Embodiment In Cross Linguistic Studies

This volume is the first book publication which focuses on conceptualization and polysemy of ‘eye’. It encompasses a wide variety of languages to evidence cross linguistic similarities and differences in the semantic extensions of the eye.

"The volume explores the body part 'eye' as a source domain in conceptualization and a vehicle of embodied cognition. It includes in-depth case studies of languages situated in different cultural contexts in Europe, Asia, Africa, America, and Oceania. It also provides insights into cross-linguistic comparison of conceptualization patterns and semantic extension of the term 'eye' on various target domains. The contributions in the volume present a range of cultural models associated with the visual organ which take into account socio-cultural factors and language usage practices. The book offers new material and novel analyses within the subject of polysemy of body part terms. It also adds to studies on metaphor, metonymy and cultural conceptualizations within a cognitive linguistic paradigm"--

This comparative volume explores how speakers across languages use the concept of the ‘face’ to describe emotions, human interaction, and directions. The analyses discuss cognitive processes involved in extending human body parts to concepts beyond the body.

The ‘Head’ edited by Iwona Kraska-Szlenk offers cross-linguistic studies on the body part term ‘head’ investigated as a source domain in conceptualization. It focuses on the relationship between embodiment, cultural situatedness and universal tendencies of semantic change.

The book explores the conceptualization of the ‘heart’ as it is represented in 19 languages, ranging from broadly studied to endangered ones. Being one of the most extensively utilised body part name for figurative usages, it lends itself to rich polysemy and a wide array of metaphorical and metonymical meanings. The present book offers a rich selection of papers which observe the lexeme ‘heart’ from diverse perspectives, employing primarily the frameworks of cognitive and cultural linguistics as well as formal methodologies of lexicology and morphology. The findings are unique and novel contributions to the research of body-part semantics, embodied cognition and metaphor analysis, and in general, the investigation of the interconnectedness of language, culture, cognition and perception about the human body.

This book offers novel insights into the figurative meanings of the 'heart' across 19 languages, including endangered and extensively studied ones. The selection of papers employ diverse perspectives, primarily the frameworks of cognitive and cultural linguistics and also formal methodologies.

Embodiment in Cross-Linguistic Studies: The 'Head'edited by Iwona Kraska-Szlenk adds to linguistic studies on embodied cognition and conceptualization while focusing on one body part term from a comparative perspective. The 'head' is investigated as a source domain for extending multiple concepts in various target domains accessed via metaphor or metonymy. The contributions in the volume provide comparative and case studies based on analyses of the first-hand data from languages representing all continents and diversified linguistic groups, including endangered languages of Africa, Australia and Americas. The book offers new reflections on the relationship between embodiment, cultural situatedness and universal tendencies of semantic change. The findings contribute to general research on metaphor, metonymy, and polysemy within a paradigm of cognitive linguistics.

The volume focuses on body part terms as the vehicle of embodied cognition and conceptualization. It explores the relationship between universal embodiment, language-specific cultural models and linguistic usage practices. The chapters of the volume add to the previous research in a novel way. The presentation of original data from previously undescribed languages spoken by small communities in Africa and South America allows to discover unknown aspects of embodiment and to propose new interpretations. Well-known languages are analyzed from a new perspective relying on the benefits of linguistic corpora. Contrastive and theoretically oriented studies help to pinpoint similarities and differences among languages, as well as tendencies in conceptualization patterns and semantic development of the lexis of body part terms. The volume contributes to the field of linguistics, but also to cognitive science, anthropology and cultural studies.