Conceptual Blending Research Articles

A Study on Chinese Culture in High School English Textbooks of BNUP from the Perspective of Conceptual Blending Theory for Multimodal Metaphors

At the end of the 20th century, scholars represented by Forceville dived into the construction and representation of metaphors using various modalities, leading the shift of metaphor studies towards multimodality, which consequently put the study of multimodal metaphors in the spotlight. English textbooks, as a combination of visual and linguistic modes of expression, contain a large number of metaphors. From the perspective of conceptual blending theory, the paper explores the construction and meaning of multimodal metaphors of Chinese culture in three compulsory high school English textbooks of Beijing Normal University Press. It is found that these three compulsory high school English textbooks of Beijing Normal University Press (BNUP) contain many multimodal metaphors of Chinese culture, and these multimodal metaphors can activate student’s cultural background knowledge and convey the communicative intention of the pictures, thus arousing students’ interest in Chinese culture and fostering cultural confidence.

Food metaphors and humour in Nigerian online interaction

AbstractThis article explores the complementary role of Cultural Linguistics in making up for the inadequacies of linguistics‐oriented theories of humour in unpacking culturally embedded meanings in humorous discourse. On the basis of purposively sampled internet memes, it analyses different types of cultural presuppositions in some food metaphors that netizens in Nigerian online interaction appropriate to negotiate gender and class identities, which reflect inherent beliefs, shared values and communicative practices in the Nigerian world. It applies Sharifian’s categorisation of the analytical tools of Cultural Linguistics―cultural schemas, cultural categories and cultural metaphors. The article concludes that mental spaces and conceptual blending are instrumental in forging a holistic conceptual approach, which can account for not only the linguistic but also cultural and discursive meanings of humour as an essentially social and interactional phenomenon.

Intertextual satire in media discourse

Abstract The paper investigates intertextual satire in media discourse from the cognitive linguistic perspective. Within the frameworks of conceptual blending theory and the theory of precedent-related phenomena, we examine the cognitive processes of producing and understanding intertextual satire. By modelling conceptual integration networks, we aim to specify the cognitive mechanisms and operations involved in decoding intertextual satirical articles, drawing on examples from Private Eye magazine. The study demonstrates that the basic cognitive mechanism involved in creating intertextual satire is blending, and, in contrast to ironic utterances, which involve two contexts, in intertextual satire one and the same scenario unfolds in three contexts: real, fictional, and satirical. Thus, the blend that occurs as a result of combining real and fictional scenarios is verbalised and obvious to the recipient. The emergent structure, based on the blend, represents the intended (non-verbalised) meaning of intertextual satire, namely indirect criticism of the real situation under focus.

Characterising cognitively useful blends: Formalising governing principles of conceptual blending

We propose a model that conceptualises diagrammatic sensemaking and reasoning as blends of image schemas – patterns derived from our perceptual and embodied experiences and interactions with the environment – with the geometric structure of the diagram. Our ultimate goal is to develop an algorithmic method for determining several potential blends that hold cognitive value for observers. Building upon our formal, category-theoretic approach to conceptual blending, we extend it by formalising two governing principles of blending. These principles serve as guides for the blending process, directing the cognitive construction of the blend. As these principles may compete with each other and favour different blend structures, we argue that their combination leads to cognitively useful blends. Through examples of several alternative blends of the geometric configuration of a particular Hasse diagram with the SCALE image schema, we demonstrate the implications of these competing pressures on diagrammatic reasoning. Consequently, this work disambiguates and operationalises the intricacies of conceptual blending, advancing its applicability in computational systems.

Conceptualizing parenthood: American newspaper discourse analysis

This study aims to elucidate the metaphorical representations of the concept PARENT within American media discourse. By analyzing the conceptual metaphors employed in newspaper discourse, we seek to reconstruct the metaphorically derived understanding of parenthood within English-speaking community. These conceptual metaphors, crafted by media presenters, exert a profound influence on the societal comprehension of this concept, both directly and indirectly. The study draws upon the Conceptual Metaphor theory, Conceptual Integration theory, and Discourse analysis. Within the scope of our investigation, the target domain PARENT encompasses four primary source domains: DUTIES, DIFFICULTIES, OWNER, and BURDEN. Our emphasis lies in scrutinizing the cross-domain mappings, which delineate systematic correspondences between the target and source domains. We investigate novel conceptualizations that emerge from conventional metaphoric patterns, employing cognitive mechanisms such as extension, elaboration, questioning, and combination. We also explore the conceptual blends and emergent structures that introduce additional layers of interpretation of being a parent. They are elucidated using Conceptual Integration Networks, specifically double- and multiple-scope models. Our analysis has unveiled the existence of four metaphorical clusters, each providing unique perspectives on how parenthood is conceptualized within the newspaper discourse.

