Embodied experience of LIFE and DEATH across languages: perceptual and action-based norms

Understanding how highly abstract concepts are grounded in bodily experience remains a central challenge in embodied cognition and language research. This study investigates the embodied representation of the highly abstract concepts LIFE and DEATH across Persian, German, and English, combining a cross-linguistic sensorimotor norming approach with an analysis of socio-cognitive predictors of embodiment. Native speakers of the three languages rated LIFE and DEATH along 11 sensorimotor dimensions, including six perceptual modalities (visual, auditory, haptic, olfactory, gustatory, and interoceptive) and five action-based dimensions associated with specific body effectors (hand/arm, foot/leg, torso, mouth/throat, and head). The results reveal systematic cross-linguistic differences in the perceptual and bodily grounding of both concepts, with LIFE showing stronger and more consistent embodiment than DEATH across languages. Importantly, multivariate analyses demonstrate that embodiment patterns are not uniform but are significantly modulated by socio-cognitive variables. Language and nation emerged as the strongest predictors of embodiment, particularly for DEATH, while handedness, gender, and religion exerted more selective, domain-specific effects. In contrast, level of education did not reliably predict sensorimotor embodiment. Our findings are consistent with graded or weak embodiment frameworks, according to which abstract concepts are instantiated through flexible, culturally and bodily mediated simulations rather than fixed sensorimotor mappings. By integrating sensorimotor norms with socio-cognitive predictors, the study advances a more nuanced account of how body, language, and culture jointly shape the embodiment of the abstract concepts LIFE and DEATH.

A central challenge in contemporary cognitive science concerns how highly abstract concepts are grounded in bodily experience and how such grounding varies across linguistic and cultural contexts (Ansah, 2014; Banaruee and Khatin-Zadeh, 2026; Borghi et al., 2017; Casasanto, 2009; Marmolejo-Ramos et al., 2017). While the embodiment of concrete concepts is now well-established (for recent reviews, see Khatin-Zadeh et al., 2023a), the status of abstract concepts remains contested, particularly with respect to the degree to which their representation depends on sensorimotor systems, affective experience, and sociocultural mediation (Barsalou, 1999, 2008; Hauk et al., 2004; Glenberg and Kaschak, 2002). Within this debate, concepts such as LIFE and DEATH occupy a special position. They are maximally abstract, existentially fundamental, and deeply embedded in linguistic, cultural, and symbolic systems (for metaphoric embodied DEATH, see Gathigia et al., 2018). Investigating how such concepts are embodied across languages therefore provides a stringent test case for theories of embodied cognition and language.

Research in cognitive linguistics and embodied cognition has increasingly demonstrated that abstract meaning is not amodal or purely symbolic but is structured through metaphorical mappings grounded in bodily experience (Ansah, 2011, 2014; Banaruee and Khatin-Zadeh, 2026; Barsalou, 1999, 2008, 2010; Gibbs, 2006a,b; Lakoff and Johnson, 1980, 1999; Wilson, 2002). However, strong embodiment claims proposing direct and uniform sensorimotor grounding for all concepts have been challenged (Mahon and Caramazza, 2008; Mahon, 2015; Shapiro, 2019). In response, a weaker or graded view of embodiment has gained prominence, according to which bodily experience constrains conceptualization indirectly, through metaphor, simulation, affect, and culturally shaped practices (Fischer and Zwaan, 2008). This position allows for variability across languages and cultures while maintaining that embodiment plays a systematic role in meaning construction, consistent with dynamic and extended views of cognition (Clark, 2008; Clark and Chalmers, 1998; Shapiro, 2019). The present study adopts this moderate embodiment framework.

