Gerard Steen: Sensory-Motor Concepts and Metaphor in Usage

This paper explores the relation between metaphor and Sensory Motor concepts in language use. Sensory Motor concepts in language use are defined as a number of semanticfields distinguished by WMatrix, comprising Sensory lexis and Motor lexis, including words under ‘Sight’ and ‘Sound’ as well as ‘Moving, Coming, Going’ and ‘Pushing, Putting, Pulling’. The incidence of this lexis and its metaphorical use is examined in the VU Amsterdam Metaphor Corpus, a 190,000 word selection from BNC Baby anno- tated for metaphor. The relation between the selected semantic fields and metaphorical and non-metaphorical use reveals a substantial distinction between the metaphorical use of Sensory Motor lexis and all other lexis as well as between the metaphorical use of Sensory lexis and Motor lexis. Interactions with word class and with genre are also explored, indicating more specific behavior of each of the various groups of lexis expressing the distinct concept categories. The paper concludes by suggesting that Sensory-Motor concepts may indeed play a special role in metaphorical language use, and that additional distinctions are needed to capture the four-way interaction between metaphor, word class, register and semantic field.

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