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Glossary a locative preposition = a preposition of place metaphor In a clear instance of prepositional metaphor, an expression which typically refers to something physical is used to speak of something abstract. Thus, if I say He’s in his house, I use in literally to relate a physical Subject to a physical Landmark. If I say, He’s in denial (about his alcoholism), then I use in metaphorically. Many metaphorical expressions are now so conventionalized that linguists disagree about the extent to which they are still metaphorical in the minds of contemporary native-speakers. For the sake of brevity, I have not gone into detail about this controversy. metonymy Suppose Thing A and Thing B are (often) linked in reality – e.g. trembling and fear. Metonymy is when we use the word for Thing A to refer to Thing B— like when we say, He was trembling in his boots to mean, ‘He was afraid’. Similarly, it is metonymy when we say (swim) under water when what we mean is ‘swim under the surface of the water’. (Thing A is water and Thing B is its surface.) Metonymy allows us to say what we mean either more picturesquely or in an abbreviated form (on the assumption that others will infer what we mean from context). motivation/motivated The motivation of an expression comprises all the factors which have helped it become the conventional expression of a certain meaning. For example, the expression work under sb became conventional partly because it was motivated by the systemic metaphor down is (relatively) powerless. multi-word verb This is another term for phrasal verb, in the broad sense which embraces phrasal verbs proper, prepositional verbs, and phrasal-prepositional verbs. See Ch. 1 §16, §19. particle This is a term coined by Jespersen (1924: 87–88; cited in Foskett, 1991: 31)
in order to avoid having to decide, for instance, whether up is a preposition or an adverb in the phrasal take up an offer/ take an offer up. See Ch. 1 §16, §17. perfective phrasal verb See Ch. 1 §17. phrasal verb See Ch. 1 §16, §17, §19 phrasal prepositional verb See Ch. 1 §16. polysemy (adjective: polysemic) is when a word has two or more meanings. Thus, we say that by is polysemic because it has at least the following three meanings: ‘past’, ‘near’, and ‘on or before’. prepositional verb See Ch. 1 §16. prototype/prototypical meaning See Ch. 1 §15, 19. reification To reify an abstraction means to speak (and perhaps think) of it as if it were something physical. For example, the expression get around a problem likens a problem to a physical obstacle that one can avoid by taking a detour. Reification has been presented as a species of metaphor that is deeply fundamental to human thought processes (Lakoff, 1993 and Lakoff & Johnson 1980). sense (& meaning) See Ch. 1 §10. subject of a preposition See Ch. 1 §8. a systemic metaphor is a metaphor represented in a language by a (possibly very large) number of different expressions. For example, expressions of the systemic metaphor up is more include prices go up, overpay sb, and above 0oC. Most of the expressions of a systemic metaphor are likely to be conventional. transparent The meaning of a ‘transparent’ idiom is very guessable. See Ch. 1 §19. use/usage Use refers to a single use of an expression in a particular situation at a particular time. Usage means ‘a kind of use’ common to different people at different times and in different places. See Ch. 1 §10. virtual movement (Herskovits, 1986). See fictive motion.