Synesthetic metaphors in Polish from the perspective of frame semanticsMAGDALENA ZAWISŁAWSKAUNIVERSITY OF WARSAW

Synesthetic metaphorsI understand synesthetic metaphors according to Wering et al. (2006): a metaphor is synesthetic only when its source domain pertains to perception (visual, auditory, olfactory, tactile, or gustatory). If the target domain does not evoke perception, we can talk of a weak synaesthetic metaphor. If both the source and the target domain evoke perception, we deal with a strong synaesthetic metaphor (Werning, Fleischhauer, Beşeoğlu 2006).

SYNAMET Microcorpus of Synaesthetic Metaphors. Towards a Formal Description and Efficient Methods of Analysis of Metaphors in Discourse. UMO/2014/15/B/HS2/00182, financed by the Polish National Science Centre.

Synesthetic metaphors and frame semantics

Recent works on metaphor have employed the Fillmorean frame semantics framework in order to account better for metaphor's both cognitive and linguistic properties (Dancygier, Sweetser 2014; Ziem 2014, Dodge et al. 2015; Sullivan 2015).

Why frames?1. Frame semantics offers a holistic approache to

linguistic anylisys (unlike the structural semantics).2. Frame – as the system of concepts – contains not

only linguistic knowledge, but any kind of knowledge that is relevant to understand discourse.

3. Frame is coherent, conceptual gestalts organized in a hierarchical structure that contains slots and values (Dodge et al. 2015).

Scope of the presentation

Adjetives of tactile perception:GORĄCY (HOT)ZIMNY (COLD)GŁADKI (SMOOTH)SZORSTKI (ROUGH, COARSE)

38%

49%

10%

4%Number of appearance in NCP (the balanaced subcorpus)

gorący (hot)zimny (cold)gładki (smooth)szorstki (rough)

Sources National Corpus of Polish (NCP)DICTIONARIES: Bańko, Mirosław (2000): Inny słownik języka polskiego

PWN. Warszawa: Wydawnictwo Naukowe PWN (ISJP). Bańko, Mirosław (2004): Słownik porównań. Wyd. 1.

Warszawa: Wydawn. Naukowe PWN (SP). Dubisz, Stanisław (2003): Uniwersalny słownik języka

polskiego. Wyd. 1. Warszawa: Wydawn. Naukowe PWN (USJP).

ADJECTIVES OF THE TACTILE PERCEPTION

GORĄCY : ZIMNY HOT : COLD

Semantic relations between the adjectives gorący and zimny

ISJP: antonyms.USJP: (gorący ‹hot› : lodowaty ‹ice-cold›; zimny :

ciepły ‹warm›. They name the opposite and outermost sides of

the same attribute – the temperature of an object.

HOT ZIMNY

TEMPERATURE

SOURCE OF HEAT

OBJECTNATURAL

ARTIFICIAL

ORGANISM

HUMAN

OTHER MAMMALS

BIRDSPROPERTIES CHANGEABLE

INFLUENCE ON MAN

POSITIVE

NEGATIVE

Body temperature

Hot body means:• illness: gorączka

«fever»;• very strong

emotions, e.g. anger, love, excitement: gorączkować się «to be (all) keyed up», gorzeć miłością, nienawiścią «to be burning with love, hate».

Cold body menas:

• illness: zimnica «malaria»;

• fear: kogoś oblewa zimny pot «to break out in a cold sweat from fright », zimno się komuś zrobiło «one shuddersout of fear»;

• death: zimny «deceased, dead», zimny jak trup «cold as as a corpse».

Object temperature

Prototypical hot objects in Polish idioms SUN FIRE STOVETheir typical colors are : red, orange and yellow.

woda (water) herbata (tea) powietrze (air) zupa (soup) kawa (coffee) mleko (milk)

669

419

170119 109 91

Most typical noun collocations with the adjective gorący in NCP

Number of collocations

Hot objects are good for us as:• they worm us and heat the air, water, or a

room,• they let us cook food. Hot objects are bad for us as:• they can make air or room too hot and it is

unpleasant or even dangerous for us: gorąc ‹heat›,

• they can burn us: Kto się na gorącym sparzył, ten na zimne dmucha. (One once burnt is blowing on cold ‹once bitten, twice shy›.)

Prototypical cold objects in Polish idioms

ICESTONEFISHSTEELROCKMARBLETheir typical colors are: white, blue, grey.

woda (water) powietrze (air) piwo (beer) wiatr (wind) napój (drink)

857

117 9257 54

Most typical noun collocations with the adjective zimy in NCP

Number of collocations

Cold objects are good for us as:• we can safely touch them: dmuchać na zimne (to blow at

cold ‹to play it safe›), zimne ognie ‹sparklers›;• when it’s hot outside, or our body is hot, we use them to

refresh ourselves: zimny kompres ‹cold compress›. Cold objects are bad for us as:• we don’t like touching them: zimny jak ryba ‹to be a cold

fish›; • cold food is not tasty. Too cold air or water is bad for us as:• we don’t like when it’s too cold outside: zimnica ‹very

cold, unpleasant weather›;• we don’t like too cold water: zimny prysznic ‹a cold

shower›.• too cold weather can be dangerous for us.

