synamet under construction

Synamet under

constructionSome problematic issues with annotation

of synesthetic metaphors in Polish discourse Magdalena

ZawisławskaUniversity of Warsaw

Overview of the presentation

1. What is a synesthetic metaphor – definition.

2. Sources of the corpus.3. Methodology. 4. Tool.5. Procedure of annotation.6. Main problems with annotation (so

far).

What is a synestehtic metaphor?

A metaphor is synesthetic only when its source domain pertains to perception (visual, auditory, olfactory, tactile, or gustatory). If the target domain does not evoke perception, we can talk of a weak synesthetic metaphor. If both the source and the target domain evoke perception, we deal with a strong synesthetic metaphor. (Werning, Fleischhauer, Beşeoğlu 2006)

Sources of the corpus

Texts excerpted from blogs devoted to perfume (SMELL), wine, beer, cigars, Yerba Mate, tea, or coffee (TASTE, SMELL, VISION), as well as culinary blogs (TASTE, VISION), music blogs (HEARING), art blogs (VISION), massage and wellness blogs (TOUCH).

The methodology—frame semantics

Meaning of lexical units, phrases, grammatical and syntactic constructions resides in frames – schematic phenomena, such as our beliefs, experiences or typical actions. (cf. Fillmore 1982).Metaphorization process is seen as frame shifting. i.e. a „semantic reanalysis process that reorganizes existing information into a new frame.” (Coulson, 2001).

The toolATOS

Procedure of metaphor

annotationATOS

Topic of a metaphor

Annotator has to choose a topic of the metaphor, that is a referent (e.g. wine).

Frame activators

Annotator chooses a word which activates one of the frames in the analyzed metaphor.

Metaphorical unitAn annotator describes metaphorical units in a dedicated editor. When the annotator isolates a MU, a separate window opens in the ATOS.

Attributes of the MU•Text phrase: tannin smooth.•Full phrase (non-elliptical): tannin is smooth.•Topic: *taste.•Phrase type: nominal predicate.•Strength: strong MU. •Category: simple synesthesia.•Semantic head of the phrase: tannin.

Frames descritpionThe source frame• Phrase element: smooth.• Frame: TOUCH.• Frame element: texture.• Activator: smooth• Part of speech: adjective.

The target frame• Phrase element: tannin.• Frame: TASTE.• Frame element: taste type.• Activator: tannin.• Part of speech: noun.

Main problems with annotation

So far (but that’s just a beginning).

Construction of frames

SMELL

PARTICIPANTS

SUBJECT OF PERCEPTION

QUASI_INSTUMENT TARGET OBJECT OF

PERCEPTION

NEUTRAL JUDGEMENT

POSITIVE JUDGEMENT

NEGATIVE JUDGEMENT

ACTIVE OBJECT OF

PERCEPTION

NEUTRAL JUDGEMENT

NEGATIVE JUDGEMENT

PASSIVE OBJECT OF

PERCEPTION

RELATIONS

SENSATION

NEUTRAL JUDGEMENT

POSITIVE JUDGEMENT

NEGATIVE JUDGEMENT

First attempt—frames too deep, too

abstract, and not enough

elaborated.

SUBJECT OF PERCEPTION

AGENT (perfume maker) NOSE

OBJECT OF PERCEPTION (perfumes)

MAIN OLFACTORY SENSATION • NEUTRAL JUDGEMENT (scentless)

• POSITIVE JUDGEMENT (aroma)

• NEGATIVE JUDGEMENT (stink)

SECONDARY OLFACTORY SENSATION

TYPE OF SENSATION

(flower)

SENSATION COMPONENT (essential oil)

LOCATION AGENT ACTION (to create)

SUBJECT ACTIONS• Looking for smell (to scent)

• Checking smell (to smell)

STATE OF OBJECT• Giving off smell• Permeating a place with smell

• Changing smell (to be pervaded with a stench)

amber chord (of perfumes)

amberFRAME SMELLElement:

component of a sensation

chordFRAME

HEARINGElement: a

combination of tones

Frames in Synamet

FRAME TYPE NUMBERPERCEPTUAL 6 (VISION, HEARING, TOUCH, SMELL,

TASTE, COMPLEX PERCEPTION)NON-PERCEPTUAL

48 (e.g. MAN, ANIMAL, PLANT, ELEMENTS, MACHINE, WEATHER, UNIVERSE, SPORT, INDUSTRY, ART, LANGUAGE, ARMY ect.)

Atypical metaphorsOr maybe very typicall?

Layered, coalesced metaphors

[…] neroli brzmi tak jak zazwyczaj, czyli głównie zielono i kwiatowo, z lekką nuta octanową (to jaśmin), która wydaje mi się nie na miejscu. Składniki oud — toczone grzybem drewno, pewna smolistość — na chwilę ustępują świergotowi neroli, ale potem łagodnie obejmują przewodnictwo, a neroli dziwnie zaokrągla całość.

[…] neroli [SMELL] sounds [HEARING] as usual, that is mainly greenly [VISION] and flowery [SMELL] with a light [COMPLEX PERCEPTION] acetate [SMELL] note [HEARING] (it is jasmine [SMELL]) which seems to be out of place. Oud [SMELL] components —wood eaten by fungus [VISION], some of pitch-blackness [VISION]—for a moment give in for a chirping [HEARING] of neroli [SMELL], but later gently take the leadership [PERSONIFICATION], while neroli [SMELL] strangely rounds off [VISION] the whole. http://nosthrills.blox.pl/html

Elaborated metaphors that need a very broad context.

Jaka szkoda, że ta przecudnej urody aria jest tak lakoniczna, dyskretna, ulotna i delikatna – bo aż by się chciało zatracić i przepaść z kretesem w tym zniewalającym brzmieniu…

It’s too bad that this aria of such lovely beauty is so laconic, discreet, light, and delicate—because one would like to become completely engrossed and disappear in this captivating sound. https://perfumomania.wordpress.com/2015/10/26/acqua-di-parma-colonia-intensa-czyli-kwintesencja-ulotnej-doskonalosci/

Roundabout metaphors

Ta płyta to mroczna podróż przez 20 utworów.

This record is a dark journey through 20 pieces.

Ta płyta to mroczna podróż przez 20 utworów.

This record is a dark journey through 20 pieces.

płytato

mroczna podróż

płytato

mroczna podróż

SYNTAX SEMANTICS

JOURNEY

RECORD DARK

SOURCE FRAME 1 THE „MEDIATOR”

TARGET FRAME

SOURCE FRAME 2

References• Coulson, S. (2001). Semantic leaps: Frame-shifting and conceptual blending

in meaning construction. Cambridge, New York: Cambridge University Press.• Fillmore, C. J. (1982). Frame semantics. In Linguistics in the Morning Calm

(pp. 111–137). Seoul, South Korea: Hanshin Publishing Co.• Judycka, I. (1963). Synestezja w rozwoju znaczeniowym wyrazów. Prace

Filologiczne, XVIII, 59–78.• Sullivan, K. (2014). Frames and Constructions in Metaphoric Language.

Amsterdam/Philadelphia: John Benjamins Publishing Company.• Werning, M., Fleischhauer, J., & Beseoglu, H. (2006). The Cognitive

Accessibility of Synaesthetic Metaphors. In R. Sun & N. Miyake (Ed.), Proceedings of the Twenty-eighth Annual Conference of the Cognitive Science Society (pp. 2365–2370). London: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.

THANK YOU!

zawisla@uw.edu.pl