Conceptual Blending Theory: The Case of ‘Flying Bus’ from Turkish

Yıl 2024, Cilt: 18 Sayı: 35, 37 - 53, 10.11.2024

M. Fatih Adıgüzel

https://doi.org/10.54316/dilarastirmalari.1476915

Öz

Based on current discussions on Conceptual Blending/Integration Theory (CIT) and Conceptual metaphor Theory (CMT), this study investigates the application of Conceptual Blending Theory to a Turkish scenario where a Turkish speaker conceptualises a dangerously speeding bus as flying and associates it with Turkish Airlines. The study emphasizes the role of conceptual blending in creating novel meanings online by integrating disparate conceptual elements, as well as highlighting the complementary nature of CIT and CMT in meaning construction. In our scenario, the speaker’s metaphoric utterance as a reaction to the overspeed of a bus was explained by the metaphor TOO FAST DRIVING IS FLYING, which inherits the superordinate metaphor FAST MOTION IS FLIGHT, which is entrenched in our cultural cognition. Through a conceptual blending network mentally activated by the conceptualisation of the speeding bus as if flying, we illustrated how selected elements from the source (bus and driver) and target (plane and pilot) spaces were projected onto the blended space. It was also shown that Vital Relations within the blending network like Space, Role, and Disanalogy compressed the relevant counterparts from the source and target spaces into new integrated concepts to create novel meanings in the emergent structure, emphasizing the danger involved in the situation in the scenario.

Anahtar Kelimeler

conceptual metaphor, cognitive linguistics, conceptualisation of speeding, conceptual blending

Kaynakça

• AZİZİ, Afaf; HASDEDEOĞLU, Onur; NOUREDDİNE BELARBİ, A. (2023). “Unleashing the Power of Cognitive Blending: Enhancing Metaphor Translation Through Investigative Analysis.” TÜRÜK Uluslararası Dil, Edebiyat ve Halkbilimi Araştırmaları Dergisi, 33:136-150.
• BAŞ, Melike (2021a). “Anlamın Bilişsel Kurulumunda Kavramsal Harmanlamanın Rolü: Pandemi Söylemi Örneği” (The Role of Conceptual Blending in the Cognitive Construction of Meaning: The Case of Pandemic Discourse). In Anlambilimde Güncel Çalışmalar (Edt. Melike Baş). Ankara: Anı Yayıncılık, 98-120
• BAŞ, Melike (2021b). “A Cognitive Poetic Analysis of Yahya Kemal’s ‘Silent Ship’” Hacettepe Üniversitesi Edebiyat Fakültesi Dergisi, 38/1: 94-103.
• COULSON, Seana; OAKLEY, Todd (2000). “Blending Basics.” Cognitive Linguistics, 11/3-4: 175–196.
• COULSON, Seana; OAKLEY, Todd (2003). “Metonymy and Conceptual Blending.” In Metonymy and Pragmatic Inferencing (Eds. Klaus-Uwe Panther and Linda L. Thornburg). Amsterdam/Philadelphia: John Benjamins Publishing Company, 51-80.
• COULSON, Seana; OAKLEY, Todd (2005). “Introduction”, Journal of Pragmatics, 37:1507-1509.
• DEMİRTAŞ, Mine; BAŞKAYA, Zafer (2012). “An Analysis of Turkish Commercial Advertisement From the Perspective of Conceptual Blending Theory.” Scottish Journal f Arts, Social Sciences and Scientific Studies 6/2: 3-11.
• FAUCONNIER, Gilles (1994). Mental Spaces: Aspects of Meaning Construction in Natural Language. Ne York: Cambridge University Press
• FAUCONNIER, Gilles (1997). Mappings in Thought and Language. New York: Cambridge University Press.
• FAUCONNIER, Gilles (2007). “Mental Spaces.” In The Oxford Handbook of Cognitive Linguistics (Eds. Geeraerts, D. and Cuyckens, H.). Oxford: Oxford University Press, 371–76.
• FAUCONNIER, Gilles; TURNER, Mark (1994). “Conceptual Projection and Middle Spaces.” San Diego: UCSD Department of Cognitive Science Technical Report 9401.
• FAUCONNIER, Gilles; TURNER, Mark (1998). “Conceptual Integration Networks.” Cognitive Science, 22/2: 133–187.
• FAUCONNIER, Gilles; TURNER, Mark (2002). The Way We Think: Conceptual Blending and the Mind’s Hidden Complexities. New York: Basic Books.
• FAUCONNIER, Gilles; TURNER, Mark (2008). “Rethinking Metaphor”. In Gibbs, Raymond (ed.), The Cambridge Handbook of Metaphor and Thought, pp. 53–66. New York: Cambridge University Press.
• GILL, Timothy M. (2010). Conceptual Blending, Metaphors, and the Construction of Meaning in Ice Age Europe: An Inquiry Into the Viability of Applying Theories of Cognitive Science to Human History in Deep Time. Unpublished Doctoral Dissertation. Berkeley: University of California.
• GRADY, Joseph (2005). “Primary Metaphors as Inputs to Conceptual Integration.” Journal of Pragmatics, 37: 1595-1614.
• GRADY, Joseph (2007). “Metaphor.” In The Oxford Handbook of Cognitive Linguistics (Eds. Geeraerts, D. and Cuyckens, H.). Oxford: Oxford University Press,188–213
• GRADY, Joseph; OAKLEY, Todd; COULSON, Seana (1999). “Blending and Metaphor”. In Metaphor in cognitive linguistics. Selected papers from the fifth international cognitive linguistics conference (Eds. R. W. Gibbs & G. J. Steen). Amsterdam/Philadelphia: John Benjamins Publishing Company, 101-124).
• KNOWLESS, Murray; MOON, Rosamund (2006). Introducing Metaphor. London: Routledge.
• KÖVECSES, Zoltán (2020). Extended Conceptual Metaphor Theory. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
• LAKOFF, George; JOHNSON, Mark (1980). Metaphors We Live By. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
• OLIVAS, César R. (2019). Conceptual Blending and Metaphor in Spanish Speaking Ghost Stories. Unpublished Master Thesis. California: San Fransisco State University.
• RITCHIE, David L. (2006). Context and Connection in Metaphor. Palgrave Macmillian.
• TURNER, Mark (2007). “Conceptual Integration.” In The Oxford Handbook of Cognitive Linguistics (Eds. Geeraerts, D. and Cuyckens, H.). Oxford: Oxford University Press, 377–393.
• YAZAR, Tarık; İNANLI, Aslı (2021). “Grafik Tasarımda Kavramsal Entegrasyon ve Anlamsal Derinlik Oluşturma”, International Social Mentality and Researcher Thinkers Journal, 7(53): 3336-3342.