A growing body of cross-linguistic and cross-cultural research shows that abstract concepts are not embodied in identical ways across linguistic communities (Ansah, 2011; Banaruee et al., 2024; Khatin-Zadeh et al., 2023a; Kövecses, 2005, 2010; Sharifian, 2011; Yu, 2008). Studies on concepts such as ANGER, TIME, DEATH, EMOTION, JOY, and SUCCESS demonstrate that metaphorical patterns, spatial mappings, and bodily associations vary in systematic relation to language, culture, and experience (Ansah, 2011; Boroditsky, 2001; Gathigia et al., 2018; Khatin-Zadeh et al., 2023b; Marmolejo-Ramos et al., 2017; Santiago et al., 2007). Further, robust findings support the valence and vertical embodiment of concepts such as good, bad, up, and down (Casasanto, 2009; Gottwald et al., 2015; Yamada et al., 2025). These findings challenge universalist assumptions and instead suggest that embodiment is shaped by sociocultural constraints. Despite this progress, highly abstract and counter-valent concepts such as LIFE and DEATH have received comparatively limited attention in cross-linguistic embodiment research, particularly using quantitative methods that allow direct comparison across languages.

Recent work by Banaruee and Khatin-Zadeh (2026) provides an important empirical foundation for addressing this gap by demonstrating that embodiment is systematically shaped by bodily experience, linguistic structure, and broader cultural constraints. Using a large-scale questionnaire-based approach and multivariate regression analyses, that study examined how speakers from different linguistic and cultural backgrounds conceptualize and embody LIFE and DEATH. The results suggested that embodiment of abstract concepts has two layers of universal and culture-specific shaped by prototypicality and socio-cognitive predictors. Banaruee and Khatin-Zadeh (2026) argue that there are prototypical concepts through which LIFE and DEATH are embodied. Some of these prototypes are universal and some are culture-specific. Further, in their study, language emerged as the strongest and most consistent predictor of embodiment, especially in domains related to action, direction, and spatial representation. Nation and level of education also exerted significant influence, particularly in visual and spatial dimensions such as color and movement. These findings offered robust support for conceptual metaphor theory (Lakoff and Johnson, 1980) and linguistic relativity (Boroditsky, 2011; Wolff and Holmes, 2011), showing that language does not merely express abstract thought but actively structures how abstract concepts are mentally simulated (Khatin-Zadeh et al., 2023c). At the same time, in Banaruee and Khatin-Zadeh (2026) secondary variables such as gender, age, handedness, and religion showed more limited or domain-specific effects, highlighting the multilayered nature of conceptual embodiment.

While Banaruee and Khatin-Zadeh (2026) established which sociocognitive variables predict the embodiment of LIFE and DEATH, their findings also raise a further question: how are these abstract concepts instantiated in bodily experience, and how do different cultures recruit specific perceptual systems and body parts in grounding them (Barsalou, 2008; Shapiro, 2019)? In other words, beyond identifying predictors of embodiment, there is a need to characterize the internal sensorimotor structure of these concepts. Addressing this question requires a methodological shift from predictive modeling to fine-grained norming approaches that directly assess perceptual and action-based experience. The present study responds to this need by employing a cross-linguistic sensorimotor norms paradigm that directly targets bodily experience as the locus of abstract meaning (Barsalou, 2010; Borghi et al., 2017). Native speakers of Persian, German, and English rated LIFE and DEATH across 11 sensorimotor dimensions (following the sensorimotor norms paradigm of Lynott et al., 2020). Six dimensions capture perceptual experience (visual, auditory, haptic, olfactory, gustatory, and interoceptive), while five dimensions capture action-related experience associated with specific body effectors (hand/arm, foot/leg, torso, mouth/throat, and head). This design allows for a systematic comparison of the embodied profiles of LIFE and DEATH across languages, as well as an assessment of their relative levels of abstractness.

By integrating the predictive insights of Banaruee and Khatin-Zadeh (2026) with modality-specific sensorimotor norms, the present study advances a more detailed and empirically grounded account of how bodily experience, language, and socio-cognitive factors jointly shape the embodiment of abstract concepts. In addition to mapping perceptual and action-based grounding, the study explicitly examines the role of socio-cognitive predictors, including language, nation, handedness, gender, religion, and education, in modulating embodied representations of LIFE and DEATH, within a grounded and extended cognition framework (Barsalou, 2008; Clark, 2008; Shapiro, 2019). Specifically, the study aims to (i) quantify the extent to which LIFE and DEATH are grounded in perceptual and motor experience, (ii) assess how embodiment varies systematically across languages and socio-cognitive conditions, and (iii) clarify how abstractness emerges as a graded, multidimensional property rather than a categorical distinction. In doing so, this work contributes to ongoing debates in embodied cognition and language by demonstrating that abstract meaning is not only bodily grounded but also predictably shaped by socio-cognitive context.

