The Wandering Herd, the Whirling Wheel, and the Concept of Time

Abstract (English)

In this presentation, I shall examine two conceptualizations of time articulated in the Rgveda, the earliest extant corpus of Indian hymns, composed circa the 15th to 13th century BCE by Indo-European half-nomadic composers. The text presents a coexistence of linear temporality—conceptualized through the image of a wandering herd of cattle—and cyclical temporality—conceptualized through the image of the turning wheel of a chariot. In reconstructing these temporal models, I shall draw upon frameworks developed within cognitive linguistics, in particular the notions of conceptual metonymy and metaphor.