Metaphor is grounded in embodied experience

Abstract What role do people’s embodied experiences have in their use and understanding of metaphor? Contrary to the traditional belief that metaphor transcends human experience and best reflects metaphysical truths, there is substantial evidence from cognitive science that demonstrates how metaphor is fundamentally grounded in embodiment. We review this empirical evidence and discuss the methodological strategies employed by linguists and psychologists seeking connections between embodiment and metaphor. A case study of how people think and speak of desire in terms of hunger, specifically shows how systematic patterns of bodily experience serve as the source domains for many cross-linguistic metaphorical mappings. These data provide strong evidence in favor of the idea that metaphorical thought and language arises from, and is grounded in, embodiment.