Linguistics, Vol. 6 No. 2, 2005.
Original scientific paper
On the cognitive status of mental spaces and of some types of metonymy within Conceptual Integration Theory
Branimir Belaj
orcid.org/0000-0002-2334-9673
; Faculty of Philosophy, University of Osijek
Abstract
In the light of the automatic nature of the process of conceptual integration we examine
the cognitive-conceptual status of the four types of mental spaces and their
elements: the input spaces, the generic space and the blend. On the basis of the
differences obtaining between the four types of mental spaces we divide them into
defocused, highlighted and focal mental spaces. We further discuss the place and
manner of intepretation of two basic types of metonymy in the context of blending
theory and propose the introduction of a fifth mental space where such metonymies
would be interpreted, namely the pre-input spaces in the case of nonmetaphoric
counterfactuals, or the pre-target space when metonymy operates
within a metaphoric utterance.
Keywords
basic model of conceptual integration; input spaces; generic space; blend; elements of mental spaces; defocused, highlighted and focal mental spaces; pre-input spaces; pre-target space; metaphor; metonymy
Hrčak ID:
30866
URI
Publication date:
15.12.2005.
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