The role of conceptual blending in the meaning construction of the Portuguese hedge “um tipo de”

Abstract

Based on Mental Space Theory, the main purpose of this article is to verify the role that conceptual blending plays in meaning construction of Portuguese hedge um tipo de. Analysing sentences containing that hedge, we conclude that the meaning of um tipo de depends on conceptual blending that it prompts: a cross-space mapping between an input space (entity) and another input space (category / prototype of a category), a generic space, a partial projection to the blend (the entity, the category / prototype of a category and some shared properties) and an emergent structure (flexible category / hyperonymy).