema of Time-moving model from space to time 26 Table 2: Examples of Ego-moving and Time-moving metaphors with preposition 'before, behind' 27 Fig 15: Ego-moving model of before from space to time 27 Fig 16: Ego-moving model of behind from space to time 28 Fig 17: Time-moving model of before from space to time 29 Fig 18: Time-moving model of behind from space to time 30 v PART A: INTRODUCTION In this part, the researcher will present the rationale of the study, the aims, the research questions, the data source, the scope, the significance, and the organization of the study Rationale for the research Many researches have shown that people often talk about time in terms of space Spatial expressions used here can be verbs (as we approach the end of the year, the coming month) or prepositions (in the days ahead of us, the worst is behind us) That people rely on the domain of space to conceptualize time such as: we are handing in our MA thesis before time, approaching the viva voce, or falling behind schedule means they are using space-time conceptual metaphor (metaphor Time as Space) Playing an important role in conceptualizing time as space, the spatial prepositions (in, on, at, before, ahead of, behind, etc.) have been subject to many linguistic studies and thesis Of these, ‘in, on, at’ have been discussed in lots of articles and studies, while ‘before, behind’ have received less linguists and researchers’ attention When people stand between the worst days and the best days, can it be said that “the best day is before them” or “the best day is behind them”? How can people determine which statement is the best appropriate? Therefore, the purpose of this research is to investigate two spatial prepositions ‘before, behind’ in detail that how they reason time from cognitive perspective Aims of the research The study is carried out to discover another aspect of metaphor Time as Space in which the spatial schemas of two spatial prepositions ‘before, behind’ are clarified Moreover, the research explores how these spatial schemas affect time conceptualization From those analysis, the mechanism the temporal statements using these spatial prepositions are interpreted Direction of objects Space O O O O Time Direction of time/events E E E Past E Future Fig 14: Image schema of Time-moving model from space to time The apparent systematicity of the ego-moving and time-moving systems in English suggests that space provides a framework that is mapped into time to facilitate temporal reasoning The more concrete domains are used in reasoning about abstract domains Those spatial representations are carried into abstract areas such as interpretation of time reasoning proves this People seem to apply how they order space, how they decide the order of objects to sequence nonspatial things such as time and events 3.1.5 The mechanism the temporal statements using the spatial prepositions before, behind are interpreted Here below are the significant examples of temporal statements using the spatial prepositions before, behind: 26 (a) Ego-moving (1) (2) (b) Time-moving The Christmas is before us The Christmas comes before Tet The worst days are behind Tet is two months behind us Christmas Table 2: Examples of Ego-moving and Time-moving metaphors with prepositions ‘before, behind’ The mechanism of these statements is explained through two metaphorical models: Ego-moving and Time-moving metaphors In the ego-moving model, front is assigned to a future or later event (e.g The Christ is before us, The worse days are behind us) In the example “The Christmas is before us”, “the Christmas” is a later or future event, and is said to be before because it is further along in the observer's direction of motion: M is before me Past Time Christmas Space The Christmas is before us Fig 15: Ego-moving model of before from space to time 27 While in the instance “The worse days are behind us”, “the worst days” are the earlier event, we have experience them and move on to the future Thus, it is said to be behind the observer’s direction of motion: M is behind me X M The worse days are behind us Fig 16: Ego-moving model of behind from space to time In the time-moving model, front is assigned to a past or earlier event (e.g The Christmas comes before Tet, Tet is two months behind the Christmas) Here, “the Christmas” is the earlier event, and is said to be before because it is further along in the direction of motion of time, people see the event (Christmas) move to the past before Tet is coming: 28 Time Past Christmas Space Tet Future The Christmas comes before Tet Figure 17: Time-moving model of before from space to time The same model is applied with particle behind in the example ‘Tet is two months behind the Christmas’ In the time river, “Christmas” moves toward the past first, “Tet” is the later event which moves from the future to the past, and is said to be behind because it is further along in the direction of motion of time, people see the event (Christmas) move to the past before Tet is coming: 29 X is behind M Space M Christmas X Time Tet Tet is two months behind the Christmas Figure 17: Time-moving model of behind from space to time 3.2 Discussion Two spatial particles behind and before have been analyzed The analysis supports the perspective of the principled polysemy approach In particular, the conclusions support the general view adduced that non-spatial meaning is often derived from spatial experience, which is meaningful due to the way in which we interact with the world around us For instance, face-to-face interaction with 30 other humans has given rise to the tendency to project a mirror-image alignment in closed scenes involving non-oriented entities Additionally, human interaction with inanimate objects often results in construals of orientation based on function, such as assigning a house a front/back orientation based on typical access or aligned lamp-posts a front/back orientation based on the side which is visible to a human as he or she approaches the lamp-posts 3.2.1 Time as motion People usually view time move from the past to the present to the future as in expressions time goes by, time passes, etc However, the question is: “is it only time that moves?” Sometimes, it is not time as a thing, or moment that moves, but the world or events in time, as in ‘her birthday is approaching’, ‘Tet is coming’ Then, we also have to take the world or people move in time into consideration Thus, not only time but also people move in time with different speed In this paper, only common models of motion with fixed background is focused There are two main models of conceptualizing time as motion including the time - moving model and the ego - moving model In the time - moving model, time is conceived of as moving Lakoff (1993) describes the metaphor based on this model as ‘time passing is motion of an object’ Time may move non-deictically, for example, irrespective of a human observer as in It’s getting close to sundown, or deictically, relative to a stationary human observer as a reference point In the ego - moving model, the observer is conceived of as moving and time as being stationary Lakoff (1993) describes the metaphor based on this model as time passing is motion over a landscape 3.2.2 Time-moving model The time-moving model appears to be in accordance with our folk view of time as flowing People are surprised when they realize that time does not flow from the past to the future, but from the future to the past In this respect, the time - moving model is diametrically opposed to our entrenched belief in the 31 direction of the flow of time Since this model of time is so widespread crosslinguistically, it