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In cognitive linguistics, a primary metaphor is an ingrained association between certain pairs of distinct concepts. These innate conceptual metaphors inform cognition, and are theorised to arise unconsciously from experienced events which can form "pre-metaphor" patterns.[1]
Primary metaphors persist across different languages because basic embodied experiences, which form their basis, are universal.[2]
In these associated pairs of concepts, one can be said to be the "source" concept, which is usually grounded in a measurable experience, while the other is the "target" concept, which is usually more abstract and subjective.[citation needed] They may arise via conflation during early development, before the subject is able to distinguish the two concepts.[2]
One example is the association of "heaviness" with "difficulty".[3] Likewise, there is a correlation between knowing and seeing forming the primary metaphor knowing is seeing. Understanding an expression such as glass ceiling rests on two such primary metaphors.
Evidence for primary metaphors is usually observed in the use of language, though evidence from the visual domain has also been researched.[4]
The term primary metaphor was coined by linguist Joseph Grady.[5]
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Grady, Joseph E.; Ascoli, Giorgio A. (29 June 2017). "Sources and Targets in Primary Metaphor Theory: Looking Back and Thinking Ahead". In Hampe, Beate (ed.). Metaphor: Embodied Cognition and Discourse. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. pp. 34–35. ISBN9781107198333. Retrieved 11 April 2025. From the perspective of Primary Metaphor Theory, the most plausible answer seems to be that experiences lead to natural cognitive associations ('pre-metaphors'), which then may or may not be established as conventional patterns of conceptual and linguistic associations [...].
^Grady, Joseph E.; Ascoli, Giorgio A. (2017). "Sources and Targets in Primary Metaphor Theory: Looking Back and Thinking Ahead". Metaphor: Embodied Cognition and Discourse. Cambridge University Press. pp. 27–45. ISBN978-1-108-20310-4. Retrieved 6 November 2024.
