Metaphor, Metonymy, the Body and the Environment

Abstract

By exploring the associations that people make between emotions and colours, looking at how they vary across languages, and exploring the explanations that people provide for the associations that they make, this Element provides insight into the ways in which humans express emotions through colour, and the reasons why they do so. Metaphoric (and metonymic) language and thought play a key role on several levels in the formation of emotion–colour associations, interacting with physical, environmental and social factors. A strong metaphorical connection between the valence of the emotion and the lightness of the colours with which it is associated, and between the intensity of an emotion and the saturation level of the colours with which it is associated is found. However, the strength of this association varies according to the linguistic background of the speaker, and the gender in which the emotion is presented.

Emotional metaphors for an inclusive classroom climate

“…to promote a positive and inclusive emotional climate in the classroom. We can even go further, given the findings of embodied cognition, and use not only language in this sense, but other types of resources, such as gestures [37] or colors [38] . Thus, when we intend to promote an adequate emotional and inclusive climate in the classroom, perhaps we should go beyond the literal and delve into the intentional meaning of language mediated by indirect uses such as metaphor.…”

“…Emotions are also metaphorized based on colors [38] . However, some emotions show a metaphorical relationship with a given color in a more generalized or ingrained way than others.…”