must, in spite of its reversal of the expected flow of time, have certain cognitive advantages These are: The time - moving model allows us to relate moving time to a fixed ground: the stationary world The key figure in the stationary, unchanging world is the human observer, and time and events in time pass by him as in coming week and past week This model is motivated by our self-centered view of the world, in which each human being sees himself at the very center of the world The time - moving model allows us to conceptualize our experience of time as changing: the future changes into the present and the present changes into the past The moving-time model allows us to bestow an independent existence upon time: units of time become measurable relative to each other irrespective of their deictic positioning, as in the following week ‘the later week’ and the preceding week ‘the earlier week’ The source of the time moving model is the physical world There is no force that changes the straight motion of time, so time keeps forever moving The observer’s only contribution in this scenario is that of occupying a position on the time-line and watching the passing of time from his vantage point The time - moving model thus lends itself to the notion of time and events as evolving and occurring 3.2.3 Ego-moving model In this, the observer comes from the past and moves via the present into the future, while time as the reference ground remains stationary The movingego model is reflected in expression such as we have left the 237 worst behind us This model of static time is inconsistent with our folk view of moving time, but it also has aspects of cognitive motivation: The ego - moving model is consistent with our view of the flow of time: the observer as part of the world moves in the “right” direction, from the past into the future The ego - moving model allows us to conceptualize time in terms of our image-schematic, sensorimotor experience of locomotion The ego - moving model allows us to relate notions of time to other important concepts, in particular, goal-directed actions The ego 32 moving model is based on people’s locomotion When people decide to move to some place, they typically so intentionally and with the purpose of doing something at the destination Equally, locomotion in time typically involves intentionality This chapter has analysed spatial schemas of two prepositions before, behind with ego-moving and object-moving systems From that, the correlation mappings between spatial and temporal expressions are indicated Besides, the chapter provides two temporal models for before and behind which correspond with spatial models, ego – moving and time – moving The next part will give a short summary of research analysis and discussion with limitations as well as suggestions for further studies 33 PART C: CONCLUSION As the final part of the research paper, this chapter first summarizes the major findings of the research with reference to the research questions and in light of literature It then discusses some implication and limitations of this study may bring Lastly, some suggestions for further research will be provided Summary With the aims of investigating space – time conceptual metaphor in English, the researcher conducted a study into two spatial particles before, behind to explain how these two spatial prepositions conceptualize time Based on theoretical framework about cognitive lingustics in general and conceptual metaphor Time as Space in particular, the conceptualization of two particles before, behind are thoroughly explored with image schemas After analyzing meaning network and image schemas of particles before, behind, the researcher develops two moving schemas of these two spatial prepositions known as the Ego-moving and Object-moving models Besides, space and time corresponds to each other to some extent, which then allow spatial schemas to be related to temporal schemas when people conceptualize time These schemas have effect on the temporal schemas, in other words, the spatial schemas help to shape the way time is conceptualized with two models: Ego-moving and Time-moving Depending on differently metaphorical models, people conceptualize time and use appropriate prepositions and sentence structures Implication English spatial prepositions are considered as one of the most difficult aspects of the language to master The research has brought about significant implications on metaphor theory for English learners and teachers First of all, this piece of research contributed to raise learners’ awareness of metaphor 34 ‘Time as space’ In conceptualizing time as space, we may take advantage of the conceptual richness inherent in the spatial domain as a whole and, in mapping its structural elements onto time, impart meanings onto temporal notions For example, we may think of time as moving backward or forward It is to be expected that those aspects of space which best conform to our everyday experience in the spatial world are preferentially made use of and typically found across languages But, in lexicalizing notions of time, different languages may also exploit the cognitive topology of space in different ways This paper is concerned with the ways English makes use of the pool of spatial meanings in conceptualizing and expressing notions of time Besides, it is hopeful that this paper will provide a more clearly framework to access English spatial prepositions such as before, behind for second language learners and teachers It is hypothesized that spatial particles have great influence on people’s thinking or how people conceptualize time, but this hypothesis is not completely explored Therefore, learners and teachers of English can expectedly make use of this research to sort out difficulty in acquiring English from cognitive perspective Limitations and suggestions for further studies Although this study has analyzed how spatial schemas affect time reasoning with two spatial prepositions, some unavoidable shortcomings are found in this paper Firstly, a small number of prepositions (only two: behind, before) are investigated The conclusions from the discussion are applied on those, not a wide range of language unit Therefore, further studies with larger scope should be encouraged Besides, the various sources of data are not the strong points of this paper as the data is chosen from many English books and stories It would be better if the data is collected from more authentic sources 35 Another limitation for the study is that it shed the light on conceptual metaphor in English without much comparing to other languages Thus, it would be useful if more comparative researches are carried out between English and others (including Vietnamese) in the future 36 REFERENCES Boroditsky, L (2000) Metaphoric structuring: understanding time through spatial metaphors Cognition, 75 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(1993) The Semantics of Prepositions: From Mental Processing to Natural Language Processig Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter 40 ... are using space- time conceptual metaphor (metaphor Time as Space) Playing an important role in conceptualizing time as space, the spatial prepositions (in, on, at, before, ahead of, behind, etc.)... domain of time This may be because frequent mappings between space and time come to be stored in the domain of time It appears that abstract domains such as time are indeed shaped by metaphorical... the conceptual metaphor TIME AS SPACE English has many everyday expressions that are grounded on conceptualizing the domain of time in terms of the domain of space, such as “Look how far we have