CHAPTER 4 METAPHORS IN LANGUAGE AND GESTURE
4.1 Cross-Modal Manifestation of Metaphors
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CHAPTER 4
METAPHORS IN LANGUAGE AND GESTURE
This chapter includes the investigation of the cross-modal manifestations of metaphors
in daily communication. The 247 metaphoric expressions analyzed are divided into two main
groups. The language-gesture group includes 110 (44.5%) expressions with the same types of
metaphors across linguistic and gestural modalities. The gesture-only group contains 137
(55.5%) metaphoric expressions. To understand the habitual expressions of metaphors in
Mandarin conversations, the present study examines the cross-modal instantiations of
metaphor types, source domains, target domains, and source-to-target correspondences. The
analysis of the metaphor types is shown in Section 4.1. The source domains of the metaphors
are presented in Section 4.2. The target domains are presented in Section 4.3. The
correspondences between the sources and targets are discussed in Section 4.4. The temporal
relationship between speech and gestures in conveying metaphors is presented in Section 4.5.
Section 4.6 is a summary.
4.1 Cross-Modal Manifestation of Metaphors
The present study identifies different types of metaphor to classify the metaphoric
expressions obtained from the face-to-face conversations: body-part metaphor, causation
metaphor, conduit metaphor, container metaphor, entity metaphor, fictive-motion metaphor,
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orientation metaphor, personification metaphor, and complex metaphor. Most of the metaphor
types are found in the current data, but the expressions of body-part metaphor and
personification metaphor are not included in the current data. Distribution of the metaphor
types in Mandarin conversations is presented in Table 5.
Table 5. Types of metaphors in Mandarin conversations
Metaphor Type Example
In the language-gesture group, six metaphor types are found. A large number of the
expressions belong to entity metaphor (71.9%) and orientation metaphor (21.8%).
Fictive-motion metaphor, container metaphor, conduit metaphor, and complex metaphor
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comprise less than 10% of the metaphors in language and gesture. No causation metaphor is
realized by the metaphor in the language-gesture group. However, this finding does not imply
that causation metaphor exclusively belongs to the gesture-only group, since the current data
just involve one instance of this metaphor type. Within the gesture-only group, four metaphor
types are found. Entity metaphor is the overwhelming majority (82.5%), and orientation
metaphor takes the second place (13.9%). Causation metaphor and complex metaphor just
account for a small portion of metaphors in gesture-only. Instances of fictive-motion
metaphor, container metaphor, and conduit metaphor are not found in the metaphors
conveyed merely in gesture. The finding does not indicate that fictive-motion, container, and
conduit metaphors can merely occur in the language-gesture group because these metaphor
types are also rare in the language-gesture group (each metaphor type has less than three
tokens).
In both the language-gesture and the gesture-only groups, entity metaphor is the one
that people use more commonly to conceptualize metaphoric thoughts. Next to entity
metaphor, orientation metaphor is inclined to be expressed. The remaining metaphor types
are not as frequent as entity metaphor and orientation metaphor. The difference between the
language-gesture and the gesture-only groups is statistically significant regarding the
metaphor types.7 It is entity metaphor that causes the difference between the two groups.
7 The Chi-square test for the distribution of the metaphor types in the L-G group and that in the G-only group yields χ2.95(6) = 12.601 (p-value = 0.049). The standardized residuals for entity metaphor are -2.0 in the L-G group and 2.0 in the G-only group.
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Entity metaphors are prone to occur in the gesture-only group rather than the
language-gesture group. While speaking, we can profile a concept with the gestural imagery
of a bounded object supported in hand(s). For instance, the speaker literally expresses bàba
māmā hěn xīnkŭ ‘father and mother work hard’ in utterance in Example 2 in Section 3.2;
whereas, she naturally presents an object gesture to enact the entity metaphor HARD IS AN
OBJECT to emphasize the abstract idea of ‘hardship’. We can easily provide a boundary for a
concept by gesture; hence, it is likely that more entity metaphors are found in the
gesture-only group. The following introduces the cross-modal manifestations of each
metaphor type in the order based on their frequency.
With entity metaphors, we conceive target domains in terms of discrete objects or
substances. We are able to reason about abstract concepts with entity metaphor which may
allow us to group the concepts, quantify them, categorize them or identify aspects of them
(Lakoff & Johnson 1980c). In Example 7, OBJECT is employed with a view to quantified
speech contents. The metaphor SPEECH CONTENT IS AN OBJECT is manifested in both
language and gesture. The term
yìxiē ‘some’ (Line 1) is verbally expressed to quantify the
speech content, showing that SPEECH CONTENT is metaphorically conveyed as an object in
language. At the same time, the speaker’s right open palm faces up with slightly curled
fingers to represent SPEECH CONTENT as a discrete object held in her hand (Panel 2 in Figure
7).
