Catalan Review

Abstract

This article examines spatial expressions from a Cognitive Linguistics approach. It argues that spatial expressions are used not only to describe concrete objects, but also to refer to abstract notions by means of metaphorical locations. Specifically, the basic conceptual schema for any location can result in more abstract schemata to refer to a property, a state, an activity, or a possession. Conveying these four abstract notions entails using a variety of syntactic structures, one of them being the focus of this paper: “copula verb (ésser/estar ‘be’) + en ‘in’ + NP.” This structure is examined fram diachranic and synchronic perspectives in Old Catalan and Modern Catalan, respectively. Finally, the Catalan results are compared vis-à-vis other European languages, namely, Finnish and Welsh.