From Physical to Mental Acquisition

That verbs from concrete domains are often mapped§onto abstract domains to express, for example, mental§activities has been shown by a number of scholars. In§particular, it is well known that perception verbs§such as 'see' readily lend themselves to metaphorical§extensions into the mental domain. Perception verbs§are not, however, the only source domain for§conceptual mappings onto the mental domain. The§domains of possession and acquisition can be used in§a similar manner and verbs within those domains are§important in the production of expressions for mental§activity and provide vital clues to the understanding§of the relationship between language, body and mind.§Based on the hypothesis that the frame to which a§verb is linked influences how easily that verb can be§extended into the mental domain, the aim of this book§is to shed some light on how frequently and§effortlessly the six verbs 'acquire', 'buy',§'gather', 'grasp', 'receive' and 'seize' are used in§an extended way as mental verbs. The analyses should§be of particular interest to scholars and students§within the field of linguistics, or anyone else with§an interest in semantics and word meaning.