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(7) 1 F1: ..蠻有用的..就你可能講一些什麼東西他可能覺得蠻有用他也..搞不好他也會聽一 2 下..因為他真的沒有別的事可以做啊
Figure 7. SPEECH CONTENT IS AN OBJECTin gesture
Example 8 presents another instance of the entity metaphor. The metaphor A GROUP
OF PEOPLE IS A BOUNDED AREA is manifested in gesture exclusively.The speaker explains
that all the players need to share the rent for the volleyball court. The speaker literally
expresses THE GROUP OF PEOPLE as
zhèxiē rén ‘these people’ in speech (Line 1).
Simultaneously, the speaker’s right hand moves counterclockwise to draw a scope with a
boundary (Panel 3 in Figure 8). This gesture represents the abstract concept of GROUP as a
bounded area which relates to the OBJECT image schema—a unified whole with a distinct
boundary. Lakoff and Johnson (1980c: 60) has proposed a similar metaphor SOCIAL GROUPS
ARE CONTAINERS, in which GROUP is not just a bounded object but a container with a
bounded surface. Because Example 8 only profiles the boundary, not the in-out orientation or
the interior of a container, the present study identifies the metaphoric expression about
GROUP as entity metaphor.
(8) 1 F1: (0)因為等於說你就這些人要分攤場地費..但是他要…確保我們打球的品質他每 2 次都控管人數
(1) (2)
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Figure 8. AGROUP OF PEOPLE IS A BOUNDED AREA in gesture
Orientation metaphors enable us to understand target domains in terms of spatial
concepts. Most of them are concerned with spatial orientation: up-down, front-back,
deep-shallow, central-periphery, and so on. Example 9 includes the orientation metaphors
MORNING IS UP and AFTERNOON IS DOWN in both language and gesture. The speaker says
that the teacher offering the classes in the morning and afternoon is from Germany. She utters
zăoshàng ‘morning’ and xiàwŭ ‘afternoon’ in speech. The spatial terms shàng ‘up’ and xià
‘down’ show that up-down orientation is used to refer to the abstract concept TIME. The
speaker’s left hand moves up when she utters
zăoshàng (Panel 2 in Figure 9), and her hand
moves down when she speakers
xiàwŭ (Panel 3). The gestures provide upward and downward
orientations for the abstract concept of time.
(9) F2: ..早上有...下午都是..德國那一個嗎
Figure 9. MORNING IS UP and AFTERNOON IS DOWN in gesture
(1) (2) (3)
(1) (2) (3)
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Another instance of orientation metaphor can be found in Example 10. The metaphor
HIGHTEMPERATURE IS UP is conveyed in both language and gesture. The speaker verbally
expresses
wēndù shàngshēng ‘temperature rise’ to conceptualize the increasing heat in terms
of the spatial concept UP. At the same time, her right hand rises up to enact the metaphor
(Panel 2 in Figure 10). The upward orientation made by gesture shows the metaphoric
thought about the degree of temperature.
(10) F: ...(0.7)然後其實現在地球的溫度已經有在上升所以現在好像
Figure 10. HIGHTEMPERATURE IS UP in gesture
PATH is a kind of spatial image schema on which orientation metaphors may be based.
In Lakoff (1993), he distinguished various aspects of event structure—states, changes,
process, actions, causes, purposes, and means—and asserted they may be metaphorically
characterized via space, motion, or force. The metaphor MEANS ARE PATHS (Lakoff 1993:
220) is a sub-mapping of the event structure metaphor.In the current data, we also find the
metaphoric expressions based on PATH as shown in Example 11.The speaker talks about his
experience of taking an examination and says what he has studied is in accordance with the
(1) (2)
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examination questions. The metaphor THE DIRECTION OF PREPARATION IS THE
DIRECTION OF PATH is conveyed in language and gesture concurrently. Path is a route for
the movement between two points, and the concept of PATH includes the notion about the
direction of the route. In this case, the speaker verbally expresses the phrase
zhŭnbèi de fāngxiàng ‘direction of the preparation’ (Line 2) which manifests the orientation metaphor
and profiles the direction of path. At the same time, the speaker’s hands move forward,
depicting the imagery of the path to metaphorically conceptualize the concept of
PREPARATION (Panel 3 in Figure 11).
