Bubbling happiness: A historical study of emotion metaphor

'Bubbling Happiness': A Historical Study of

Metaphor

James J. Mischler, IIINorthwestern State University of

Louisiana

Types of Metaphor

1. Linguistic utterances (surface form)

Example –

His blood boiled with rage.

Types of Metaphor

2. Conceptual structure (underlying form)

Example –

ANGER IS A HOT LIQUID IN A CONTAINER

Conceptual Metaphor (CM)

• First proposed by Lakoff & Johnson, 1980.

• A cognitive construct in which an object or idea (i.e., target) is conceptualized in terms of another (i.e., source). Ex.: Anger (target) is viewed as hot liquid in a container (source).

• A product of embodied experience.

Conceptual Metaphor (CM)

• Mischler (2008) found that various emotion CM (e.g., ANGER, SADNESS) were connected semantically by CM properties that each shared in common.

CM of Happiness• Metaphoric expressions of happiness also conceptualize the LIQUID IN A CONTAINER metaphor (Lakoff, 1987).

• The liquid is pressurized but not heated (Kövecses, 1991).

• Liquid exhibits a ‘bubbling’ property (“She bubbled with joy.” Stefanowitsch, 2004).

Historical Studies of CM• Most studies of CM are synchronic (data from contemporary language).

• Historical (diachronic) study has two advantages:

1. can study the origin of a linguistic form.

2. serves as a cross-check for synchronic research results.

CM of HAPPINESS:Research Problem

“Bubbling” liquid (e.g., blood) is not generally a result of embodied experience.

Questions:1. What is the semantic meaning of the bubbling property in the CM of HAPPINESS?

2. Does historical data aid the study of CM?

Method• Cornell University online text corpus database of the North American Review magazine, 1815-1900.

• Keyword search of ‘bubbl*' (asterisk is wild card which searches for various word endings—bubble, bubbles, bubbled, bubbling, etc.

Data Collection• UVa online text corpus; 12 of 74 samples were determined to be metaphoric expressions.

• Cornell online text corpus: 3 of 60 samples.

Data Collection Method• Metaphoric Property Search: Employs a lexical item that refers to a specific property of the CM under study.

• Previous research indicates that 'bubbling' denotes happiness in the LIQUID IN A CONTAINER metaphor; therefore, searching for this property should collect linguistic expressions for the CM of HAPPINESS.

Results

Three separate emotion concepts were

instantiated in the 15 samples: HAPPINESS,

EXCITATION, and ANGER.

Data Example 1• HAPPINESS

Little Cora Belle just bubbled with delight, and her grandparents were scarcely better than she. Elinore Stewart (Letters of a Woman Homesteader, 1847).

Properties: CONTAINER, liquid, pressure, no heat.

Data Example 2• EXCITATION

It is the stream of inspiration, which bubbles out, now here, now there, now in this man, now in that. It matters not through what ice-crystals it is seen, now a fountain, now the ocean stream running under ground.William Godwin (Thoughts on Man: His Nature, Productions, and Discoveries, 1831).

Properties: CONTAINER, pressure, liquid, no heat.

Data Example 3• ANGERIt being a pretty warm day, she bubbled and hissed, as if all a-fry...She tried the shop door; – it was fast. She tried it again, with so angry a jar that the bell tinkled angrily back at her.Nathaniel Hawthorne (The House of the Seven Gables, 1851). Properties: No container, no pressure, liquid, heat, agitation.

Summary:'Bubbling' Emotion and

HEAT The HEAT Property in Bubbling Liquid Metaphors

n = 14

Property

HAPPI. EXCITE.

ANGER Totals

No heat 8 3 0 11

Heat 0 2 1 3

Totals 8 5 1 14

Review: Research Questions

1. The semantic meaning of ‘bubbling’ in the CM of HAPPINESS is happiness (or humor), excitement, and inspiration; it can denote laughter (i.e., an intense but positive emotional reaction to a situation).

2. The historical samples provided details on the CM not found in studies of contemporary linguistic expressions.

ReferencesKövecses, Z. Happiness: A definitional effort. Metaphor and Symbolic Activity, 6, 29-46.

Lakoff, G., & Johnson, M. (1980). Metaphors we live by. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.

Stefanowitsch, A. (2004). Happiness in English and German: A metaphorical pattern analysis. In M. Achard & S. Kemmer (Eds.), Language, culture, and mind (pp. 137-149). Stanford, CA: CSLI.