Prosodic Iconicity and Experiential Blending

In order to account for prosodic iconicity in speech in a very general way we propose looking at the phenomenon from an experiential and embodied perspective (Núñez 1999; Violi 2003; Rohrer 2007, i.a.), defining communication as a “co-experienciation” process. Using different paths, prosodic dimensions’ variations impose direct, non-mediated shaping of shared experience. Prosodic iconic formations take place in that space of shared experience. The way it mixes with meaning may be schematized using Fauconnier and Turner’s Conceptual Blending Theory. We suggest (following Hutchins 2005; Bache 2005) some accommodation of the schema in order to take into account the perceptual dimension of part of the blending input, as well as the experiential dimension of blending output.