Metaphor in the digital age: Opening the flood-gates

Anderson, W. (2020) Metaphor in the digital age: Opening the flood-gates. Token: A Journal of English Linguistics, 10, pp. 15-38. (doi: 10.25951/4356)

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Publisher's URL: https://bibliotekacyfrowa.ujk.edu.pl/Content/4253/download/

Abstract

The digital age and recent developments in historical lexicography bring exciting new possibilities for the study of metaphor, in relation to both the scale of analysis and the identification of linguistic and conceptual patterning that was previously hidden from view. This article illustrates this by using the “Metaphor Map of English” to investigate metaphor in the semantic field of moving water. The Metaphor Map offers an unparalleled overview of the place of metaphor in the recorded language history of English and across semantic space, as it takes as its source of data the entire Historical Thesaurus of English, itself largely based on the Oxford English Dictionary. This semantic field (labelled ‘Tides, waves and flooding’ in the Metaphor Map) is a productive source of metaphor, and has been since the Old English period, and is also, though less commonly, the target of metaphor. It reveals a clear picture of the complex interrelationships between semantic categories and the ripples of metaphor development over time.

Item Type:Articles
Additional Information:‘Mapping Metaphor with the Historical Thesaurus’ was funded by the UK Arts and Humanities Research Council between 2012 and 2015 and carried out at the University of Glasgow, UK (AHRC grant number: AH/I02266X/1).
Status:Published
Refereed:Yes
Glasgow Author(s) Enlighten ID:Anderson, Professor Wendy
Authors: Anderson, W.
Subjects:P Language and Literature > P Philology. Linguistics
P Language and Literature > PE English
College/School:College of Arts & Humanities > School of Critical Studies > English Language and Linguistics
Journal Name:Token: A Journal of English Linguistics
Publisher:Jan Kochanowski University of Kielce
ISSN:2299-5900
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Project CodeAward NoProject NamePrincipal InvestigatorFunder's NameFunder RefLead Dept
165815Mapping Metaphor with the Historical Thesaurus of the Oxford English DictionaryWendy AndersonArts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC)AH/I02266X/1Arts - English Language and Linguistics