Inheritance Hierarchies

Metaphorical mappings do not occur isolated from one another. They are sometimes organized in hierarchical structures, in which `lower' mappings in the hierarchy inherit the structures of the `higher' mappings.

Let us consider an example of a hierarchy with three levels:
Level 1: The Event Structure Metaphor
Level 2: A PURPOSEFUL LIFE IS JOURNEY
Level 3:LOVE IS A JOURNEY; A CAREER IS A JOURNEY

To refresh your memory, recall:
The Event Structure Metaphor

Target Domain: Events
Source Domain: Space

States are locations (bounded regions in space).
Changes are movements (into or out of bounded regions).
Causes are forces.
Actions are self-propelled movements.
Purposes are destinations.
Means are paths to destinations.
Difficulties are impediments to motion.
Expected progress is a travel schedule; A schedule is a virtual traveler, who reaches pre-arranged destinations at pre-arranged times.
External events are large, moving objects.
Longterm, purposeful activities are journeys.

In our culture, life is assumed to be purposeful, that is, we are expected to have goals in life. In the Event Structure Metaphor, purposes are destinations and purposeful action is self-propelled motion toward a destination. A purposeful life is a longterm, purposeful activity, and hence a journey. Goals in life are destinations on the journey. The actions one takes in life are self-propelled movements, and the totality of one's actions form a path one moves along. Choosing a means to achieve a goal is choosing a path to a destination. Difficulties in life are impediments to motion. External events are large moving objects that can impede motion toward one's life goals. One's expected progress through life is charted in terms of a life schedule, which is conceptualized as a virtual traveler that one is expected to keep up with. In short, the metaphor A PURPOSEFUL LIFE IS A JOURNEY makes use of all the structure of the Event Structure Metaphor, since events in a life conceptualized as purposeful are subcases of events in general.

A PURPOSEFUL LIFE IS A JOURNEY

Target Domain:Life
Source Domain: Space
The person leading a life is a traveler.
Inherits Event Structure Metaphor, with:
- Events = Significant Life Events
- Purposes = Life Goals
  
  Thus we have expressions like:
  He got a head start in life. He's without direction in his life.
  I'm where I want to be in life.
  I'm at a crossroads in my life.
  He'll go places in life.
  He's never let anyone get in his way.
  He's gone through a lot in life.

Just as significant life events are special cases of events, so events in a love relationship are special cases of life events. Thus, the LOVE IS A JOURNEY metaphor inherits the structure of the LIFE IS A JOURNEY metaphor. What is special about the LOVE IS A JOURNEY metaphor, is that there are two lovers, who are travelers, and that the love relationship is a vehicle. The rest of the mapping is a consequence of inheriting the LIFE IS A JOURNEY metaphor. Because the lovers are in the same vehicle, they have common destinations, that is, common life goals. Relationship difficulties are impediments to travel.

LOVE IS A JOURNEY

Target Domain: Love
Source Domain: Space
The lovers are travelers.
The love relationship is a vehicle.
Inherits the LIFE IS A JOURNEY metaphor.

A career is another aspect of life that can be conceptualized as a journey. Here, because STATUS IS UP, a career is actually a journey upward. Career goals are special cases of life goals.

A CAREER IS A JOURNEY

Target Domain: Career
Source Domain: Space
A careerist is a traveler.
Status is up.
Inherits LIFE IS A JOURNEY, with :
- Life goals = Career Goals
- Ideal: To go as high, far, and fast as possible.
Examples include:
He clawed his way to the top.
He's over the hill.
She's on the fast track.
He's climbing the corporate ladder.
She's moving up in the ranks quickly.

This inheritance hierarchy accounts for a range of generalizations. First, there are generalizations about lexical items. Take the word crossroads. It's central meaning is in the domain of space. But it can be used in a metaphorical sense to speak of any extended activity, of one's life, of a love relationship, or of a career. I'm at a crossroads on this project. I'm at a crossroads in life. We're at a crossroads in our relationship. I'm at a crossroads in my career. The hierarchy allows one to state a general principal: that crossroads is extended lexically via the submetaphor of the Event Structure Metaphor that Longterm Purposeful Activities Are Journeys. All its other uses are automatically generated via the inheritance hierarchy. Thus, separate senses for each level of the hierarchy are not needed. The second generalization is inferential in character. Thus the understanding of difficulties as impediments to travel occurs not only in events in general, but also in a purposeful life, in a love relationship, and in a career. The inheritance hierarchy guarantees that this understanding of difficulties in life, love, and careers is a consequence of such an understanding of difficulties in events in general. The hierarchy also allows us to characterize lexical items whose meanings are more restricted: Thus, climbing the ladder refers only to careers, not to love relationships or to life in general. Such hierarchical organization is a very prominent feature of the metaphor system of English and other languages. So far we have found that the metaphors higher up in the hierarchy tend to be more widespread than those mappings at lower levels. Thus, the Event Structure Metaphor is very widespread (and may even be universal), while the metaphors for life, love, and careers are much more restricted culturally.

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