ABSTRACT
This chapter addresses the cross-modal representation of abstract ideas in terms of entity, motion, orientation, and action with the use of a set of 200 speech-gesture cases. Gestural depictions are evidence of the real-time mapping of source ideas onto target ideas, and the basis of metaphorical conceptualization grounded in ordinary experiences with objects, movements, spatial directions, and ordinary actions. In the use of the entity metaphor, abstract ideas are conceptualized as if they were objects, each being represented as a linguistic entity and by an object gesture with a spatial boundary. In the use of orientation metaphors, a spatial direction is given to an abstract idea both lexically and manually. The motion metaphors and action metaphors are concerned with a fictive movement or an imaginary action, and the gestural manifestation of the manner information reveals the conceptual and contextual aspects of metaphorical thoughts.
