Is time a Basic Domain? Reduction of Abstract Domains Through Metaphor and Metonymy
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Universidad de La Rioja
info
ISSN: 0213-201X
Year of publication: 2000
Issue: 16
Pages: 259-284
Type: Article
More publications in: Epos: Revista de filología
Abstract
En this paper, we offer a systematic classification of both the metaphoric and the metonymic mappings underlying the notion of time in English. The main conclusion which can be drawn from this cognitive approach to the study of time in English is that time is not a basic notion. For contemporary English speakers, at least, reasoning and speaking about time always involves some kind of metaphoric or metonymic projection. In addition to this, we have also considered some interesting cases of conceptual inte-raction, in which independent metaphors and metonymies of time combine with each other in order to make possible the understanding and the expression of complex tem-poral thoughts in English.