EMBODIED CORE, CULTURAL FILTER: TOWARD AN INTEGRATED MODEL OF CONCEPTUAL METAPHOR

Conceptual Metaphor Theory (CMT) argues that metaphorical mappings from bodily (source) domains to abstract (target) domains structure much everyday thought. Early accounts emphasized an embodied universality of primary metaphors grounded in shared sensorimotor experience [1]. More recent cross-linguistic and anthropological work, however, documents systematic cultural variation in metaphor systems and proposes mechanisms by which culture shapes metaphorical realization [3,5]. This article critiques strict universalist and radical relativist positions and proposes an Embodied–Cultural Continuum: a layered model in which a sensorimotor-derived common core supplies cognitive affordances (primary metaphors) while cultural and discursive frames act as filters that select, elaborate, or reorient particular mappings. The model is illustrated by three case studies—TIME SPACE, emotion-as-container, and argument metaphors—drawing on crosslinguistic, corpus, and neurocognitive findings. Implications for semantics, translation, and second-language pedagogy are discussed. A concise research agenda recommends combining corpus analytics, neurocognitive methods, and ethnographic documentation to delineate the continuum’s empirical boundaries.