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In:Time Representations in the Perspective of Human Creativity
Edited by Anna Piata, Adriana Gordejuela and Daniel Alcaraz Carrión
[Human Cognitive Processing 75] 2022
► pp. 15–40

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Chapter 1
A corpus-based look at time metaphors

 | University of Murcia
 | University of Murcia
Published online: 10 November 2022
DOI logo with link
https://doi.org/10.1075/hcp.75.01val
Abstract
Motion-based metaphors of time have been thoroughly discussed in the literature, but some aspects still remain underexplored. The present chapter addresses one of these areas, namely, the lexical richness of the motion verbs found in temporal expressions. We present the findings of a corpus study of motion expressions of time in television news. Using a large set of data, we show that motion verbs that are not conventionally associated with the expression of time, such as crawl and roll, are used alongside the more typical ones (e.g., come, approach). The results suggest that language users are in fact far more creative than it has been assumed so far, thus challenging what is typically perceived as an everyday metaphor of time.
Article outline
  • 1.Introduction
    • 1.1A first caveat: On the problems of deciding what a motion verb is
  • 2.Study: Time measurement units and motion verbs
    • 2.1Material and methods
      • 2.1.1Corpus
      • 2.1.2Procedure
  • 3.Results and discussion
    • 3.1Path verbs and their temporal meanings
    • 3.2Manner verbs and their temporal meanings
      • 3.2.1Group A: Manner of motion verbs to indicate fast passage of time: Rush, hasten, blow, pop, race, drive, fly, swim, march, skip, roll, rush, sail, slide, slip, spin, revolve, stampede, zoom
      • 3.2.2Group B: Manner of motion verbs to indicate slow passage of time: Crawl, creep, drag, inch, limp, linger
      • 3.2.3Other manner-of-motion verbs
  • 3.A test of true creativity: The Week examples
  • 4.Conclusion
  • Notes
  • References
  • Appendix
References (49)
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