How do you grasp an idea? How do you fall in love, feel down, or work towards a goal? These aren’t just quirks of the English language; they are windows into the very architecture of human thought. We talk about abstract concepts—love, ideas, time, and morality—as if they were physical objects we can hold, places we can be, or paths we can walk. But why?
The answer, according to cognitive linguists like George Lakoff and Mark Johnson, lies in something called image schemas. These are the mind’s fundamental blueprints, the pre-linguistic, recurring patterns of experience that form the invisible scaffolding for our abstract thoughts. They are the simple, powerful link between our physical bodies and our complex minds.
Before you can have a thought about something, you must have an experience of something. As infants, we interact with the world in a very direct, physical way. We experience gravity, we move our bodies through space, we see things as being inside or outside of containers, and we feel the difference between balance and falling.
These repeated bodily experiences create basic, skeletal mental patterns. An image schema is not a detailed mental picture—it’s not an “image” in that sense. Instead, it’s a dynamic, simplified structure of an experience. It’s the feeling of in-ness, not a picture of a specific box. It’s the sense of a path, not a memory of a particular road.
Some of the most common and foundational image schemas include:
These schemas are so basic that we don’t even notice them. They are the water we swim in, the automatic, non-conscious structures that give shape to our raw experience.
So, we have these physical blueprints. How do they help us understand something as non-physical as “justice” or “power”? The magic happens through conceptual metaphor, where we map the logic of a physical image schema onto an abstract concept.
This isn’t just poetic flair; it’s the primary way our brains make sense of the abstract. Let’s look at how it works.
We constantly use the CONTAINER schema to talk about things that have no physical boundaries.
By mapping the logic of a container (it can be full or empty, you can be in or out) onto these concepts, we give them structure and make them easier to reason about.
The VERTICALITY schema is one of the most pervasive in our language, grounded in the simple fact that we stand up straight against gravity.
These metaphors feel natural because they are tied to direct physical experiences. A healthy person stands tall; a sick person lies down. A larger pile of objects is physically higher than a smaller one.
How do we talk about progress, time, and purpose? We map them onto a journey.
Because all humans share similar bodies and interact with the same physical laws (like gravity), many image schemas are thought to be universal. The logic of a CONTAINER is likely the same for a speaker in Tokyo as it is for a speaker in Toronto.
However, the way these schemas are applied can vary culturally. A fantastic example comes from the Aymara people of the Andes. In English and many other languages, we use a SOURCE-PATH-GOAL schema where the future is in front of us (“We look forward to the future”) and the past is behind us (“That’s all behind me now”).
In Aymara, it’s the reverse. The past is in front of them (`nayra pacha` – “front time”) because it has been seen and is known. The future, being unknown and unseen, is behind them (`qhipa pacha` – “back time”). It’s the same PATH schema, but the metaphorical mapping is based on a different priority: sight and knowledge, rather than movement.
Image schemas reveal a profound truth about human cognition: our minds are not abstract, disembodied computers. We think with and through our bodies. The most sophisticated, ethereal concepts we have—from love and justice to time itself—are built upon the simple, sturdy foundations of our earliest physical experiences.
The next time you hear someone talk about climbing the corporate ladder, falling in love, or being in trouble, take a moment to appreciate the hidden architecture. You’re not just hearing a figure of speech; you’re witnessing the mind’s blueprints at work, masterfully building a cathedral of abstract thought from the humble bricks of embodied life.
While speakers from Delhi and Lahore can converse with ease, their national languages, Hindi and…
How do you communicate when you can neither see nor hear? This post explores the…
Consider the classic riddle: "I saw a man on a hill with a telescope." This…
Forget sterile museum displays of emperors and epic battles. The true, unfiltered history of humanity…
Can a font choice really cost a company millions? From a single misplaced letter that…
Ever wonder why 'knight' has a 'k' or 'island' has an 's'? The answer isn't…
This website uses cookies.