Spatial Particles in English: A Quantitative Corpus-Based Approach to the Conceptualization of Symmetry in Bodily Orientation

Spatial Particles in English: A Quantitative Corpus-based Approach to the Conceptualization of Symmetry in Bodily Orientation Alvin Cheng-Hsien Chen Department of English National Changhua University of Education Changhua, 500, Taiwan alvinworks@gmail.com Abstract This study investigates the conceptualization of our bodily orientation in a quantitative corpus-based approach of collostructional analysis. Based on the symbolic nature of constructions, we examine the correlation patterns of the covarying collexeme NPs and 13 major spatial particles in English Preposition Construction through exploratory statistical methods. The distributional patterns of the spatial particles have far-reaching implications for the embodiment of conceptual metaphors. It is concluded that the (a)symmetry of metaphorical patterns along each spatial dimension may be attributed to the recurring (a)symmetrical daily interaction and bodily experiences with the surrounding physical environment. While cultural specificity is of great concern for future study, a hypothesis for the implicational scale of conceptual symmetry in bodily orientation is proposed. 1 Introduction Languages differ in their granularity in dividing up various aspects of the spatial domain. Linguists seem to have agreed that languages tend to be more resistant to adding a new lexical item to the existing set of closed-class words (Tyler & Evans, 2003). Therefore, English Preposition Constructions often serve as a good candidate for the study of the conceptualization of spatial orientation. Among all the controversial topics related to English prepositions, we would like to focus on the notion of geometrical symmetry. Spatial orientation is a projection with respect to the axes of the visual field from a personal to an impersonal perspective (Langacker, 1987). Even though spatial particles such as up/down, in/out, before/after, contrast with one another in a geometrically symmetric way in the absolute Cartesian world, they are not necessarily defined by such oppositional features. Their meanings may be subject to the influence of the cultural- specific communities, thus lending themselves “semi-autonomous from and semi-dependent upon the conceptual space labeled by other spatial particles in the language” (Tyler & Evans, 2003, p. 108). In other words, the contrast partners of the spatial particles along the same dimensions may not be straightforwardly oppositional. Therefore, the present study would like to investigate whether bipolar spatial particles (e.g., up/down) on the same spatial dimension (e.g., vertical axis) exhibits a symmetrical extension to similar sets of target domains in the real language use. 2 Words, constructions, and conceptualization In cognitive linguistics, it is hypothesized that our reasoning and knowledge are built on bodily- grounded conceptual metaphors (Grady, 1997; Johnson, 1987; Lakoff, 1993; Lakoff & Johnson, 1980), arising from a recurring instantiated correlation between sensorimotor perception and a subjective experience or judgment. This hypothesis of embodiment is further developed in Grady's theory of Primary Metaphor (Grady, 1997), which underlines a binding of our perception of the world (source domain) and our response to the perception of the world (target concept). Take UP IS MORE for instance, a widely- discussed example in the previous literature. It is in our sensorimotor experience that the vertical elevation varies directly with quantity in many situations (e.g., …

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