Gorący (hot) and zimny (cold) adjectives in strong and weak synesthetic metaphors

GORĄCY ZIMNY

STRO

NG

SYN

ESTH

ETIC

M

ETAP

HO

RSVISUAL

PERCEPTION

GORĄCY (HOT)gorące barwy,

kolory (hot colors ‹warm colors›)

ZIMNY (COLD)zimne barwy,

kolory (cold colors ‹cool colors›)

AUDITORY PERCEPTION

GORĄCY (HOT)

gorące rytmy hot rhythms ‹Latino

rythms›

gorący doping ‹rousing cheers›

gorące oklaski ‹warm applause›

ZIMNY (COLD)zimne dźwięki (cold sounds) ‹higher tones›

Weak synesthtetic metaphorsGORĄCY (HOT)

HO

T

HOT OBJECT

SHORT TIME SHORT

IMPACTGOOD

BAD

HOT BODYREASON

SYMPTOMS

SHORT TIMEWE HAVE TO ACT FAST• gorąca linia

‹hotline›• gorący pieniądz

‹hot money›

WE HAVE TO DO A LOT• gorący

czas/okres/tydzień ‹busy time, period, weak›

THE OBJECT IS NEW, FRESH (hot bread)• gorący temat ‹hot

topic›• gorąca wiadomość

‹breaking news›

IMPACTGOOD• gorące życzenia ‹warm wishes›

• gorące powitanie ‹warm welcome›

BAD• gorący czas ‹hot time›

• gorący punkt ‹hot point/ torrid area, war zone›

HOT BODYREASON• LOVE

• gorący wielbiciel ‹ardent admirer› • gorący romans ‹burning romance›

• ANGER• gorący spór ‹heated dispute›

• COMMITMENT• gorący zwolennik ‹ardent

supporter›

SYMPTOMS• PERSONALITY

• gorące serce ‹enthustiastic›• gorąca krew ‹hot blood›

• MANNNER OF SEPAKING• gorący apel ‹urgent appeal›• gorąca modlitwa ‹fervent prayer›

• MANNER OF BEHAVIOR• gorąca atmosfera ‹hostile

atmoshpere›

Weak synesthtetic metaphorsZIMNY (COLD)

GORĄCY (HOT)

STRONG EMOTIONS (anger, love, passion,

excitement)

POSITIVE EMOTIONS (love, passion)

ZIMNY (COLD)NO EMOTIONS• reason

• zimna krew (cold blood)• zimna kalkulacja (cold

calculation)• ruthlessness

• zimny drań (ruthless bastard)• zimne serce (cold heart)

NEGATIVE EMOTIONS (fear)• kogoś oblewa zimny pot

‹one broke out in a cold sweat›: one was terrified

ZIMNY (COLD)• NOT DIRECT, NON

MILITARY CONFLICT• zimna wojna ‹cold war›

GORĄCY (HOT)• DIRECT,MILITARY

CONFLICT• gorąca wojna ‹hot war›

ADJECTIVES OF THE TACTILE PERCEPTION

GŁADKI : SZORSTKISMOOTH : ROUGH

Semantic relations between adjectives gładki and szorstki

USJP: antonyms. ISJP: szorstki ‹rough, coarse› : gładki ‹smooth›; gładki :

szorstki/ chropawy/ chropowaty ‹rough, coarse›.The adjectives name the early (szorstki) and final

(gładki) state of the object: gładzik ‹calender, plane›; wygładzić ‹to smooth sth away/out›.

SZORSTKI GŁADKI

TEXTURE

OBJECT

NATURAL

SURFACE

ARTEFACT

SURFACE

ORGANISM

HUMAN

SKIN

HAIR

ANIMAL

SKIN

COAT

SHELL

PLANT

BARK

LEAVES

GŁA

DKI

(S

MO

OTH

) • When we touch a surface we don’t feel any bumps.

• Our hand moves on such surface FAST and EASY.

• When we touch such surface it feels NICE.

• We can PROCESS some objects in order to make them smooth.

SZO

RSTK

I (R

OU

GH

) • On a surface we feel bumps, or unevenness.

• Our hand moves on such surface with with DIFFICULTY.

• When we touch such surface it doesn’t feel nice and sometimes it is PAINFUL.

