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In:At the Crossroads of Historical and Cognitive Linguistics
Edited by Anna Rogos-Hebda and Heli Tissari
[Figurative Thought and Language 21] 2026
► pp. 32–49

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Mirrors between historical and cognitive linguistics in figurative origins

 | University of Toulon
Published online: 29 January 2026
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https://doi.org/10.1075/ftl.21.02tri
Abstract
The present study will argue that explanations of figurative language very often require both historical and cognitive linguistics. Information is required from either side and, in this respect, they need each other in the construction of linguistic models. A full analysis is incomplete without specific theories from either side: a purely historical account would be insufficient without a cognitive input, and vice versa. A case in point concerns the origins of innovative figurative expressions in literary discourse. The linguistic structure of words is not created within an historical vacuum and a cognitive input is required to explain figurative features. In such analysis, it can be seen that the two disciplines are intertwined and, as a result, operate together. This is particularly the case of compound metaphors.
The process will be described in relation to specific language typologies illustrated by (a) diachronic morphology within a contrastive linguistic approach and (b) a 6-tier model of cognitive parameters applied to literary discourse analysis. The innovation of metaphoric compounding will be explored in the works of D. H. Lawrence and W. Shakespeare. The claim is that, in the case of figurative items such as composites, a knowledge of both diachronic language structure, as well as an extended version of conceptual metaphor, is necessary in order to define how items of this kind are created.
Article outline
  • 1.The move towards semantics in historical linguistics
  • 2.Diachronic morphology
  • 3.Cross-language forms of figurative language
  • 4.Double-image metaphors in D. H. Lawrence
  • 5.Cross-language interpretation of literary metaphor
  • 6.Extended cognitive factors in language change
  • 7.Love and death in D. H. Lawrence
  • 8.Conceptual metaphor and Shakespeare
  • 9.The mirrors between historical and cognitive linguistics
  • References
References (45)
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