From the Sea to the Sky: Metaphorically Mapping Water to Air

ABSTRACT Countless conceptual metaphors related to human experience (e.g., LIFE IS A JOURNEY) have been identified and discussed in the literature. In most conceptual metaphors, a concrete, experiential source domain (e.g., JOURNEY) is used as a basis for partially structuring a more abstract target domain (e.g., LIFE). However, in some conceptual metaphors, concrete source domains (e.g., FLUID) structure target domains that are also concrete (e.g., LIGHT). Such concrete conceptual metaphors are relatively infrequent and have generally received less attention in the literature compared to abstract conceptual metaphors. In this paper, we argue that AIR is metaphorically understood in terms of another experiential domain; namely, WATER. This hydro-aero mapping we introduce is characterized by three particular conceptual metaphors; AIR MOTION IS WATER MOTION, MOVING IN AIR IS MOVING IN WATER, and AIR TRAVEL IS SEA TRAVEL. Furthermore, the hydro-aero mapping is instantiated by numerous compound and non-compound words. We show how the hydro-aero mapping can be historically traced in the English language by using the Oxford English Dictionary. Finally, we describe how the hydro-aero mapping, along with other concrete mappings, is critical for communication, aligns with theoretical approaches to metaphorical cognition, and raises considerable questions regarding the nature of metaphorical structuring.