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In:Thinking and Speaking About Time: A cognitive linguistic approach
Edited by Rita Brdar-Szabó and Mario Brdar
[Human Cognitive Processing 81] 2026
► pp. 150–175

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Chapter 5
Conceptual metaphor and the temporality therein

 | University of Novi Sad
Published online: 27 January 2026
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https://doi.org/10.1075/hcp.81.05pap
Abstract
Much of human cognition about time would not be possible without the mechanisms of conceptual metaphor. At the same time, much of how we cognitively process metaphor is intimately tied to the conceived temporal profiles of a given source and target domain, i.e., to the temporality inherent in metaphor itself. This inherent temporality of metaphors is what the chapter deals with, specifically in the framework of the multi-level view of conceptual metaphor (Kövecses 2017, 2019, 2020, 2021). The aim is to determine what roles different conceptual structures (i.e. image schemas, domains, frames, and mental spaces) may have in construing the temporal configurations of conceptual material that are essential for metaphorical mappings, as well as to determine how these conceptual structures are tied to the operations of mental scanning.
Article outline
  • 1.Introduction
  • 2.The multi-level view of conceptual metaphor
  • 3.Extending the Extended Conceptual Metaphor Theory
    • Addendum 1 (level of image schemas)
    • Addendum 2 (level of mental spaces)
    • Addendum 3 (levels of domains and frames)
    • Addendum 4 (levels of domains and frames)
  • 4.Temporality and the levels of metaphor
    • 4.1Temporality on the level of image schemas
    • 4.2Temporality on the levels of domains and frames
    • 4.3Temporality on the level of mental spaces
  • 5.Conclusions
  • Note
  • References
References (43)
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