Geospace translation strategies and their cognitive construal

Since the literary geospace is usually tinged with the author’s embodied experiences, it calls on the translator to restore or reconstruct the ST geospace’s geographical reality or imagination in the target language culture. Based on the embodied cognition of the environment, the translator can wash and negotiate the geographical conceptual system of the ST geospace by resorting to the three translation strategies, i.e., retention, reconstruction, and substitution, so as to generate new geospace in the geographical conceptual system of the TL. The article aims to analyze geospace translation strategies from the perspective of conceptual blending theory. The translator’s use of different translation strategies results from different mapping paths among the spaces of the source text, of the translator, and of the target text. It can illustrate the regularities of the translator’s space mediation in translating the geospace. Retention signifies the single-domain mappings from the space of ST. Substitution indicates the single-domain mappings from the space of the translator. Reconstruction denotes the double-domain mappings from both the spaces of ST and the translator. The emergent structure generated in the space of the target text yields the reterritorialization of the geospace in the target language culture, which can stimulate the reader of TT to get a similar geographical experience to that of the author and to empathize with the author’s sense of place to a greater extent.

Transformational Leadership in Public Sector Innovation: A Bibliometric Analysis

People and organizations need to adapt to rapidly evolving technology and information trends, but are often faced with limited resources. Therefore, innovation is important to be applied to various sectors, including the public sector which is known for the many regulations that surround it. Innovation is seen as a source of change, growth, and organizational effectiveness, but leadership factors have a dominant impact and are fundamentally critical to success in achieving it. This study aims to see trends in scientific publications (journals) regarding transformational leadership in public sector innovation; the most influential journals and authors; as well as potential research topics in the future. This study uses bibliometric analysis taken from the database of highly reputable journals Scopus by looking at the analysis results from the Scopus web on data that has been filtered according to criteria; visualization and analysis of data using VOS viewer application as well as biblioshin application. Based on the results of the study, the research topic of Transformational Leadership in Public Sector Innovation is still little discussed in Scopus indexed journal publications. The data obtained also shows that in the middle of the last 5 years, the topic shows the significance of increasing the quantity of publications which increasingly shows the interest of the theme of transformational leadership in public sector innovation with the times.

The cognitive and psychological mechanism of Chinese oxymoron “tough women”

Oxymoron refers to juxtaposing two words that are semantically contradictory to each other in language communication, which makes them have rhetorical connection, and achieves the modification effect of binary opposition through the antonym relationship in semantic components, and which makes the expression profound and more tense. Based on the theory of cognitive linguistics, this study analyzes the formation mechanism of the oxymoron “tough women” from the perspective of “reality-cognition-language” and discusses the cognitive and psychological mechanism of its formation. Conceptual blending theory is used to form the oxymoron conceptual integration prominent model of “tough women”. It is found that the formation of the word “tough women” has a long historical reasons. From ancient times to modern times, because women’s social status changes with the changes of objective social forms, based on physical experience and psychological perception of different times, people form their concepts about the “tough women”. Dynamic cognitive processing of “female” is carried out to form an abstract image schema of modern “tough women”, which integrates the traditional weak characteristic domain of women and the strong male characteristic domain in psychological space, and a theoretical model of conceptual integration of oxymoron is put forward.

A Cognitive Study on Slogans in Public Service Advertisements from the Perspective of Conceptual Blending Theory

A Cognitive Study on Slogans in Public Service Advertisements from the Perspective of Conceptual Blending Theory

Types and Characteristics of Physics Education Research Based on Conceptual Blending Theory

Types and Characteristics of Physics Education Research Based on Conceptual Blending Theory

The Neural Correlates of Creativity and Innovation in Various Domains and Contexts in Germany

Purpose: The aim of the study was to investigate the neural correlates of creativity and innovation in various domains and contexts.
 Methodology: This study adopted a desk methodology. A desk study research design is commonly known as secondary data collection. This is basically collecting data from existing resources preferably because of its low cost advantage as compared to a field research. Our current study looked into already published studies and reports as the data was easily accessed through online journals and libraries.
 Findings: Neuroscientific studies reveal that creativity and innovation engage diverse brain networks, including those governing divergent thinking and cognitive flexibility. These processes show consistent neural activation patterns across different domains, suggesting a universal basis for creativity regardless of context. Environmental factors, like novelty exposure and social interactions, also play significant roles in shaping neural activity underlying creative thinking.
 Unique Contribution to Theory, Practice and Policy: Conceptual blending theory, network theory of creativity & four-stage model of creativity may be used to anchor future studies on the neural correlates of creativity and innovation in various domains and contexts. Practical implications of understanding the neural correlates of creativity and innovation can inform the design of interventions and training programs aimed at fostering creative thinking skills. Policymakers can leverage insights from research on the neural correlates of creativity to inform decision-making processes related to education, workforce development, and innovation policy.

