Time to Throw in the Towel ? No Evidence for Automatic Conceptual Metaphor Access in Idiom Processing
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Time to Throw in the Towel? No Evidence for Automatic Conceptual Metaphor Access in Idiom Processing Krista A. Miller1 · Gary E. Raney1 · Alexander P. Demos1
© Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, part of Springer Nature 2020
Abstract The goal of the current research was to determine if conceptual metaphors are activated when people read idioms within a text. Participants read passages that included idioms that were consistent (blow your top) or inconsistent (bite his head off) with an underlying conceptual metaphor (ANGER IS HEATED FLUID IN A CONTAINER) followed by target words that were related (heat) or unrelated (lead) to the conceptual metaphor. Reading time (Experiment 1) or lexical decision time (Experiment 2) for the target words were measured. We found no evidence supporting conceptual metaphor activation. Target word reading times were unaffected by whether they were related or unrelated to underlying conceptual metaphors. Lexical decision times were facilitated for related target words in both the consistent and inconsistent idiom conditions. We suggest that the conceptual (target) domain, not a specific underlying conceptual metaphor, facilitates processing of related target words. Keywords Conceptual metaphor theory · Idiom processing · Figurative language comprehension The goal of the current research was to determine if conceptual metaphors are activated when people read idioms within a text. A conceptual metaphor is a metaphor, or analogy, that structures our experience of the world and shapes how we think and express our thoughts (Lakoff and Johnson 1980a, b). Lakoff and Johnson suggest that conceptual metaphors are reflected in our everyday language. For example, the conceptual metaphor ARGUMENT IS WAR shapes the way we talk about arguments, as evidence by several expressions such as he shot down my best argument and I never won an argument with him. Conceptual metaphors may also be reflected in idioms and have been used as a way of explaining idiom meaning. Per Conceptual Metaphor Theory, idiom meaning is not arbitrary but motivated by underlying conceptual metaphors (Lakoff 1987). For example, the figurative meaning of the idiom blow his top is understood by relating an abstract concept (anger) to a more concrete, experiential entity (heated fluid in a container). In other words, we conceptualize anger in terms of heated fluid in a container and this conceptualization * Krista A. Miller [email protected] 1
Department of Psychology, University of Illinois At Chicago, Chicago, IL 60607, USA
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Journal of Psycholinguistic Research
motivates the creation of and meaning behind multiple idioms (e.g., blow his top, flip his lid, etc.). This older view of Conceptual Metaphor Theory is referred to as the standard conceptual metaphor view (Gibbs and Santa Cruz 2012). There are two important implicit assumptions in the standard view. The Singularity Assumption contends that a single conceptual metaphor underlies each metaphorical statement. The Discreteness Assumption c
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