Simulating Motion in Figurative Language Comprehension

Abstract

In this visual world eye tracking study we explored simulation of fictive motion during language comprehension in figurative sentences in Hindi. Eye movement measures suggest that language comprehenders gaze longer at visual scenes on hearing fictive motion sentences compared to their literal counterparts. The results support previous findings in English and provide cross linguistic evidence for the simulation and embodied views of language processing. We discuss the findings in the light of neuroimaging models and language vision interaction.