Metaphictivity of the Mind in Motion

This paper addresses the topic of metaphorical motion and to provide an analysis of metaphorical motion events couched in the theoretical frameworks of Conceptual Metaphor and Fictivity. More specifically, the focus will be placed upon the metaphorical extension of translational motion verbs in their combinatorial semantics with nouns referring to mental activities. I will label this pattern of events “Metaphictive Motion Events” (hence MMEs), which, in my view, prove valuable to investigate the relationship between Metaphoricity and Fictivity. While Metaphoricity provides the image-schematic patterns underlying such events, Fictivity offers the framework for the evaluation of the discrepancy between veridical and nonveridical phenomena. I will then put forward a claim in favour of Fornés & Ruiz de Mendoza’s notion of “Schematic Enrichment”, as the framework offering the tools for an evaluation of the ‘Embodied Complexity’ of MMEs.