Participants

A total of 90 participants took part in the study, comprising three language groups: English (n = 30), German (n = 30), and Persian (n = 30). Participants were recruited using simple random sampling and completed the questionnaires online. Eligibility was restricted to native speakers of the respective questionnaire language; participants younger than 16 years of age and non-native speakers were excluded. The sample reflected a range of demographic backgrounds. With respect to gender, 47 participants identified as female, 26 as male, eight as third gender, and nine preferred not to disclose their gender. The majority of participants were right-handed (n = 58), followed by left-handed (n = 20) and ambidextrous individuals (n = 12). Religious affiliation was heterogeneous and included Muslim, Catholic Christian, Evangelical Christian, Jewish (Kalimi), Zoroastrian, Pagan, atheist, and non-religious participants. In terms of education, most participants held a bachelor's degree (n = 51), followed by master's degrees (n = 23), diplomas (n = 9), and doctoral degrees (n = 8). This diversity allowed for the examination of sociocognitive variables previously identified as relevant to embodied conceptualization (Banaruee and Khatin-Zadeh, 2026). Although participants were grouped according to their native language, they were not restricted to a single national background. Within each language group, participants represented multiple national contexts, which allowed language and nation to be included as partially independent sociocognitive predictors in the statistical analyses. Correlation between the predictors are shown in Table 1.

Materials and instruments

The study employed a sensorimotor norming questionnaire adapted from established perceptual and action-based norming paradigms (e.g., Lynott et al., 2020). Participants rated the abstract concepts LIFE and DEATH along eleven sensorimotor dimensions. Six dimensions captured perceptual experience: visual, auditory, haptic, olfactory, gustatory, and interoceptive. Five dimensions captured action-based experience associated with specific body effectors: head (excluding mouth and throat), mouth/throat, hand/arm, foot/leg, and torso. Each concept was rated separately, resulting in 22 items in total (11 for LIFE and 11 for DEATH; see Appendix). Ratings were provided using a continuous slider scale ranging from 0 to 100, where higher values indicated stronger perceived involvement of the corresponding perceptual modality or body effector in understanding the concept. All questionnaires were implemented and administered via the Qualtrics platform.

Procedure

The questionnaires were distributed electronically through multiple online channels, including academic and social networking platforms (e.g., LinkedIn, SurveyCircle, WhatsApp, and Skype). Participation was voluntary and anonymous. The Qualtrics platform ensured anonymity by not collecting identifying information, including IP addresses. In addition to the sensorimotor ratings, participants provided demographic information regarding age, gender, handedness, language, nationality, level of education, and religious affiliation.

Data analysis

Data were organized and managed using Microsoft Excel and analyzed using the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS). Descriptive statistics were first computed to summarize sensorimotor ratings and demographic distributions across language groups. To examine the influence of sociocognitive variables on embodiment patterns, multivariate multiple regression (MMR) analyses were conducted. The dependent variables were the sensorimotor ratings associated with LIFE and DEATH. The independent variables included age, gender, handedness, religion, education, language, and nation. The regression model estimated sensorimotor ratings as a function of age, gender, education, nation, language, religion, and handedness.

To obtain a summary measure of the overall degree of sensorimotor involvement associated with each concept, ratings were aggregated across the 11 perceptual and action-related dimensions. This aggregated score ranged from 0 to 100 and reflects the overall strength of sensorimotor grounding rather than traditional psycholinguistic concreteness. Higher scores indicate stronger overall sensorimotor engagement, whereas lower scores reflect weaker sensorimotor grounding. Mean scores were compared descriptively across languages.

