The Vertical and Horizontal Spatial-Temporal Conceptual Metaphor Representation of Chinese Temporal Words

Abstract

People rely on spatial-temporal metaphor when they talk and think about abstract temporal concept. The purpose of this study is to further investigate the mechanism of the multi-dimensional spatial-temporal conceptual metaphor in Chinese. Using the spatial cuing paradigm, we examined the cognitive impact of the Chinese vertical and horizontal spatial-temporal metaphor, and explored the dominant dimension between the two metaphors in context. The results showed that the processing of temporal concepts for Chinese speakers involved not only the horizontal spatial-temporal metaphor, but also the vertical spatial-temporal metaphor. The horizontal dimension was the dominant dimension of spatial-temporal metaphor in the processing of temporal concepts in Chinese. The findings demonstrated that representation of time depends on representation of space, supporting the Metaphorical Structuring View.

Delay discounting decisions are linked to temporal distance representations of world events across cultures

“…Explicit approaches in which participants have arranged sequences of cards or pointed to time points in 3D space have demonstrated that Mandarin speakers more readily use the vertical axis when mapping time www.nature.com/scientificreports/ than English speakers 41,42 . Similarly, spatial priming paradigms in which participants responded to vertically or horizontally arranged temporal sequences have shown that Mandarin speakers more regularly conceptualize time using the vertical dimension 18,19,43 . In our task, Mandarin speakers' schemas also involved a horizontal component, which we theorize stems from the strong influence of writing direction on time representation.…”

“…These models were built using the lme4 and lmerTest packages in R and estimated significance using the Type III Sum of Squares. Fixed effects and their scales included: culturally adjusted income bracket (1-7, decline to respond, I don't know), socioeconomic status (1-10), financial security (1-5, decline to respond), age (18)(19)(20)(21)(22)(23)(24)(25)(26)(27)(28)(29)(30), sex (male, female), education (high school, college, post graduate), culture (English, Mandarin), timeframe (past, future), and log k. Event name (72 total events) and participant (74 total participants) were included as random effects. In the models above, event ratings, age, SES, psychological distance, and log k were coded as continuous variables.…”

“…We recruited English and Mandarin speakers due to substantial evidence suggesting that North Americans and East Asians differ in how they conceptualize time. Speakers of these languages differ in their use of space–time metaphors, where English speakers’ reference time using mostly horizontal spatial metaphors, like back when I was a kid, or in the weeks ahead 18 , 19 . Mandarin speakers also utilize horizontal spatial metaphors.…”

A Three-Dimensional Spatial Metaphorical Representation of Generation Implied in Han Kin Terms

“…The same abstract concept can also be represented by multiple concrete concepts. For example, time can be represented by ego- and time-moving metaphors, and time can also be represented by spatial patterns such as up–down, left–right, front–back, and plane (e.g., Boroditsky, 2000 , 2018 ; Casasanto and Boroditsky, 2008 ; Boroditsky et al, 2011 ; Fuhrman et al, 2011 ; Gu and Zhang, 2012 ; Laudau, 2016 ; Hong et al, 2017 ; Li and Zhang, 2017 ; Walker et al, 2017 ; He D. et al, 2018 ). He et al ( 2015 ) found that Han and Moso kin terms for the different generations could be represented by the up–down metaphor, but only Moso kin terms for the same generation could be represented by part of the left–right metaphor.…”

“…The elders correspond to a past time, while the juniors correspond to a future time. Previous studies have found that time can be represented by different spatial patterns, such as up–down, left–right, and front–back (e.g., Boroditsky, 2000 , 2018 ; Santiago et al, 2007 ; Casasanto and Boroditsky, 2008 ; Casasanto et al, 2010 ; Fuhrman et al, 2011 ; Gu and Zhang, 2012 ; Ulrich et al, 2012 ; Hong et al, 2017 ; Li and Zhang, 2017 ; Walker et al, 2017 ); therefore, this study expected that generation as implied in Chinese kin terms could also be represented by the lateral (left–right) and sagittal (front–back) spatial schemas.…”