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This study aimed to investigate how priming a metaphor by the gestural representation of its schema affects the understanding of that metaphor. In each of the two tests, different groups of participants were invited to judge the sensibility of the same 20 metaphors preceded by congruent versus incongruent gesture primes as compared to no prime. In the congruent gesture-prime conditions, each metaphor was preceded by a gesture that represented the schema of the subsequent metaphor whereas this gesture was not compatible with the schema of the subsequent metaphor in the incongruent gesture-prime conditions. Results showed that a higher proportion of sentences were judged to be sensible in the congruent gesture-prime conditions compared to no-prime and incongruent gesture-prime conditions. Also, response times of sensibility judgements were shorter in congruent gesture-prime conditions compared to no-prime and incongruent gesture-prime conditions. These results suggest that metaphor schema affects metaphor comprehension through the activation of metaphorically-relevant information and suppressing irrelevant information. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study aimed to examine the gestural embodiment of intensifiers in iconic and metaphoric gestures when these words are used with literal and metaphoric statements. We asked a group of Persian native speakers to listen to and then retell a set of Persian stories. In these stories, a number of intensifiers were used with literal and metaphoric sentences. The results showed that when an intensifier was used with a literal sentence, there was a higher probability of using an iconic or beat gesture than when there was no intensifier in the sentence. Also, when an intensifier was used with a metaphoric sentence, there was a higher probability of using a metaphoric or beat gesture than when the sentence contained no intensifier. These results suggested that an intensifier in a literal or metaphoric sentence can strengthen the mental simulation and the embodiment of objects, ideas, or situations. When an intensifier is used with a literal or metaphoric sentence, the strength of activation in the premotor areas may be amplified and spread to motor areas. In contrast, when no such intensifier is used in a literal or metaphoric sentence, there is a higher probability of simulation in premotor areas without spreading to the primary motor areas. The production of an internal force and expressing emphasis are two other possibilities that may explain the higher use of gestures with intensifiers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of this study was to examine the impact of manner adverbs on the gestural embodiment of actions that are described by literal and metaphoric sentences. We asked a group of participants to read and then orally retell four stories. Each story had two versions. In one version, literal and metaphoric sentences describing literal and metaphorical actions did not include manner adverbs. In the other version of each story, the same sentences included a manner adverb that provided more information about literal or metaphoric actions. Participants' reproductions of stories were recorded with a camera and were analyzed to make a comparison between gestures that accompanied sentences that included a manner adverb and sentences that did not include a manner adverb. The results showed that when literal and metaphoric sentences included a manner adverb, there was a higher probability of using a gesture than when these sentences were used without a manner adverb. In other words, using a manner adverb increases the probability of using a gesture with literal and metaphorical sentences. Therefore, it is suggested that adding a manner adverb to a literal or metaphoric sentence can strengthen the process of embodiment of the action described in that sentence. We present two explanations for this observation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]