Response distributions across sensorimotor dimensions were also examined to identify perceptual modalities and body effectors most frequently associated with each concept. As a descriptive guideline, dimensions endorsed by at least 15% of participants (n = 5) were considered notably represented, while dimensions endorsed by more than 50% of participants were interpreted as dominant sensorimotor channels within a language group. These thresholds were used solely as descriptive heuristics to facilitate cross-linguistic comparison and were not treated as formal statistical criteria for identifying conceptual prototypes.

Prior to conducting the regression analyses, diagnostic checks were performed to evaluate model assumptions. Multicollinearity among predictors was assessed using variance inflation factors (VIF) and a Pearson correlation matrix. All VIF values fell below commonly accepted thresholds, indicating no problematic multicollinearity among predictors. The correlation between language and nation was modest (r = 0.27, p < 0.05), suggesting that these variables were related but not strongly overlapping. The strongest association among predictors was observed between language and handedness (r = −0.61, p < 0.01). Residual plots were inspected to evaluate normality and homoscedasticity. Standardized regression coefficients, standard errors, p -values, and model fit indices were calculated for each model. For transparency, full regression tables, including confidence intervals and additional diagnostic statistics, are provided in Supplementary material.

Perceptual and sensorimotor norms

In the final experiment, participants rated the abstract concepts LIFE and DEATH along 11 sensorimotor dimensions. Six dimensions indexed perceptual experience (visual, auditory, haptic, olfactory, gustatory, and interoceptive), and five dimensions indexed action-related experience associated with specific body effectors (head, mouth/throat, hand/arm, foot/leg, and torso). The primary aim of this analysis was to assess the degree to which LIFE and DEATH are bodily experienced and to compare their relative levels of abstractness across Persian, German, and English speakers.

Perceptual norms among Persian speakers

Figure 1 presents the sensorimotor norm profiles for LIFE and DEATH among Persian speakers. A salient characteristic of this profile is the activation of all 11 perceptual and action-related dimensions for both concepts, albeit with different strength distributions. This pattern indicates that both LIFE and DEATH are robustly embodied in Persian, engaging a wide range of bodily and perceptual systems.

Notably, Persian speakers exhibited relatively balanced involvement of olfactory, gustatory, auditory, and haptic modalities in their conceptualization of DEATH. This pattern contrasts with the English-based Lancaster Sensorimotor Norms (Lynott et al., 2020), in which gustatory involvement for DEATH was largely absent. In the Persian data, however, DEATH was not restricted to distal or symbolic perception but also showed substantial grounding in sensory modalities associated with direct bodily experience. At the same time, visual and interoceptive dimensions emerged as the strongest perceptual channels for DEATH, suggesting that internal bodily states and visual imagery play a central role in its conceptualization. Overall, the Persian results point to a comparatively concrete and multimodally grounded representation of DEATH, alongside a richly embodied representation of LIFE.

Perceptual norms among German speakers

Figure 2 displays the sensorimotor profiles of LIFE and DEATH for German speakers. As in the Persian data, all perceptual and action-related dimensions contributed to the embodiment of both concepts. However, the overall profile reveals a clearer differentiation between LIFE and DEATH. Specifically, DEATH was rated as less perceptible and less bodily grounded than LIFE, indicating a higher degree of abstraction in the German conceptualization of DEATH.

The most prominent features in the German data are the strong contributions of visual and interoceptive modalities to the embodiment of LIFE. These same modalities also supported the conceptualization of DEATH, but to a markedly reduced extent. This asymmetry suggests that while German speakers recruit similar perceptual channels for both concepts, the intensity of bodily engagement differs substantially. Compared to Persian, the German profile reflects a more differentiated and hierarchically structured embodiment, with LIFE occupying a more concrete and experientially accessible position than DEATH.

Perceptual norms among English speakers

Figure 3 illustrates the sensorimotor norms for LIFE and DEATH among English speakers. Consistent with the Persian and German results, LIFE was rated as more perceptible and bodily grounded than DEATH. However, the contrast between the two concepts was most pronounced in English.

