Spatial conceptualization of mental and emotional impact: experiencer as a surface model in phraseology

The paper deals with the experiencer [of emotions] as a surface model in Russian and English phraseology with parallels in German, Yiddish, Irish, and Hebrew. Surface metaphors (moving towards the surface and staying thereupon) are often found in idioms and restricted collocations denoting emotional state or mental and emotional impact. The focus falls on the idioms and collocations, including those following certain patterns, e.g. Irish ta X ar Y [an domhain], lit. "there is X on/upon Y [of the world]" with a magnifier (LFMagn in Igor Mel'chuk's Meaning^Text theory): ta bron orm 'I am sad' ["there is sadness on me"], bhi aifeala orthu 'they were sorry' ["there was regret on them"], ta uafas uirthi 'she is scared' ["there is dread on her"]. The concepts under consideration are not unlike orientational metaphors described by George Lakoff and Mark Johnson (e.g. conscious is up, unconscious is down: English to fall in love, to sink into a coma, Russian vpast'/pogruzit'sya v tosku/depressiyu 'to fall/sink into yearning/depression', Hebrew lishqoa' be-dikaon 'ditto'). However, in the idioms and phrases discussed in this paper, the experiencer does not move (unlike the one in Lakoff and Johnson's examples) but is static, with emotions moving towards them. Hence, the experi-encer [of emotions] as a surface model is more likely to be considered both an ontological and structural metaphor. This model seems to be subdivided into several "submodels", such as emotion is a thing moving towards the experiencer (Russian Xnashlo na kogo-l. 'X has come upon sb.', English X falls on/upon Y, X befalls Y, shame on/upon sb.), emotional and mental impact touches the experiencer/surface (English to get/work on sb.'s nerves, German jmdm. Auf die Nerven gehen), emotional and mental impact collides with the experiencer/surface (e.g. Russian [lit'] bal'zam na dushu/serdtse 'words of consolation' ["[to pour] ointment onto the soul/heart"]). Emotion as a thing moving towards the experiencer submodel is often used for describing mental and emotional states that are considered negative or harmful. Interestingly enough, in idiom modifications, the experiencer as a surface model may transform into experiencer as a container unless an idiom has no semes ascertaining that the object is a surface (such as Russian gora naplechakh 'burden, cause of tribulations' ["a mountain on one's shoulders"], which does not allow for goravkom-l. 'a mountain in sb.'). Apparently, such semantic transformations are possible in an idiom whose noun phrase could be regarded as a container of sorts (e.g. bal'zam na dushu/serdce vs. bal 'zam v dushu, where organs, visible and invisible alike, are traditionally seen as a container of cognitive processes). Sometimes these two metaphors become a basis for phraseological synonymy, such as that of Russianprijti na um 'to occur to sb.' ["to come onto one's mind"] andpriyti vgolovu ["to come into one's head"] (cf. English to come into one's mind).

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