The Public Journal of Semiotics II(2), July 2008, pp. 30-51 Conceptual blending and sign formation Hubert Kowalewski UMCS, Instytut Anglistyki pl. Marii Curie-Skłodowskiej 4 20-031 Lublin, Poland [email protected] Abstract In this article I will investigate the process of conceptual blending involved in sign formation. The main objective of this article is to demonstrate that conceptual blending theory is capable of accounting for the creation of both linguistic and non-linguistic signs from pre-existing semiotic inven- tory. Moreover, like in the case of logos and names of certain products, the conceptual mechanism behind the formation of linguistic and non-lin- guistic signs is similar not only in general aspects, but also in fine-grained details. This statement is by no means paradoxical. The theory of concep- tual blending strives to describe the basic conceptual mechanism respon- sible for the semiotic capabilities of the human mind and is not intrinsi- cally connected with any specific type of signs; thus, cognitive strategies which prove to be effective for the creation of, for instance, graphic signs may be reused for the creation of linguistic signs. Keywords: logos, blending, cognitive 1 Introduction In this article we will examine the process involved in the creation of novel signs from pre-existing semiotic inventory. This type of process is not uncommon; few signs are formed in complete isolation from other signs or are devoid of any mo- tivated relationship with existing structures. The main thesis of this article may seem paradoxical – my intention is to demonstrate that in some cases signs of different types, like linguistic and graphical ones, may be created in similar way and that there are significant parallelisms in the conceptual mechanism under- lying formation of these types of signs. These parallelisms can be described in a systematic and methodologically coherent manner. Material analyzed in this article consists of logos and names of Linux based-computer operating systems and theoretical framework adopted for the purpose of the analysis is the theory of conceptual blending devised by Gilles Fauconnier and Mark Turner. Before we proceed to the case studies, it may prove useful to have a quick look at Linux itself. “Linux” is a customary name for a vast array of computer operat- ing systems or, to be more precise, the core components of an operating system known as kernel. The kernel is the most important “layer” of an operating sys- tem responsible for coordinating components of hardware. In principle, kernel is a complete, self-contained and functional operating system, but in practice its usability is limited due to the fact that it does not contain any graphic user in- terface (abbreviated as GUI), let alone any “desktop” applications. Thus, virtual- ly all widely-used Linux operating systems have another layer, a more intuitive graphic user interface called desktop environment, and additional programs, 31 Conceptual blending and sign formation like word processors, spreadsheets, etc.1 A complete system, including a kernel, a user interface and additional applications is a distribution. An important difference between Linux-based and other operating systems is the modularity of the former. Modularity is often explained via a building blocks metaphor; in principle, a distribution may be created from scratch through arbi- trary assemblage of components. Thus, users may select any kernel, combined it with any desktop environment and any additional software they find necessary. Moreover, one distribution may be equipped with more than one desktop envi- ronment, which can be freely toggled. Nevertheless, building a customized dis- tribution requires considerable knowledge and programming skill, therefore, for the sake of convenience, most distributions come pre-assembled with a GUI and most useful applications.2 One of such distribution is Ubuntu, an operating system with a Linux ker- nel and a desktop environment called GNOME. Ubuntu was designed to be user friendly, easy-to-use and aesthetically pleasing. The effort of the authors was ap- preciated by users and the distribution became a tremendous success – current- ly, it is one of the most widely used distributions in the world. The success was so great that the authors decided to launch another project aiming at creating an operating system with similar collection of applications, but equipped with an alternative desktop environment called KDE. This new distribution was called Kubuntu. Unfortunately, both distributions were rather demanding on hardware and not suitable for older machines. Hence, Ubuntu developers decided to release another Ubuntu derivative, Xubuntu, with a light-weight desktop environment called XFCE. Soon Ubuntu and its derivatives became so popular that independent programmers started to create other Ubuntu-based distributions, which were not officially supported by the authors of original system. These versions feature oth- er desktop environments or additional software not included in official releases. It is worth mentioning that the difference between various desktop environ- ments lies not only in appearance, but, more importantly, in functionality. Despite of the fact that most of Ubuntu derivatives are equipped with a different desktop environment, they are based on the same core components, which makes them similar in many ways. From the semiotic point of view, this situation should be reflected both in names and logos accompanying every distribution. Indeed, as we will soon see, semiotic inventory associated with every distribution attempts to highlight both differences and similarities between various derivatives. This effect is achieved through harmonious composition of seemingly dissimilar el- ements of various signs. Moreover, the process responsible for composition of signs is essentially the same for both linguistic and non-linguistic signs (names 1 Strictly speaking, the matter is slightly more complicated, as a typical desktop operating system consists of three layers – kernel, window manager and desktop environment – although in some cases it is difficult to clearly delineate the last two. In addition, the word “layer” is metaphorical, far from technical precision and would probably never be used by a software developer. Nevertheless, for the purpose of this article let us accept this slightly simplified view. 2 Particular components of a distribution can be manipulated freely due to less restrictive copy- right policy adopted by developers of Linux related software. Most of the elements, including the kernel, most of desktop environment and an overwhelming majority of the additional programs are released under open licenses. Software under such licenses are free of charge and may be freely modified and reused by anyone. The Public Journal of Semiotics 32 and logos). The process in question is best described within the theoretical frame- work of conceptual blending. 2 Conceptual blending The conceptual blending (also known as blending theory – BT), proposed by Gilles Fauconnier and Mark Turner (1995), is probably most frequently employed in the study of language. In linguistics this theoretical framework is used extensively to account for a wide variety of phenomena including, among others, conceptu- al metaphor, metonymy (e.g. Turner and Fauconnier 2003) and discourse struc- ture (e.g. Oakley 1998). Turner and Fauconnier, however, never claimed that their theory is applicable to linguistic data alone. On the contrary, on many occasions they used conceptual blending to analyze visual data (e.g. cartoons) and cultural images (e.g. the Grim Reaper, both in Fauconnier and Turner 2007). Therefore, it seems reasonable to claim that blending theory is not restricted to any particu- lar type of data, as it grounded in general conceptual and cognitive mechanisms universal for all semiotic activity of the mind. Conceptual blending makes use of so called mental spaces. The notion was proposed by Fauconnier (1985) and can be defined as “a partial and temporary representational structure which speakers construct when thinking or talking about perceived, imagined, past, present or future situation.” (Grady, Oakley and Coulson 2007). Despite certain linguistic bias evident in the quotation, mental spaces should not be thought of as phenomena of language alone. Their nature is conceptual rather than linguistic; their usefulness in the study of language is the consequence of the fact that linguistic expressions are phonological manifesta- tions of more general conceptual processes. Conceptual blending involves (at least) four mental spaces. Two of them are input spaces containing semantic structures contributed to the “output” struc- ture. The third space, called generic space, embraces a schematic structure shared by both inputs. The content of the generic space represents abstracted commonalities occurring across all input structures, regardless of how dissimi- lar these structures may appear. The shared structure is a kind of generalization derived at the expense of fine-grained details, which are temporarily suppressed or overridden. These commonalities become the foundation of a new, emergent structure. This novel structure appears in the last space involved in conceptual blending, i.e. the blended space. The process is rendered graphically in Fig. 1. In the illustration the solid lines represent correspondences (i.e. conceptual associations between elements of semantic structures) across input spaces. Cor- responding