title: Metaphor priming in sentence production: concrete pictures affect abstract language production.
abstract: People speak metaphorically about abstract concepts-for instance, a person can be "full of love" or "have a lot of love to give." Over the past decade, research has begun to focus on how metaphors are processed during language comprehension. Much of this work suggests that understanding a metaphorical expression involves activating brain and body systems involved in perception and motor control. However, no research to date has asked whether the same is true while speakers produce language. We address this gap using a sentence production task. Its results demonstrate that visually activating a concrete source domain can trigger the use of metaphorical language drawn from that same concrete domain, even in sentences that are thematically unrelated to the primes, a metaphorical priming effect. This effect suggests that conceptual metaphors play a part in language production. It also shows that activation in the perceptual system that is not part of an intended message can nevertheless influence sentence formulation.
authors.affiliation: Okinawa International University, Department of British and English Language and Culture, 2-6-1, Ginowan, Ginowan City, Okinawa 901-2701, Japan. Electronic address: manamisato@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Manami
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Sato
authors.affiliation: University of Hawaii, Department of Linguistics, Moore Hall, 1890 East-West Road, Honolulu, HI 96822, USA. Electronic address: aschafer@hawaii.edu.
authors.forename: Amy J
authors.initials: AJ
authors.lastname: Schafer
authors.affiliation: University of California, San Diego, Department of Cognitive Science, 9500 Gilman Drive, La Jolla, CA 92093-0515, USA. Electronic address: bkbergen@cogsci.ucsd.edu.
authors.forename: Benjamin K
authors.initials: BK
authors.lastname: Bergen
mesh_terms: D032882:Comprehension / Q000502:physiology; D006801:Humans; D007802:Language; D019365:Metaphor; D010775:Photic Stimulation; D013060:Speech / Q000502:physiology*
keywords: Abstract Language; Conceptual Priming; Lexical Priming; Metaphor; Semantics; Sentence Production