In this study, I propose a corpus analysis to verify both the qualitative and the quantitative use of color terms in English in relation to the grammatical constructions: [COLOR+er than], [the COLOR+est], and [as COLOR as], and to the conceptual metaphor metonymy model I have illustrated in past studies. The model I posit has emerged from empirical research involving both corpus based analyses and psycholinguistic tests to establish the embodiment of color terms and their use in natural language. In English, the basic color terms may take on different morphological forms with consequential grammatical changes. They can be used as adjectives, nouns, verbs, adverbs, and in prepositional phrases. The conceptualization process that occurs when transferring the original color adjective/noun object as an attribute of a situation, a light, or an object is complex. I propose a series of underlying conceptual metonymies and metaphors that play together to create meaning through an elaborate conceptual blending process. This paper illustrates the frame’s grammatical structure interface of with the conceptualization processes and the salience of the specific constructions that reveal the prototypical properties of each color concept, frame, and its associates.
Redder than red, and turning redder: Color term form and conceptualization in English
Jodi L. Sandford
Writing – Original Draft Preparation
2018
Abstract
In this study, I propose a corpus analysis to verify both the qualitative and the quantitative use of color terms in English in relation to the grammatical constructions: [COLOR+er than], [the COLOR+est], and [as COLOR as], and to the conceptual metaphor metonymy model I have illustrated in past studies. The model I posit has emerged from empirical research involving both corpus based analyses and psycholinguistic tests to establish the embodiment of color terms and their use in natural language. In English, the basic color terms may take on different morphological forms with consequential grammatical changes. They can be used as adjectives, nouns, verbs, adverbs, and in prepositional phrases. The conceptualization process that occurs when transferring the original color adjective/noun object as an attribute of a situation, a light, or an object is complex. I propose a series of underlying conceptual metonymies and metaphors that play together to create meaning through an elaborate conceptual blending process. This paper illustrates the frame’s grammatical structure interface of with the conceptualization processes and the salience of the specific constructions that reveal the prototypical properties of each color concept, frame, and its associates.I documenti in IRIS sono protetti da copyright e tutti i diritti sono riservati, salvo diversa indicazione.
