Reference point constructions in the meaning construal of Hungarian folksongs

The present paper aims at showing that ‘cognitive reference points’ (CRPs, see Rosch [1975] and Langacker [1999]) have a crucial role in construing the meaning of a significant group of Hungarian folksongs. In line with the dynamic view on construal, according to which conceptualization unfolds through processing time, the paper argues that building up conceptions via CRPs and their larger configurations outline a mental path, representing a metaphorical emotional approach. The development of the physical route as mental route evolves in a gradual transfer from Perceptual space to Non-actual space, where a salient entity has a ‘gate’ function between mental spaces. Some notions such as ‘mental simulation’ (Langacker 1999), ‘abstract motion’ (Matlock 2010), ‘fictive motion’ (Talmy 2000), or ‘subjective motion’ (Langacker 1987; Matsumoto 1996; Brandt 2009) apply to this specific pattern of construal, namely, motion or change experienced by the conceptualizer along his attention path, which manifests here in different forms of subjectivity. The ordering and directionality of CRPs, along with the metaphorical implications of each entity serving as reference points, thus have important semantic relevance and forms an essential component of meaning construal in this lyrical text type.