SCENIC FORM, LANGUAGE COGNITION AND CONCEPTUAL COGNITION

This article presents a modular description for the derivation of figurative phenomena. A particular component, SF (Scenic Form), is proposed. SF projects scenic schemes to the linguistic expressions of LF (Language Faculty), reading in particular the expressions' thematic structure. SF's readings do not differentiate elements that in terms of common sense belong to different categories. SF's products are accessed by another component, CS (Conceptual System), where different every day categories are found. Metaphor, the fact that two distinct categorical realms are paired in one and the same reading, is an effect of the way CS accesses SF, by means of those different categories of everyday understanding. The metaphorical, it is proposed, is a sort of illusion, a peripheral and fuzzy effect in the derivation. We are aware of this effect because of its superficiality. From this intuitive perception comes the (pre-theoretical) thesis about the existence of metaphor. The article also describes the way lexical material is created by idiomatic production. This, however, it is claimed, does not justify experientialists or motivated positions accounting for the acquisition of these fowls. Finally, it is argued that proposals to derive concepts from experience are incoherent.