Deep Dive: Semantic Frames & Conceptual Metaphors

Underlying narratives are deep linguistic structures that help us make sense of the world – often operating at an unconscious level. We focus on two important tools for analyzing how narratives work: Semantic Frames and Conceptual Metaphors.

Semantic Frames

Semantic Frames are cognitive structures that shape how we understand the world. They help us process and categorize information (our thoughts and experiences) by linking words to shared cultural understandings.  

In the field of Linguistics, the idea of semantic frames came from linguist Charles Fillmore in the 1900’s, who described a frame as a conceptual scenario involving participants, roles, and relationships. For example, when we hear “She gave me a gift,” we automatically understand it in terms of a Giving frame. This frame includes a giver, a recipient, and an object – even if some of these elements are not explicitly stated. Frames help us infer meaning from partial information and guide how we interpret events.

Frames are not neutral. They are culturally shaped and often carry ideological assumptions. For instance, describing someone as “homeless” may activate a victim or charity frame, whereas calling them “unhoused” can activate a structural or rights-based frame. These differences influence what we perceive as the problem, who we see as responsible, and what kind of solution seems appropriate.

Common Features of a Semantic Frame

Feature	Description	Example (Giving Frame)
Frame	Conceptual scenario	Giving
Roles	Key participants in the scenario	Giver, recipient, object
Relations	Expected interactions between roles	Transfer of possession
Inferences	What we assume even if unstated	There is an intention to give

Conceptual Metaphors

Conceptual Metaphors are cognitive mappings that help us make sense of intangible, abstract ideas by linking them to familiar, physical experiences (e.g. motion “moving forward”, sight “seeing clearly”, touch, temperature, and other sensory cues that ground meaning in the body). They are deep, archetypal mental models, not just a figure of speech.

Conceptual Metaphor Theory (developed by George Lakoff and Mark Johnson) shows that much of our everyday language and thought is metaphorical. For example, the metaphor “Time is money” appears in phrases like “spend time,” “waste time,” or “invest your time wisely.” The metaphor “Life is a journey” shows up in “stay on track” or “at a crossroads.” 

Connection between Conceptual Metaphors and Semantic Frames: Conceptual metaphors build on the structure of Semantic Frames: they take the structural knowledge from a concrete domain (known as “source domain”), for example money or travel. And map it onto an abstract domain (known as  “target domain”), like time, or love. The semantic frame provides the logic, roles and relations (e.g. through the frame Money, we automatically think of spending, investing etc).

Conceptual metaphors often activate or align with semantic frames. For example, saying “We need to jumpstart the economy,” uses the metaphor “The economy is a machine,” which fits into a broader mechanistic economic frame that assumes technical control and repair.

Examples of Conceptual Metaphors

Conceptual Metaphor	Source Domain(embodied/concrete)	Target Domain(abstract)	Example Phrases
Time is money	Finance	Time	“Spend time,” “waste time”
Life is a journey	Travel	Life	“Stay on track,” “hit a crossroads”
Argument is war	Combat	Debate	“He attacked my point”
Ideas are food	Ingestion	Understanding	“Digest that idea,” “half-baked”

Time is Money → Finance → Time → “Spend time” → “Waste time”

Life is a Journey → Travel → Life → “Stay on track” → “At a crossroads”

Argument is War → Combat → Debate → “He attacked my point” → “Defend your position”

Ideas are Food → Ingestion → Understanding → “Digest that idea” → “Half-baked”

Primary Metaphors

Many Conceptual Metaphors are rooted primary metaphors (basic associations learned through bodily experience). These emerge from repeated correlations in daily life: e.g. warmth with affection or verticality with quantity. These metaphors are largely unconscious, but they form the building blocks of more complex metaphor systems.

Examples of Primary Metaphors

Primary Metaphor	The embodied or concrete	The abstract  concept	Example Phrase
Affection is warmth	Being held as a child	Emotional connection	“She gave me a warm smile”
More is up	Water level rises when more is added	Quantity	“Prices went up”
Important is heavy	Heavier objects require more effort	Significance	“That’s a weighty issue”
Understanding is seeing	Visual clarity	Comprehension	“I see what you mean”

Together, Semantic Frames and Conceptual Metaphors offer a lens for understanding how language encodes worldview. Frames structure scenarios (role & relations); metaphors map meaning and ground abstract thought in the body. By becoming aware of these linguistic patterns, we can begin to see how meaning is shaped and how it might be reshaped to support cultural transformation.