Language as a metaphor for our animality: a study on the theory of embodiment applied to the linguistic sign
DOI
https://doi.org/10.25267/Pragmalinguistica.2010.i18.07Info
Authors
- Claudia Sánchez Gutierrez (ES) University of Salamanca
Abstract
This paper surveys different
scientific discoveries that have made it
possible to confirm the idea, or at least
reinforce the assumption, of the body as
the basis of the linguistic meaning. This is
one of the tenets of embodiment theory,
which states that language is a simulation of our real interaction with the reality that surrounds us. Based on the results obtained by this research field, we draw tentative conclusions on what their consequences are on the traditional
concept of the linguistic sign as proposed by Saussure.
Keywords
Downloads
How to Cite
License
Copyright (c) 2018 Pragmalingüística
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
References
AUSTIN, J. (1962) [1988]. Cómo hacer cosas con palabras. Barcelona: Paidós.
AZIZ-ZADEH, L., IACOBONI, M., ZAIDEL, E., WILSON, S. & J. MAZZIOTTA (2004). “Left Hemisphere Motor Facilitation in Response to Manual Action Sounds”. European Journal of Neurosciences. 19, 9: pp. 2609-2612.
AZIZ-ZADEH, L., KOSKI, L., ZAIDEL, E., MAZZIOTTA, J. & M. IACOBONI (2006). “Lateralization of the Human Mirror Neuron System”. Journal of Neuroscience. 26, 11: pp. 2964-2970.
AZIZ-ZADEH, L., WILSON, S., RIZZOLATTI, G. & M. IACOBONI (2006). “Congruent Embodied Representations for Visually Presented Actions and Linguistic Phrases Describing Actions”. Current Biology. 16, 18: pp. 1818-1823.
BAK, T. & J. HODGES (1999). “Cognition, Language and Behaviour in Motor Neurone Disease: Evidence of Frontotemporal Dysfunction”. Dement Geriatrical Cognitive Disorders. 10, Suppl. 1: pp. 29-32.
— (2004). “The Effects of Motor Neurone Disease on Language: Further Evidence”. Brain Language. 89, 2: pp. 354-361.
BALOTA, D. & J. COANE (2008). “Semantic Memory”. En BYRNE, EICHENBAUM, MENZEL, ROEDIGER, AND SWEATT (eds.). Handbook of Learning and Memory: A Comprehensive Reference. Amsterdam: Elsevier.
BLOOMFIELD, L. (1933). Language. New York: Henry Holt.
BOBROW, S. & S. BELL (1973). “On Catching On to Idiomatic Expressions”. Memory and Cognition. 1: pp. 343-346.
BORODITSKY, L. & M. RAMSCAR (2002). “The Roles of Body and Mind in Abstract Thought”. Psychological Science. 13, 2: pp. 185-188.
BURGESS, C. & K. LUND (2000).”The Dynamics of Meaning in Memory”. En E. Dietrich & A. Markman (eds.). Cognitive Dynamics. Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum.
CACCIARI, C. & P. TABOSSI (1988). “The Comprehension of Idioms”. Journal of Memory and Language. 27: pp. 668-683.
— (1993). Idioms. Processing Structure and Interpretation. Hillsdale, N.J., Erlbaum. DI PELLEGRINO, G., FADIGA, L., FOGASSI, L., GALLESE, V. & G. RIZZOLATTI (1992).
“Understanding Motor Events: A Neurophysiological Study”. Experimental Brain Research. 91, 1: pp. 176-180.
GALLESE, V. & G. LAKOFF (2005). “The Brains Concepts: The Role of the Sensory-motor System in Reason and Language”. Cognitive Neuropsychology. 22: pp. 455-479.
GIBBS, R. (2006). Embodiment and Cognitive Science. New York: Cambridge University Press.
— (2003). “Embodied Experience and Linguistic Meaning”. Brain and Language. 84: pp. 1-15.
GLENBERG, A. (1999). “Why Mental Models Need to Be Embodied”. Mental Models in Discourse Processing. En G. RICKERT & C. HABEL (eds.) Mental models in Discourse Processing Amsterdam: Elsevier: pp. 77-90.