Prototypical smooth objects in Polish idioms TABLE ICE GLASS ALABASTER VELVET SATIN SILK BOTTOM OF

A BABYwłosy (hair) ciało (body) masa (dough) policzek (cheek) slab

38

3028

24

16

Most typical noun collocations with the adjective gładki in NCP

Numbers of collocation

Prototypical rough objects in Polish

RICE BRUSH

język (tongue) dłoń (palm) skóra (skin) policzek (cheek) ręka (hand) wełna (wool)

1716

15 15

12

10

Most frequent collocations with the adjective szorstki in NCP

Numbers of collocations

Strong synesthtetic metaphorsGŁADKI (SMOOTH)SZORSTKI (ROUGH)

VISUAL PERCEPTION• GŁADKI (SMOOTH)

• plain (a dress)• no wrinkle (a face)• no waves (a lake)• no hills (a plain)• no curves (a line)

• SZORSTKI (ROUGH)• with small, numerous

twists (a shoreline)

AUDITORY PERCEPTION• GŁADKI (SMOOTH)

• nice, pleasant sounds • SZORSTKI (ROUGH)

• a sound that is unpleasant, shrill, out of tune

COMPLEX PERCEPTION• GŁADKI (SMOOTH)

• no visible and perceptible irregularities (e.g. asphalt, road)

Weak synesthtetic metaphorsGŁADKI (SMOOTH)SZORSTKI (ROUGH)

GŁA

DKI

(SM

OO

TH)

EASY to move hand, NICE feeling EASY, NICE

gładkie życie (easy life)

gładkie zwycięstwo (easy victory)

Efect of PROCESSING

REFINED, ELEGANT

gładki wiersz (fluid poem)

gładki styl (elegant style)

NICE, BUT DEVOID OF CONTENT

gładkie słowa (smooth words)

gładki banał (smooth banality)

SZO

RSTK

I (RO

UG

H,

COAR

SE) UNPLEASANT,

PAINFULwhen we touch it

szorstkie słowa (gruff words)

szorstki człowiek (a gruff man)

UNPROCESSED object szorstki styl (an unrafined style)

Frames and metaphorGORĄCE SŁOWA VS GŁADKIE SŁOWAHOT WORDS SMOOTH WORDS

CONDUIT METAPHOR: IDEAS (OR MEANINGS) ARE OBJECTS

LINGUISTIC EXPRESSIONS ARE CONTAINERS (Reddy 1979)

„SURFACE” OF A WORD: WHAT WE SEE (READ) OR HEAR. IT CAN BE

CORRECTED.

MEANINGIDEA

IT CAN MAKE PEOPLE TO DO

SOMETHING

SUFRACE OF A AN OBJECT: ROUGH TEXTURE CAN BE PROCESSED TO BECOME

SMOOTH

TEMPERATURE OF THE OBJECT

CAN HEAT OTHER

OBJECTS

Gorące słowa poetów, filozofów mobilizowały całe zbiorowości do narodowych zrywów. (NCP)[Passionate words of poets, philosophers encouraged whole communities to mass uprising.]

Żaden rząd po 1989 r. nie wykazywał woli politycznej, by rozwiązać problem repatriacji. Płyną tylko gładkie słowa - stwierdza profesor Zygmunt Kolenda. (NCP)[No government after 1989 has demonstrated the political will to solve the problem of repatriation. Only smooth words are floating – states professor Zygmunt Kolenda.]

GORĄCE SŁOWA(HOT WORDS)

CAN MAKE OTHER PEOPLE TO FEEL

SOMETING

FULL OF EMOTIONS,

ENTHUSIASM, PASSION

GŁADKIE SŁOWA (SMOOTH WORD)

NICE, ELEGANT ON THE SURFACE, BUT DEVOIDED OF

ANY MEANING, IMPORTANT IDEAS

Conclusion

1.Metaphor productivity of the analyzed adjectives is different and it is subordianted to its importance to men, its frequency and complexity of source frame’s structure.

2.Metaphoric transfer of adjectives of tactile perception depends on the both frames’ structure and their internal logic: corresponding slots are filled by the adequate attributes. This is why we can say gorące/ gładkie słowa (hot/smooth words), but we can’t say *gorący frazes, banał (hot platitude/ banality).

3.Frames contains not only literal knowledge about the world, but also basic premetaphors (e.g. WORD ARE CONTAINERS FOR IDEAS) (cf. Ritchie 2006).

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Fillmore, C. J. 1982. Frame semantics. Linguistics in the Morning Calm, 111–137. Seoul, South Korea: Hanshin Publishing Co.

Reddy, M. J. 1979. The conduit metaphor. A case of frame conflict in our language about language. Metaphor and thought, ed. by Andrew Ortony. Cambridge, New York: Cambridge University Press.

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