36.3682, Confs: Theme Session at the 9th International Conference on Figurative Thought and Language (Spain)

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LINGUIST List: Vol-36-3682. Fri Nov 28 2025. ISSN: 1069 - 4875.

Subject: 36.3682, Confs: Theme Session at the 9th International Conference on Figurative Thought and Language (Spain)

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Date: 27-Nov-2025
From: Carey Benom [idiomaticcreativity at gmail.com]
Subject: Theme Session at the 9th International Conference on Figurative Thought and Language


Theme Session at the 9th International Conference on Figurative
Thought and Language
Short Title: FTL9
Theme: Blending Minds and Machines: Figurative Language, Creativity,
AI, and Computational Linguistics

Date: 09-Sep-2026 - 11-Sep-2026
Location: Valencia, Spain
Contact: Carey Benom
Contact Email: busylinguist at gmail.com
Meeting URL: https://cogclare.com/ftl9/

Linguistic Field(s): Cognitive Science; Discourse Analysis; Semantics;
Text/Corpus Linguistics

Theme Session Title: "Between Entrenchment and Imagination: Cognitive,
Crosslinguistic, Corpus-Based, and Multimodal Perspectives on Idioms,
Creativity, and Figurativity"
Idioms occupy a unique position at the intersection of figurative
thought, linguistic structure, and creative language use. With their
relatively inflexible forms and conceptually dense meanings, idioms
often invite local adaptations, humorous reinterpretations, multimodal
elaborations, and other innovative uses in discourse. Idiom use
reveals the dynamic interplay between entrenchment and imagination:
the tension between the stability of conventional form–meaning
pairings and the fluidity of human creativity, given the contextual
demands and affordances of usage events.
Within cognitive linguistics, idioms have long served as a test case
for the claim that linguistic knowledge cannot be reduced to a
“dictionary plus grammar.” Their partially fixed yet meaningfully
motivated structures challenge modular accounts of lexicon and syntax
(e.g. Pinker 1999) and were central to the emergence of construction
grammar (Fillmore, Kay & O’Connor 1988). Subsequent research—including
crosslinguistic, corpus-based, and multimodal analysis—has highlighted
idioms as a rich site of empirical investigation for examining how
speakers creatively manipulate entrenched constructions, how
figurative mappings differ and evolve across languages and cultures,
and how figurative, idiomatic meanings are negotiated in context.
This session invites contributions that explore idioms, creativity,
and figurativity from cognitive, crosslinguistic, corpus-based, and
multimodal perspectives. Topics may include (but are not limited to):
 - Cognitive mechanisms underlying idiomatic creativity (e.g.
metaphor, metonymy, blending, analogical extension)
 - Crosslinguistic variation in idiom structure, motivation, and
creative manipulation
 - Corpus-based insights into idiom variation, productivity, and
contextual innovation
 - Multimodal dimensions of idiomatic creativity (e.g. gesture, visual
media, digital communication, memes)
 - Pragmatic and discourse-based analysis of creative uses of idioms
 - Intersections between figurativity, conventionality, and meaning
negotiation
 - Intersections between figurativity, creativity, and cultural
models, values, and norms
By bringing together cognitive, crosslinguistic, corpus-based, and
multimodal perspectives, and by including discourse and pragmatic
approaches that complement cognitive linguistic accounts, this session
aims to consolidate and extend current work on idiomatic creativity
and figurativity.  It offers a focused yet flexible venue that
complements the conference theme by grounding figurative creativity in
the structural, conceptual, and contextual processes that shape idioms
across languages, cultures, and communicative environments.
While this session does not focus on AI or computational modeling, it
engages directly with the cognitive and creative processes that
underlie figurative thought and language—core concerns of FTL9. By
examining how creative idiomatic use balances entrenched form–meaning
pairings with imaginative variation, the session addresses fundamental
mechanisms of figurative cognition that are relevant to both human and
machine approaches to language.
Rationale and Objectives:
Idioms occupy an important position at the intersection of
figurativity, conventionality, and creativity. While traditionally