— (2010). “Embodiment as a Unifying Perspective for Psychology”. Cognitive Science 1 (4): pp. 586-596.
— & M. KASCHAK (2002). “Grounding Language in Action”. Psychonomic Bulletin and Review. 9: pp. 558-565.
GLUCKSBERG, S. (1991). “Beyond Literal Meanings: The Psychology of Allusion” Psychological Science. 2: pp. 146-152.
HAUK, O., JOHNSRUDE, I. & F. PULVERMULLER (2004). “Somatotopic Representation of Action Words in Human Motor and Premotor Cortex”. Neuron. 41, 2: pp. 301-307
KASCHAK, M., MADDEN, C., THERRIAULT, D., YAXLEY, R., AVEYARD, M., BLANCHARD, A., & R. ZWAAN (2005). “Perception of Motion Affects Language Processing”. Cognition. 94, B79-B89.
LAKOFF, G. & M. JOHNSON (1980). Metaphors We Live By. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. (citas de la traducción española: (2009) Metáforas de la vida cotidiana. Madrid. Cátedra.
— (1999). Philosophy in the Flesh: The Embodied Mind and Its Challenge to Western Thought. New York: Basic Books.
LANDAUER, T. & S. DUMAIS (1997). “A Solution to Plato’s Problem: The Latent Semantic Analysis Theory of Acquisition, Induction and Representation of Knowledge”. Psychological Review. 104: pp. 211-240.
PULVERMULLER, F. (1999). “Words in the Brain’s Language”. Behavioral Brain Science. 22, 2: pp. 253-279.
— (2005). “Brain Mechanisms Linking Language and Action”. Natural Review Neuroscience. 6, 7: pp. 576-582.
— & HAUK, O., NIKULIN, V. & R. ILMONIEMI (2005). “Functional links between motor and language systems”. European Journal Neurosciences. 21, 3: pp. 793-797.
RIZZOLATTI, G. & L. CRAIGHERO, (2004). “The Mirror-neuron System”. Annual Review Neuroscience. 27: pp. 169-192.
RIZZOLATTI, G., GENTILUCCI, M., FOGASSI, L., LUPPINO, G., MATELLI, M. & S. PONZONI-MAGGI (1987). “Neurons Related to Goal-directed Motor Acts in Inferior area 6 of the Macaque Monkey”. Experimental Brain Research. 67, 1: pp. 220-224.
ROSCH, E. (1975). “Cognitive Representation of Semantic Categories”. Journal of Experimental Psychology. 104, 3: pp. 192-233.
ROSCH, E., MERVIS, C., GRAY, W., JOHNSON, D. & P. BOYES-BRAEM (1976). “Basic Objects in Natural Categories”. Cognitive Psychology. 8: pp. 382-439.
ROTHI, L., HEILMAN, K. & R. WATSON (1985). “Pantomime Comprehension and Ideomotor Apraxia”. Journal of Neurology, Neurosurgery and Psychiatry. 48, 3: pp. 207-210.
SEARLE, J. (1969). Speech Acts: An Essay in the Philosophy of Language. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
— (1980). “Minds, Brains, and Programs”. Brain and Behavioral Science. 4: pp. 414-427.
SMITH, L. (2005). “Action Alters Shape Categories”. Cognitive Science. 29: pp. 665-679.
SWINNEY, D. & A. CUTLER (1979). “Access and Processing of Idiomatic Expressions”. Journal of Verbal Learning and Verbal Behavior. 18, 5: p. 523.
TABOSSI, P., FANARI, R. & K. WOLF (2009). “Why Are Idioms Recognized Fast?”. Memory & Cognition. 37, 4: pp. 529-540.
TITONE, D. & C. CONNINE. (1994). “Descriptive Norms for 171 Idiomatic Expressions: Familiarity, Predictability and Literality”. Metaphor and Symbolic Activity. 9: pp. 247-270.
WANG, L. & H. GOODGLASS (1992). “Pantomime, Praxis, and Aphasia”. Brain Language. 42, 4: pp. 402-418.