A Framework for Communicating and Building a Digital Twin Model of the Electric Car

The Fourth Industrial Revolution has had a huge impact on manufacturing processes and products. With rapidly growing technology, new solutions are being implemented in the field of digital representations of a physical product. This approach can provide benefits in terms of cost and testing time savings. In order to test and reflect the operation of an electric car, a digital twin model was designed. The paper collects all the information and standards necessary to transform the idea into a real and virtual model of an electric car. The significance and impact of the study on the improvement of the project are described. The research stand, correlations of components (DC and AC motors, shaft, and wheel of the electric car), and development prospects are presented in the paper. The communication method with the research stand is also presented. The digital twin should communicate in real time, which means obtaining the correct output when the input changes; the input is the AC motor current, and the output is the rotational speed of the DC motor. The relation between inputs and outputs are tested. The kinematics of the electric car are modelled in LabVIEW. The results obtained are compared with historic racing data. The track is also modeled based on satellite data, taking into account changes in terrain height, using the SG Telemetry Viewer application. The parameters of the electric car engine model are tuned based on actual data on the car’s speed and current in the electric motor. The achieved results are presented and then discussed.

Developing Critical Thinking Indicators and Research Trends in Islamic Religious Education with VOSviewer

This research aims to develop indicators of students' critical thinking and find the state of the art by using Vos Viewer. One way to develop critical thinking indicators is through research. The teacher's job besides teaching is to conduct research. Research is said to be good if it finds elements of new findings so that it has a contribution both to science and to life. One of the difficulties in research is finding novelty, nowadays with the Vos Viewer application it is easy to find the novelty of a research variable, such as the critical thinking variable. The research subject is students in Islamic educational institutions. The object or focus of the research is to develop indicators of students' critical thinking in learning Islamic religious education. In addition, the research aims to analyze the opportunities and development of research trends related to critical thinking in Islamic learning. This research is important as a way to help Islamic religious education teachers develop critical thinking indicators as an effort to familiarize students with reading literacy and numeracy in accordance with the demands of the independent curriculum. The method used is bibliometric by collecting article data from 2018-2022 through Google Scholar and Scopus sites with Publish or Perish software for 1,000 journals. The results of the study describe that critical thinking indicators can be developed through familiarizing students with analyzing, evaluating, and analyzing.

Bronze Age Stone Anchors as Material Metaphors: Applying Conceptual Blending Theory to Investigate Their Symbolic Value

In ancient navigation, the safety of a ship depended in no small measure on the stability of her anchors, and this crucial role at sea was not overlooked in the ritual symbolism of maritime communities. Accordingly, there is a general consensus on the fact that the anchors deposited at Eastern Mediterranean Bronze Age temples were important carriers of meaning for seafaring groups. Nevertheless, little effort has been made to understand the role of anchors in the conceptual world of the ancient seafarers beyond the fact that they were powerful symbols of maritimity. Borrowed and adapted from linguistics, Conceptual Blending Theory (CBT) provides the theoretical framework to use material culture as a source for the investigation of ancient thought processes. In this paper, I apply the perspective of CBT to the anchors found at the Late Cypriot sanctuary of Kition-Kathari, with comparisons to those from Byblos and Ugarit, and I examine the cognitive implications of anchors as material metaphors and investigate how they embody the blending of the mental spaces of the sacred, the city, and the sea.

DOG and CAT proverbs

Abstract This study investigates the cognitive operations and cultural constraints in DOG and CAT proverbs in Taiwan Hakka and English. For understanding and interpreting proverbs, the target themes are categorized into fundamental human virtues, and the cognitive operations are exhaustively examined by Conceptual Blending Theory. It is found that temperance and humanity are the most prevalent virtues profiled in Taiwan Hakka, while wisdom and knowledge are the most dominant ones in English. The analysis explicates that Conceptual Blending Theory can serve as a universally explanatory model, and at the same time, contextual and cultural factors play crucial roles in providing parametric constraints for the use and creation of proverbs.