viewed as fixed or non-compositional expressions, recent research
highlights their internal structure, partial schematicity, and
meaningful motivation. Creative idiom use—whether through lexical
substitution, deletion or addition of elements, syntactic reshaping,
multimodal extension, or playful reinterpretation—reveals idiomaticity
as a gradient phenomenon shaped by the interplay of entrenched
form–meaning pairings, the pressures of real-time communication, and
the imaginative skills of speakers. This dynamic perspective
foregrounds idioms as a key site for exploring how figurative thought
is activated, negotiated, and adapted across contexts.
Within cognitive linguistics, idioms continue to serve as a testbed
for theories of metaphor, metonymy, blending, and constructional
organization. Crosslinguistic and corpus-based studies further
demonstrate how idioms vary in motivation and creative potential
across languages, cultures, and communicative settings, challenging
any simple divide between “fixed” and “productive” expressions. At the
same time, multimodal and discourse-oriented research shows that
creative uses of idioms extend beyond the verbal channel, drawing on
gesture, visual media, and digital communication in ways that enrich
and reshape figurative meaning. By focusing on this cognitive,
crosslinguistic, corpus-based, and multimodal foundation, the session
complements the broader conference theme while remaining grounded in
the linguistic and conceptual mechanisms that underlie idiomatic
creativity.
Goals:
 - To integrate cognitive, corpus-based, crosslinguistic, and
multimodal approaches to idioms, figurativity, and creative language
use.
 - To explore the balance between entrenchment and innovation in
idiomatic meaning, structure, and discourse function.
 - To examine how idioms instantiate and contribute to broader
figurative processes, including metaphor, metonymy, blending, analogy,
and constructional extension.
 - To highlight the role of context—cultural, communicative, and
multimodal—in shaping idiomatic creativity and guiding variation
across usage events.
 - To encourage dialogue among researchers working on idiomatic
creativity and figurative meaning from multiple methodological
perspectives, including corpus linguistics, cognitive semantics,
multimodal analysis, and crosslinguistic and contrastive analysis.
 - To provide a focused venue within the larger conference theme for
understanding how figurative thought is anchored in specific
linguistic constructions while also participating in broader patterns
of creative expression.
Possible Topics:
We welcome contributions addressing idioms and figurative creativity
from theoretical, empirical, and applied perspectives. Possible topics
include (but are not limited to):
 - Idiomatic creativity and conceptual blends: modeling figurative
combination and emergent meaning
 - Idiomatic creativity and embodied and conceptual grounding: links
to sensorimotor schemas and metaphorical imagery
 - Idiomatic creativity and metonymy: mechanisms of conventional and
innovative meaning-making across languages and contexts
 - Idiomatic creativity: formal and conceptual modification
 - Idiomatic creativity: humor, irony, and play
 - Idiomatic creativity: crosslinguistic and contrastive analysis
 - Idiomatic creativity and figurative fixity vs. flexibility:
gradience in idiomaticity and semantic transparency
 - Idiomatic creativity and diachronic/cross-linguistic variation,
convergence, and cultural specificity
 - Idiomatic creativity: corpus-based and experimental methods for
studying figurative processing
 - Idiomatic creativity in multimodal and digital contexts: memes,
emoji, gesture, and other visual-figurative blends
 - Idiomatic creativity in education, translation, and communication:
pedagogical and applied aspects of figurative competence
 - Idiomatic creativity in signed vs. spoken languages
Format and Expected Outcomes:
The session will bring together 4–6 papers that collectively examine
idiomatic creativity, emphasizing cognitive, crosslinguistic,
corpus-based, and multimodal perspectives. We aim for methodological
diversity, including corpus analyses, experimental studies, multimodal
investigations, and theoretical or typological contributions.
A concluding roundtable discussion will synthesize findings across
papers and explore implications for broader issues in figurative
language research, including how idiomaticity illuminates human
