Metaphorical projections in shooting instructions

Abstract

Extensive research has been conducted within the cognitive semantics theoretical framework to investigate the metaphorical conceptualisation of abstract domains in terms of concrete ones. This body of research lends support to the embodiment paradigm adopted in cognitive science, which emphasises the role of sensorimotor experience in shaping cognition. Meanwhile, the potential application of cross-domain mappings in the conceptualisation and expression of sensorimotor experience has received little attention. This paper attempts to address this issue through an analysis of the linguistic data contained in tips for inexperienced amateur shooters that have been shared by expert shooters on internet blogs and YouTube videos. The study revealed that instructors intentionally and creatively prompt their listeners to activate familiar domains of physical activity and to make projections onto the physical activity of trigger pull, i.e. the skill they are learning. The paper argues that, in the analysed discourse, metaphorical cross-domain mappings can help instructors overcome the challenge of communicating concrete, physical information that cannot be demonstrated and is largely instructors’ internal, private sensorimotor sensation. The paper also compares the cross-domain mappings between concrete domains identified in the data with typical conceptual metaphors, and briefly addresses the question of how such mappings relate to the embodiment paradigm.