(11) 1 M1: 有些就是...題目的深淺度就是..比較有差...對啊..就才會差在這個地方啊..就方向 2 都還算對準備的方向都還算對只是可能深淺就...可能還不夠這樣子
Figure 11. THEDIRECTION OF PREPARATION IS THE DIRECTION OF PATH in gesture
Fictive-motion metaphor allows us to conceive static things or abstract concepts in
terms of fictive motion which does not have physical occurrences. In Talmy’s (1996) study,
TIME PASSING IS MOTION is seen as a kind of metaphor based on fictive motion. This kind of
metaphor is widely discussed in studies in English and Chinese (Lakoff & Johnson 1980c;
Lakoff 1993; Yu 1998; Chui 2011). The current data have similar expressions like the
(1) (2) (3)
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metaphor shown in Example 12. The speaker says that she has realized that time has elapsed
rapidly since she entered high school. The metaphor THE PASSAGE OF A SEMESTER IS
MOTION is conveyed in both language and gesture. A semester does not actually move, but
the speaker linguistically represents the temporal progression of a semester with the verb guò
‘pass’ (Line 2). Simultaneously, the speaker’s left hand sweeps to the left for several times to
metaphorically express the passage of time through the motion (Panel 3 to 7 in Figure12).
(12) 1 F: 我自從上高中以後我就覺得時間過超快我覺得好像每三次段考...就就是..反正三 2 次段考...一下一下..一學期就過..半學期一學一學期就過了
Figure 12. THE PASSAGE OF A SEMESTER IS MOTION in gesture
(4) (5) (6) (1) (2) (3)
(7) (8) (9)
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Example 13 presents another instance of fictive-motion metaphor. The metaphor SHIFT
OF SPEECH CONTENT IS MOTION is realized in both language and gesture. The speaker states
that a teacher’s speech content always changes abruptly. The speech content of a
conversation does not move, but it is conceptualized in terms of fictive motion as the speaker
express the verb tiào ‘jump’ in the utterance. Moreover, the manner of the fictive motion is
also marked by the term tiào in language. At the same time, speaker’s one hand moves to
upper left or upper right position as the other hand stays in the center position for three times
(Panel 3 to 5 in Figure 13). The gestural imagery of the movement to different spaces
metaphorically represents the abstract concept, SHIFT OF THE SPEECH CONTENT,via motion.
(13) M: [講這邊也<L3 嘛想說L3>]這邊講又跳那邊..跳那邊..跳那邊這樣子啊
Figure 13. SHIFT OF THE SPEECH CONTENT IS MOTION in gesture
(1) (2) (3)
(4) (5) (6)
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With regard to container metaphor, we can conceptualize targets as the containers with
bounded surface and in-out orientation. In Example 14, the metaphor STOCK MARKET IS A
CONTAINER is manifested in both language and gesture. The speaker asks another participant
when will be the best time to buy stocks. A stock market is a virtual place without a physical
boundary. A stock market is conceived as a bounded container in the utterance j
ìnchăng ‘go
into the market’ which indicates the in-out orientation, an important notion relating to
CONTAINER. Simultaneously, the speaker’s hands move downward (Panel 3 in Figure 14);
this gesture represents the route to a container and profiles the in-out orientation.
(14) M1: ..學長你覺得最近在股市震盪期然後要..要進場還要再等一下就對了
Figure 14. STOCK MARKET IS A CONTAINER in gesture
We project our own in-out orientation onto the natural environment such as land areas
(Lakoff & Johnson 1980c). With container metaphor, we can impose a bounded surface to a
land area without a physical or delineated boundary. In the current data, we also find the
container metaphor about land area as shown in the metaphor TAIPEI BASIN IS A CONTAINER
in Example 15. The metaphor is realized by both language and gesture. The speaker says that
the terrain of Taipei is low-lying so Taipei is prone to flooding when the sea level is rising.
(1) (2) (3)
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The utterance
péndì zuāng shuĭ ‘basin is filled with water’ shows that a basin is seen as a
container. The physical land area is provided with artificial boundary which enables the land
to have the function of a container to keep liquid in its interior. The metaphor is also
expressed by the downward movement of the speaker’s hands which depicts the image of
pouring water into a container (Panel 3 in Figure 15) and shows the in-out orientation about
the concept of CONTAINER.
(15) F: ...然後台北也會..因為台北地勢低窪..[盆地..裝水]@@
Figure 15. TAIPEI BASIN IS A CONTAINER in gesture
In conduit metaphors, communication is understood in terms of a conduit which can
physically transfer our thoughts or feelings. This metaphor type involves an important
mechanism in which communication is seen as the action of sending. The current data merely
include an instance of conduit metaphor as shown in Example 16. The speaker says that the
(1) (2) (3)
(4)
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teachers taught well and that they had offered an abundance of knowledge to the students.
