Image schemas are structures to sentences that map to one or more real world experiences. By structuring an abstract concept to a spatial concept we are able to make sense of it. A common image schema is the movement from a source to a goal along a directed path. Another common one is focusing-and-then-inspecting. “First we locate the object or domain of interest, and then we inspect its details.” 1. Other examples:
- moving toward an object
- adding one thing to another
- a path that leads from a source to a goal
- movement from a center to periphery
- entering and leaving
- rising pitch