Do Metaphors Move From Mind to Mouth? Evidence From a New System of Linguistic Metaphors for Time.

Languages around the world use a recurring strategy to discuss abstract concepts: describe them metaphorically, borrowing language from more concrete domains. We "plan ahead" to the future, "count up" to higher numbers, and "warm" to new friends. Past work has found that these ways of talking have implications for how we think, so that shared systems of linguistic metaphors can produce shared conceptualizations.

How Linguistic Metaphor Scaffolds Reasoning.

Language helps people communicate and think. Precise and accurate language would seem best suited to achieve these goals. But a close look at the way people actually talk reveals an abundance of apparent imprecision in the form of metaphor: ideas are 'light bulbs', crime is a 'virus', and cancer is an 'enemy' in a 'war'.

New Space-Time Metaphors Foster New Nonlinguistic Representations.

What is the role of language in constructing knowledge? In this article, we ask whether learning new relational language can create new ways of thinking. In Experiment 1, we taught English speakers to talk about time using new vertical linguistic metaphors, saying things like "breakfast is above dinner" or "breakfast is below dinner" (depending on condition). In Experiment 2, rather than teaching people new metaphors, we relied on the left-right representations of time that our American college student participants have already internalized through a lifetime of visuospatial experience reading and writing text from left to right.

Constructing mental time without visual experience.

Across many cultures, people create spatial representations of time. The direction of mental timelines often follows the direction of writing in a person's language. A new study demonstrates that blind participants (who read with their hands) also show mental timelines that follow reading direction.