The metaphor PROVIDING KNOWLEDGE IS TRANSFERRING OBJECTS is conveyed in both
language and gesture. The speaker linguistically expresses the verb
guàn shū ‘transport’
(Line 2) which indicates that the process of providing knowledge is conceived as sending
discrete entities. The speaker also depicts the imagery of transferring something toward
herself twice by her hand movement (Panel 3 to 5 in Figure 16). Such a gesture is metaphoric
because it does not refer to the physical action of sending but the abstract concept of offering
knowledge.
(16) 1 F: 我..我以前...(.8)是不會覺得課本東西不夠因為那時候我覺得老師..老師都教我很 2 好了...就教得已經灌輸我們很多了
Figure 16.PROVIDING KNOWLEDGE IS TRANSFERRING OBJECTSin gesture
(1) (2) (3)
(4) (5) (6)
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We learn about causation through the experience that we can directly manipulate
objects and then affect the objects in different ways. Hence, causation is metaphorically
conceptualized via a physical force which may result in motion or change of something. Such
a metaphorical realization is called causation metaphor. Lakoff and Johnson (1999: 184)
proposed that bring, drive, pull, push, throw are all verbs of forced movement in their
physical senses and they can be used to indicate abstract causation. From the current data, we
find an instance of causation metaphor as shown in Example 17. The speaker states that she
does not want to urge her boyfriend to marry her. The metaphor PSYCHOLOGICAL
COMPELLING IS PUSHING is merely represented by the manual movement. There is a literal
expression of the psychological operation
bī ‘compel’ in language. On the other hand, the
speaker’s hands forcefully push forward (Panel 2 in Figure 17). The speaker does not
physically push her boyfriend, yet the gesture metaphorically represents the abstract concept
of causation through the action of pushing. A physical force is utilized to conceptualize a
psychological force to cause someone to carry out a certain action.
(17) F1: ..那不能說…不能說..啊..eh..他沒有想要結..那我很想要結..那我就一直逼他
Figure 17. PSYCHOLOGICAL COMPELLING IS PUSHING in gesture
(1) (2)
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Unlike the metaphor types discussed above, complex metaphors do not have direct
correlations between the targets and the image schemas which represent the recurrent pattern
of our bodily experiences. However, complex metaphors are embodied. Our understanding of
complex metaphors still needs the knowledge from everyday sensory-motor experiences and
socio-cultural practices. Example 18 includes the expression of complex metaphor.
(18) 1 F: ..對啊..這樣還賺一百五..然後我們就在..就是..有沒有..撿客人..當計程車..撿三個 2 客人..我們就賺錢了[@@@]好壞喔
Figure 18. CHOOSING PASSENGERS IS PICKING OBJECTS in gesture
The metaphor CHOOSING PASSENGERS IS PICKING OBJECTS can be found in both
speech and gesture. The speaker and her friend plan to drive to attend a conference and
mention that they can choose three slender girls to go with them. The speaker then makes a
joke that the passengers need to pay for the ride because they serve the roles as taxi drivers.
(1) (2) (3)
(4) (5) (6)
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She utters
jiăn kèrén ‘pick passenger’ (Line 1) and jiăn sānge kèrén ‘pick three passengers’
(Line 1 to 2) to describe the mental process of choosing people to go with them. At the same
time, the speaker’s right index finger and thumb make a pinch and move from the rather right
position to her left hand at the center position two times (Panel 3 to 5 in Figure 18). Such a
gesture represents the idea of CHOOSING PASSENGERS as the imagery of picking objects.
The physical activity of picking objects is the socio-cultural practice we perform in ordinary
life, and it provides the basis for the complex metaphor in this case.
According to Cienki (1998: 83), the gesture of weighing reflects the consideration of
the importance of different factors, and the gesture is “like balancing all these things”. In
Chui’s (2011) study, she provides an example of the metaphor CHOOSING IS WEIGHING in
which weighing is used in comparing the shapes of tea leaves. In the current data, we also
find the metaphors in which the activity of weighing is used in comparing the importance of
different things to do. Example 19 presents the complex metaphor PLANNING IS WEIGHING
which ismanifested in gesture exclusively. The F2 speaker thinks their friend indeed planned
to have a child. In language, the mental activity of planning is represented by the literal
speech,
guēihuà ‘plan’ (Line 2). In gesture, the F2 speaker moves one hand up and the other
down three times to enact the metaphor PLANNING IS WEIGHING (Panel 3 to 5 in Figure 19).
Importance is seen as weight and we compare the weight (importance) of different factors
when we plan. In this case, weighing is used to conceptualize the mental activity of planning.
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(19) 1 F1: ..連做老公的心理準備都還沒有..[一下子]...就跳做爸爸
2 F2: [他不是]...在規劃中嗎...(0.8)不是計畫中要試看看有沒有<L2 baby L2>嗎
Figure 19. PLANNING IS WEIGHING in gesture