Metaphors are like lenses: Electrophysiological correlates of novel meaning processing in bilingualism

Abstract

Aims and objectives: The study provides new insights into how bilingual speakers process semantically complex novel meanings in their native (L1) and non-native language (L2). Methodology: The study employs an EEG method with a semantic decision task to novel nominal metaphors, novel similes, as well as literal and anomalous sentences presented in participants’ L1 and L2. Data and analysis: In total, 29 native speakers of Polish (L1) who were highly proficient in English (L2) took part in the study. The collected EEG signal was analyzed in terms of an event-related potential analysis. The statistical analyses were based on behavioral data (reaction times and accuracy rates) as well as mean amplitudes for the four conditions in the two languages within the N400 and LPC time windows. Findings: The results revealed the N400 effect of utterance type modulated by language nativeness, where the brainwaves for anomalous sentences, novel nominal metaphors, and novel similes converged in L2, while in L1 a graded effect was observed from anomalous sentences to novel nominal metaphors, novel similes and literal sentences. In contrast, within the late time window, a more pronounced sustained negativity to novel nominal metaphors than novel similes was observed in both languages, thus indicating that meaning integration mechanisms might be of similar automaticity in L1 and L2 when bilingual speakers are highly proficient in their L2. Altogether, the present results point to a more taxing mechanisms involved in lexico-semantic access in L2 than L1, yet such an increased effort seems to be resolved within the meaning integration phase. Originality: The findings present novel insights into how bilinguals construct new unfamiliar meanings and show how and when cognitive mechanisms engaged in this process are modulated by language nativeness. Significance: The study might provide crucial implications for further research on bilingual semantic processing as well as human creativity.

Novel metaphor translation is modulated by translation direction

“…Nominal metaphors, on the other hand, need to be converted into a comparison form so as to activate comparison mechanisms (Bowdle & Gentner, 2005), which might be reflected in faster translation of similes compared to nominal metaphors. Though the crucial role of comparison mechanisms in novel metaphor processing has been previously confirmed in studies on meaning comprehension (e.g., Jankowiak et al, 2021;Lai & Curran, 2013;Shibata et al, 2012; but see Glucksberg & Haught, 2006), the present study provides a tentative support to this assumption also in the context of meaning translation, which has thus far been under-investigated.…”

“…First, due to the fact that both novel similes and novel nominal metaphors require more extended semantic processes that include the detection of semantic deviation (Hagoort et al, 2004;Ni et al, 2000;Shibata et al, 2012) as well as mapping between dissimilar concepts, we hypothesize longer translation times for both novel similes and novel nominal metaphors than literal sentences, which on the other hand require mapping between similar concepts (Lai & Curran, 2013). Such findings would be in line with previous studies on nonliteral meaning translation using the keylogging technique (e.g., Jakobsen et al, 2007;Lehka-Paul, 2020) and would extend research on simile and metaphor processing from studying mostly automatic comprehension processes (Bowdle & Gentner, 2005;Jankowiak, 2019;Jankowiak et al, 2021;Lai & Curran, 2013;Shibata et al, 2012) to the investigation of the conscious process of translation. Second, since nominal metaphors (A is B), unlike similes (A is like B), need to be converted into a comparison form to facilitate comparison mechanisms (Bowdle & Gentner, 2005), this might be reflected in faster translation of similes (A is like B) compared to nominal metaphors (A is B), even though the two expressions share the same source and target domain and are high in novelty, thus requiring mapping between highly dissimilar concepts.…”

“…For example, in a monolingual context, Shibata et al (2012) employed the functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) and showed that novel meanings are perceived by the brain as more salient when presented as similes relative to nominal metaphors (A is B). More recently, Jankowiak et al (2021) examined bilingual novel meaning processing in an event-related potential (ERP) study and found a facilitation effect for novel similes, relative to novel nominal metaphors, within the time window of the late positive complex (LPC) in both L1 and L2, which suggests a continuous difficulty in novel nominal metaphor integration, irrespective of language nativeness. Thus far, however, novel metaphor translation has received little scholarly attention.…”

Current trends in electrophysiological research on bilingual language processing

“…This hypothesis has been previously corroborated in a number of monolingual experimental studies (e.g., Bowdle & Gentner, 2005;Lai & Curran, 2013;Shibata et al, 2012) by revealing a facilitated processing of novel similes relative to novel nominal metaphors. The results of the study by Jankowiak et al (2021) showed that within the N400 time frame, novel similes converged with novel nominal metaphors, yet only in L2. In the native tongue, in contrast, a more pronounced N400 response was elicited to novel nominal metaphors than novel similes.…”

“…The exact mechanisms engaged in creative meaning processing were more recently investigated in a follow-up study by Jankowiak et al (2021), who examined the processing of novel nominal metaphors (e.g., Love is a monastery) and novel similes (e.g., Love is like a monastery) in Polish-English bilinguals. In line with the Career of Metaphor Model (Bowdle & Gentner, 2005), novel meaning creation requires comparison mechanisms, and therefore, presenting a novel meaning in a comparison form (i.e., as a simile) should facilitate meaning construction.…”