A taxonomy of vital relations and their compressions

Fauconnier and Turner (2002) provide a taxonomy of vital relations together with a discussion of the ways in which they can be compressed. We consider some of these below.

Time

 Because events are temporally situated, TIME can function as a vital relation that connects two (or more) events across input spaces. For example, in the BOAT RACE blend discussed above, the two input spaces relate to events from different time periods, 1853 and 1993. In the blend, this outer-space vital relation is compressed so that the two events are viewed as simultaneous. This is another example of scaling which reduces the ‘distance’ between individual events. TIME can also be compressed by syncopation. Syncopation reduces the number of events in a temporal ‘string’. This is illustrated by example (7).

In this not altogether happy account, the narrator compresses time to reduce her life to ‘a few notable events’. Compressions involving scaling and syncopation are also evident in non-linguistic phenomena. For example, a pictorial ‘time-line’ for evolutionary development can select just a few notable events in evolution, such as the emergence and extinction of the dinosaurs followed by the emergence of humans; this represents compression by syncopation.

Space

 Also evident in the BOAT RACE blend is the scaling of the outer-space vital relation SPACE. In the two inputs, each of the boats occupies a unique spatial location. Indeed, the course followed by Northern Light may have been some miles distant from the course followed by Great American II. However, in the blend the outer-space relation is compressed so that the two boats are following the same course. As a result of the compression of SPACE, it is possible to talk about Northern Light ‘catching up with’ and even ‘overtaking’ Great American II. This is only possible if the two boats are following more or less the same spatial path.

 Representation

 Another kind of vital relation that can hold between input spaces is REPRESEN TATION. While the vital relations discussed above relate counterparts of a similar kind (for instance, TIME relates two EVENTS), REPRESENTATION relates one entity or event with another entity or event that represents it, but may be of a different kind. For instance, imagine that a physics teacher is trying to explain the Solar System to a class of high-school children using coloured ping-pong balls to represent the Sun and the planets around the Sun:

In the blend, the yellow ping-pong ball is the Sun. The outer-space relation has been compressed, and gives rise to the inner-space vital relation UNIQUE NESS, which provides a way of understanding two spatially distinct entities as the same individual entity. This shows how an outer-space vital relation (in this case, REPRESENTATION) can give rise to a different inner-space vital relation in the blend (in this case, UNIQUENESS).

Change

 The outer-space relation CHANGE can also be compressed into the inner-space relation UNIQUENESS. Consider the example of scaling in (9).

In this example, CHANGE, which occurs over time, is compressed so that an ugly duckling and a beautiful swan are understood as the same individual.

Role-value

This is a vital relation that links roles with values. Compression of the ROLE VALUE outer-space relation also results in UNIQUENESS in the blend. For example, consider the role QUEEN and the value ELIZABETH II. In the blend, compression results in UNIQUENESS so that the role and the value also result in a single entity which can be referred to as Queen Elizabeth II. Like the landyacht example, this is a formal blend that gives rise to a new expression as well as a new concept. Observe that once a series of such blends exists, for example KINGS OF ENGLAND, this series of individuals can be further compressed into an inner-space relation of UNIQUENESS, in which a series of individuals becomes conceptualised as a single unique individual. This is illustrated by example (10).

In this example, compression into UNIQUENESS in the blend results in a single ENGLISH KING, who can be French at one point in time and English at another.

Analogy

 ANALOGY is a vital relation established by ROLE-VALUE compression. Consider example (11).

In this example, there are two pre-existing blends in operation attached to two distinct integration networks. One blend contains the role CITY and the value BRIGHTON, and the other blend contains the role CITY and the value SAN FRANCISCO. Both blends are structured by the frame that relates to a cosmopolitan and liberal city by the sea. The compression of the role-value vital relations across these two blends from different integration networks establishes the ANALOGY between BRIGHTON and SAN FRANCISCO. Thus ANALOGY is an outer-space vital relation holding between the two blends from distinct integration networks. These blends themselves serve as the inputs for a third integration network. In the new blend analogy is compressed into IDENTITY. Brighton and San Francisco can be described as ‘analogues’ because they share identity in the blend.

Example (12) illustrates another way in which the outer-space relation ANALOGY can be compressed. Consider example (12) which relates to the destructive computer virus My Doom.

The concept COMPUTER VIRUS is a conventional blend that emerges from the two input spaces DESTRUCTIVE COMPUTER PROGRAM and BIOLOGICAL VIRUS. The outer-space ANALOGY relation between DESTRUCTIVE COMPUTER PROGRAM and BIOLOGICALVIRUS is compressed into a CATEGORY relation in the blend. The category relation is of the ‘A is a B’ type: DESTRUCTIVE COMPUTER PROGRAM is a VIRUS.

Disanalogy

 The outer-space relation DISANALOGY can be compressed into the inner-space relation CHANGE. This can then be further compressed into UNIQUENESS in the blend. Example (13) illustrates this process.

This example relates to a blend of a series of distinct and disanalogous (different) tax bills. As a result of the blend, the outer-space relation of DISANALOGY is compressed into CHANGE: in the blend the differences between the individual bills received each year are understood in terms of CHANGE as a result of the yearly increases. This inner-space relation can be further compressed into UNIQUENESS: in the blend there is a single tax bill that continues to change and increase. This shows how inner-space relations can also undergo compression (‘reduction’) into vital relations that further facilitate the process of achieving human scale.

Part-whole Example

 (14) represents a part-whole metonymy uttered by someone who is looking at a photograph of a woman’s face.

This example represents a part-whole metonymy because the speaker is identifying the whole person simply by her face. By viewing the metonymy in terms of a blend, a clearer picture emerges of how the metonymy is working. Metonymies like this consist of two input spaces: JANE SMITH and her FACE.APART-WHOLE vital relation establishes these elements as counterparts in two input spaces. In the blend, the PART-WHOLE relation is compressed into UNIQUENESS.

Cause-effect

 The final vital relation we will examine is CAUSE-EFFECT. An example of this vital relation, provided by Fauconnier and Turner, is the distinction between a burning log in a fireplace and a pile of ash. These two elements are linked in an integration network by the outer-space CAUSE-EFFECT relation, which connects the burning log (the CAUSE) with the pile of ash (the EFFECT). The CAUSE-EFFECT relation is typically bundled with the vital relation TIME which undergoes scaling, and with CHANGE which is compressed into UNIQUENESS. For example, imagine that a speaker points to the ashes and utters the sentence in (15).

In this example, a blend has been constructed in which TIME has been scaled and the log and the ashes have been compressed into a single unique entity. 

The CAUSE-EFFECT relation can also be compressed into the vital relation PROPERTY. For example, a consequence of wearing a coat is that the wearer is kept warm. However, when we describe a coat as ‘warm’, as in the expression a warm coat, we are compressing the CAUSE of wearing a coat with the EFFECT of being warm. In reality, the coat itself is not warm, but the vital relation is compressed into PROPERTY of the coat in the blend. Table 12.4 provides a summary of the vital relations and their compressions discussed in this section, which represent only a subset of the vital relations proposed by Fauconnier and Turner (2002).

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مواضيع ذات صلة

Disintegration and decompression

Vital relations

Vital relations and compressions

Further linguistic examples of blending

The nature of blending

Towards a theory of conceptual integration

The origins of Blending Theory

Conceptual blending

Meaning construction and mental spaces Summery

Epistemic distance

The tense-aspect system in Mental Spaces Theory

Tense and aspect in English