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In:Perception Metaphors
Edited by Laura J. Speed, Carolyn O'Meara, Lila San Roque and Asifa Majid
[Converging Evidence in Language and Communication Research 19] 2019
► pp. 165–184

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Chapter 9
Why do we understand music as moving?

The metaphorical basis of musical motion revisited

 | Leipzig University
Published online: 21 February 2019
DOI logo with link
https://doi.org/10.1075/celcr.19.09jul
Abstract
Although musical structure is commonly perceived as moving, its motivation remains a debated issue. Conceptual Metaphor Theory approaches assume that musical motion is motivated by conceptual metaphors like time is motion and change is motion. The current study aims to investigate whether these conceptual metaphors successfully describe musical motion. For the analysis, a corpus of 10,000 words taken from the genre of music criticism (academic musicology journals and newspaper concert reviews of classical music) was compiled and exhaustively analysed with respect to metaphorical expressions. The results suggest that whereas many motion expressions for music seem to be motivated by time is motion as well as change is motion, a number of instances may instead present cases of fictive motion.
Article outline
  • 1.Introduction
  • 2.Musical motion and Conceptual Metaphor Theory
    • 2.1The enigma of musical motion
    • 2.2A potential answer to the enigma of musical motion: Conceptual Metaphor Theory
  • 3.Method
  • 4.Results
  • 5.Musical motion as fictive motion
  • 6.Conclusion
  • Acknowledgements
  • Notes
  • References
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This list is based on CrossRef data as of 5 december 2025. Please note that it may not be complete. Sources presented here have been supplied by the respective publishers. Any errors therein should be reported to them.

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