creativity, conceptual structure, and symbolic thought.
Expected outcomes include:
 - A more unified account of idiomaticity as a dynamic interface
between figurative thought, linguistic form, and contextually grounded
creativity.
 - Enhanced cross-disciplinary dialogue between cognitive linguistics,
typology, corpus linguistics, multimodal and discourse approaches, and
applied or pedagogical perspectives.
 - Identification of methodological best practices for investigating
idiomatic creativity, including corpus-based, experimental,
crosslinguistic, and multimodal approaches.
 - A roadmap for future collaboration on figurative and creative
language, highlighting opportunities for cross-linguistic, cognitive,
and multimodal research.
 - Insights into the relationship between conventionality and
innovation, informing broader theories of figurative thought,
constructional flexibility, and discourse creativity.
Submission Guidelines:
Abstracts of no more than 500 words (including examples, excluding
references and figures) should be submitted to idiomaticcreativity
(at) gmail.com by 10 February 2026.
Each abstract should clearly indicate:
 - The research question(s) and theoretical background
 - The methodology and data used
 - The main findings or expected results
 - The contribution to the theme session and the conference as a whole
 - Please include 5 keywords and brief biodata (max. 50 words).
 - In the email body, please include: (1) name of author/s, (2)
affiliation, (3) title of the presentation, and (4) email address.
You can download the template for the abstract here:
https://cogclare.com/call-for-papers-ftl9/
Notification of acceptance will follow the conference’s general
schedule.
Organizers:
Carey Benom (Seinan Gakuin University)
Young-Min Oh (Ritsumeikan Asia Pacific University)
Contact: For inquiries or submissions, please email:
idiomaticcreativity at gmail.com
References
Benom, Carey. 2023. “Argentina, eat your cows out! Lexical
Substitution in English and Japanese Heart Idioms.” In Embodiment in
Cross-Linguistic Studies, edited by J. B. Kóczy and K. Sipocz, 369–91.
Leiden/Boston: Brill.
Carrol, Gareth, Jeannie Littlemore, and Mark Gillon Dowens. 2023.
“Processing Idiom Variation and Creative Modifications.” Journal of
Memory and Language 128 (February): 1–19.
Dancygier, Barbara, and Eve Sweetser. 2014. Figurative Language.
Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Disselkamp, Lennart, and Simone A. Sprenger. 2021. “Idiomatic
Creativity and the Processing of Idiom Variants.” Journal of
Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition 47, no. 2:
297–313.
Fauconnier, Gilles, and Mark Turner. 2002. The Way We Think:
Conceptual Blending and the Mind’s Hidden Complexities. New York:
Basic Books.
Fillmore, Charles J., Paul Kay, and Mary Catherine O’Connor. 1988.
“Regularity and Idiomaticity in Grammatical Constructions: The Case of
Let Alone.” Language 64: 501–38.
Forceville, Charles. 2020. “Multimodal Metonymy and Metaphor.” In
Metonymy and the Metonymic Mind, edited by F. J. Ruiz de Mendoza
Ibáñez and M. E. Veá-Valle, 377–400. Berlin: De Gruyter.
Goldberg, Adele E. 2019. Explain Me This: Creativity, Competition, and
the Partial Productivity of Constructions. Princeton: Princeton
University Press.
Langlotz, Andreas. 2006. Idiomatic Creativity. Amsterdam/Philadelphia:
John Benjamins Publishing Company.
Moon, Rosamund. 1998. Fixed Expressions and Idioms in English: A
Corpus-based Approach. New York: Oxford University Press.
Moon, Rosamund. 2010. “What Can a Corpus Tell Us about Lexis?” In The
Routledge Handbook of Corpus Linguistics, edited by Anne O’Keeffe and
Michael McCarthy, 197–211. London: Routledge.
Nunberg, Geoffrey, Ivan A. Sag, and Thomas Wasow. 1994. “Idioms.”
Language 70, no. 3: 491–538.
Oh, Young Min. 2020. “A Systematic, Corpus-Based Methodology for
Studying Idiomatic Creativity in Korean and Japanese.” Japanese/Korean
Linguistics 27: 87–103.
Oh, Young Min and Carey Benom. 2021. “Contraction as Idiomatic
Variation.” Japanese/Korean Linguistics 28: 361–75.
Pinker, Steven. 1999. Words and Rules: The Ingredients of Language.
New York: Basic Books.
Vasquez, Camilla, and Elif Aslan. 2021. “‘Cats Be Outside, How about
Meow’: Multimodal Humor and Creativity in an Internet Meme.” Journal
of Pragmatics 171: 101–17.
Wulff, Stefanie. 2008. Rethinking Idioms: A Usage-Based Approach.
London/New York: Continuum.



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