Constructions of the Compound Noun in Indonesian: A Derivational Morphology Approach

This research investigated the intricate process of constructing compound nouns in Indonesian through the lens of derivational morphology. Indonesians, renowned for their rich linguistic structure, employed compound nouns extensively in daily communication. This study delved into the mechanisms behind the formation of compound nouns, analyzing the intricate interplay between constituent morphemes and the rules governing their combination. Employing a derivational morphology framework, the research aimed to unveil the underlying patterns, rules, and semantic nuances that governed the construction of compound nouns in Indonesian. The findings showed that (1) the formation of compound nouns in the Indonesian language primarily occurred through compounding, which involved the combination of two or more free morphemes; (2) there were various cognitive processes such as categorization, metaphorical extension, and conceptual blending for better understanding and generating compound nouns; and (3) a set of systematic rules dictated how morphemes were combined and modified to create complex compound nouns. The findings contributed to a deeper understanding of the structural intricacies of the language, shedding light on its derivational processes and their implications for linguistic analysis.

Stop-Motion Animation’s Object Substitutions and Non-Depictive Representation

This article explores a distinctive representational strategy used in stop-motion animation: the object substitution. Using as its central example a children’s TV episode in which brushes stand in for dogs, it explains how this strategy produces a complex relationship between depiction and representation. The analysis highlights the pragmatic underpinnings of various theories of pictorial and cinematic representation, arguing that, in a substitution, depicted elements constitute explicatures and represented ones implicatures. Connecting this strategy to humans’ capacity for pareidolia (seeing things in other things), it contends that an object substitution achieves its effects—and reconciles its marked incongruities—by prompting viewers to pleasurably reverse-engineer the far-fetched projective imagining that motivated its use. This process, which is a form of conceptual blending, is based on relations that are neither straightforwardly iconic nor purely arbitrary.

VISUAL METAPHORS IN ADVERTISING: A COGNITIVE-PRAGMATIC INTERFACE

The article focuses on the analysis of the visual metaphors in advertising from a cognitive-pragmatic perspective using the method of conceptual blending theory, tools of inferential pragmatics, and visual design grammar. The aim of the article is to identify the cognitive-pragmatic interface of visual metaphor presented in commercial advertising of modern transnational brands from the point of view of metaphorical explicatures, implicatures in their connection with the stages and procedures of reconstructing the metaphorical meaning. It is found that visual metaphors are represented by three main types – juxtaposition, fusion, and replacement, which differ in the level of their explicitness depending on the representation of the source and target of the metaphor in the visual plane of advertising, their merging into one gestalt, or the absence of visualization of input spaces. In metaphors of juxtaposition and fusion types, the restoration and/or detailing of the source and target are carried out at the level of explicatures, establishing a connection between the presented objects. At the implicature level, information about the product characteristics, which are the goal of specific visual advertising, is restored, forming secondary signified – connotations (power, fantasy, stability) intended to create stable associations with the brand and its products. In the case of replacement, implicatures restore both the source and the target spaces, as well as the secondary signified. In all types of metaphors, implicature about the secondary signified is triggered by a violation of the maxim of quality of information through visual metaphorical means, combined with deviations from other maxims as the metaphor becomes more complex. The implicature is restored in the blend of the metaphor as a result of selecting attributes of the generic space with their refinement as the blend develops and elaborates, relying on verbal anchors and background information about the brand and its products.

A Cognitive Study of Puns in China Daily News Headlines from the Perspective of Conceptual Blending Theory

A Cognitive Study of Puns in China Daily News Headlines from the Perspective of Conceptual Blending Theory

Grains as Functional Food Link to Diabetic Disease: A Bibliometric Review

Research related to grains and legumes has been widely conducted and scientifically proven to inhibit certain diseases. However, no studies or articles combine and review the relationship of grains to diabetes bibliographically. This article aims to link and identify grain and legume components to diabetic disease. This study obtained a database from ScienceDirect of 1,025 articles published between 2014 and 2024 that were processed bibliometric ally using the VOS viewer application. Visualization data showed diagrams of networks with 125 items, 7 clusters, and a total link strength of 3.046, with ‘diabetes’ makes up the largest cluster. Grain as a functional food for diabetes is linked to its active components and associations with biopeptides, prebiotics, and diabetic complications, which have become a trend in food research. This information can be utilized for functional food product development to decrease risk of diabetes disease.