Image_schema Namespace

One of three namespaces that replace the former Situation (@situation) namespace, together with @domain and @scenario. Image_schema inherits Situation's image-schema model (spatial primitives); scenarios go to @scenario and fields of knowledge to @domain.

Core Definition

Image_schema frames package spatial and topological primitives — the recurring, pre-conceptual configurations of Trajector, Ground, and Region that structure spatial cognition — into named frames. Rather than profiling a token event or a property, an image-schema frame profiles an abstract spatial configuration that supplies the structural substrate for Transition, Stative, and Relational frames to build on.

Formal template:

IMAGE_SCHEMA(Trajector/Figure, Landmark/Ground, [Region])

Key properties:

• Configurational: profiles a spatial relation or region, not an occurrence
• Schematic / type-level: names a kind of spatial configuration, not a specific located object
• Grounding: supplies the abstract spatial structure that locative, relational, and motion frames reuse
• Non-eventive: no change, no agent, no result state is profiled

Scope

Includes:

• Bounded-region schemas: Bounded_region, Bounded_entity, Region_with_portal, Surrounding
• Path schemas: Source_path_goal (source-path-goal used by Transition and motion frames)
• Configurational / relational schemas: Contact_image_schema, Proximity_image_schema, Alignment_image_schema, Collocation_image_schema
• The generic Image_schema root

Excludes — see other namespaces:

• A broad field of knowledge grouping frames by domain → Domain
• A multi-event, role-and-phase scenario type → Scenario
• A token occurrence of motion along a path → Transition (João foi para casa)
• A property or condition holding of an entity → Stative
• A relation holding between two specific entities → Relational

Critical boundary — Image_schema vs. Relational / Stative: An image-schema frame profiles the abstract spatial region or configurational schema that grounds meaning across the lexicon; a Relational or Stative frame profiles the relation or condition holding of specific entities. Contact_ image_schema (the contact configuration itself) is Image_schema; A xícara está sobre a mesa (a specific locative state) uses that schema but is Stative.

Critical boundary — Image_schema vs. Transition: Source_path_goal provides the abstract path schema; ir, vir, sair, chegar are the Transition frames that instantiate motion along it. The schema is Image_schema; the motion event is Transition.

Subtypes

Diagnostic Tests

Test 1 — Schematic, not token

Does the frame name a kind of spatial configuration rather than a specific located object or event?

✓ Contact_image_schema — names the contact relation schema, not one contact event → IMAGE_SCHEMA
✗ A mão tocou a mesa — tokens a specific contact event → NOT IMAGE_SCHEMA (Eventive/Agentive)

Test 2 — Spatial substrate / grounding

Does the frame supply an abstract spatial structure that other frames (Transition, Stative, Relational) reuse?

✓ Source_path_goal provides the path schema for ir, vir, sair, chegar → IMAGE_SCHEMA
✓ Bounded_region provides the interior/boundary/exterior structure for containment → IMAGE_SCHEMA
✗ João foi para casa — instantiates the path schema as a motion event → NOT IMAGE_SCHEMA (Transition)

Test 3 — Non-eventive

Is the frame free of any profiled change, agent, or result state?

✓ Proximity_image_schema (a static spatial configuration) → IMAGE_SCHEMA
✗ A porta abriu (a change of state) → NOT IMAGE_SCHEMA (Change)

Test 4 — Trajector / Ground structure

Can the frame be analysed as a Trajector (Figure) located relative to a Ground (Landmark), possibly with a Region?

✓ Surrounding: Trajector enclosed by Ground on all sides → IMAGE_SCHEMA
✓ Alignment_image_schema: Trajector aligned with Ground along an axis → IMAGE_SCHEMA
✗ médico (an entity category, no Trajector/Ground) → NOT IMAGE_SCHEMA (Entity)

Comparison with Adjacent Namespaces

vs. Stative: Image-schema frames may look stative (they describe spatial configurations) but differ in that they define structural primitives — topological schemas that supply the abstract spatial structure that Stative, Relational, and Transition frames use.

vs. Relational: Some image-schema frames also involve two participants (Trajector and Ground). The difference: Relational frames profile the relation holding between specific entities; image-schema frames profile the abstract spatial region or configurational schema that grounds relational meaning across the lexicon.