Metaphorization of determinative verbal composites with parametric components “hoch” and “nieder” in German

Abstract

This paper deals with a study of the metaphorical meanings represented by complex verbal phrases with a definitional component of a parametric adjective. The research aims to reveal the associative and imaginative properties of parametric adjectives, on the basis of which metaphorical transfers are formed. The scientific novelty of the research lies in the fact that spatial properties of German adjectives “hoch” and “nieder” are considered for the first time through the prism of figurative perception of space. This inspires us to broaden our knowledge not only about the nominal aspects of these phrases but also how the size attributes of material objects are being restructured in the mindset of a human and how certain abstract phenomena and notions are cognized in a parametric plan. The study detected that the parametric adjectives in the analyzed composite verbs vary largely with the degree of their semantic metaphorization. The core of the imagery of these units contains the re-conceptualization (re-thinking) of spatial relations, which leads to the appearance of new properties and attributes of imagination used to nominate non-spatial sense categories.