Among the three language groups, DEATH in English exhibited the weakest overall sensorimotor profile, indicating the highest level of abstraction. Compared to Persian in particular, the English conceptualization of DEATH was less consistently grounded across perceptual modalities. While visual and interoceptive dimensions still contributed to its representation, other sensory channels showed comparatively low involvement. These findings suggest that English speakers conceptualize DEATH in a more schematic and less sensorimotor-rich manner, whereas Persian speakers display a stronger tendency toward materialized and bodily grounded representations. Together, the cross-linguistic patterns reveal systematic differences in how perceptual experience contributes to the embodiment of LIFE and DEATH, supporting the view that bodily grounding of abstract concepts is culturally and linguistically modulated.

Sociocognitive predictors of the embodiment of LIFE and DEATH

To identify which sociocognitive variables modulate the embodiment of LIFE and DEATH, multivariate multiple regression analyses were conducted with age, gender, handedness, religion, education, language, and nation as predictors. Because a large number of regression models were generated across sensorimotor dimensions, the main text reports the predictors that showed consistent and theoretically interpretable effects. For transparency, full regression results for all models—including standardized coefficients, standard errors, confidence intervals, and diagnostic statistics—are provided in Supplementary material. Nevertheless, the key regression effects are summarized in Table 2.

Language and nation

Language and nation emerged as the most influential sociocultural predictors of sensorimotor embodiment, particularly for DEATH. Nation and language together accounted for approximately one quarter of the variance in the interoceptive embodiment of DEATH, indicating that internal bodily representations of death vary across cultural and linguistic contexts. Nation also significantly predicted the visual embodiment of DEATH, suggesting cross-cultural differences in imagery and perceptual simulation associated with this concept. Language showed a strong predictive effect on the auditory embodiment of LIFE, indicating that speakers of different languages vary in the extent to which sound-related experience contributes to conceptualizing vitality. Language also contributed to the interoceptive embodiment of DEATH when considered together with nation. Because language and national background are partially related variables, their effects should be interpreted as reflecting a broader cultural–linguistic context rather than entirely independent influences. Together, these findings suggest that linguistic and cultural environments influence which perceptual and bodily channels are recruited during the conceptualization of highly abstract concepts.

Handedness and gender

Handedness emerged as a consistent predictor of interoceptive embodiment of LIFE and of head- and foot/leg-based embodiment of DEATH. Although the proportion of explained variance was moderate, the pattern was systematic across models, suggesting that lateralized bodily experience contributes to how abstract concepts are grounded in action and internal sensation. Gender significantly predicted the visual embodiment of LIFE, indicating that gendered experience modulates perceptual aspects of abstract meaning. While this effect was smaller than those observed for language and nation, its consistency supports the inclusion of gender as a secondary but meaningful sociocognitive factor in embodied abstraction.

Religion and education

Religion showed limited but non-negligible effects on selected haptic and action-related dimensions, particularly in the embodiment of DEATH. These effects were weaker and less consistent than those associated with language or nation and are therefore interpreted cautiously. Nonetheless, their presence suggests that symbolic and ritual practices may reinforce specific bodily associations with mortality. In contrast, level of education did not emerge as a reliable predictor of sensorimotor embodiment for either LIFE or DEATH. This finding indicates that embodied abstraction is not primarily shaped by formal educational experience but rather by bodily, linguistic, and cultural factors.

Level of sensorimotor involvement of LIFE and DEATH

To obtain a summary measure of the overall degree of sensorimotor involvement associated with each concept, ratings were aggregated across the 11 perceptual and action-related dimensions and compared across languages. This aggregated score reflects the overall strength of sensorimotor grounding across modalities, rather than traditional psycholinguistic concreteness as measured in lexical norm datasets. As shown in Figure 4, LIFE was consistently rated as more concrete than DEATH across all three language groups. Persian speakers exhibited the highest levels of overall sensorimotor involvement for both concepts, whereas German speakers showed the lowest. These differences align with the modality-specific and cultural patterns observed in the sensorimotor and regression analyses, further supporting the view that abstractness is a graded and culturally modulated property of conceptual representation.

The present study investigated how the highly abstract concepts LIFE and DEATH are embodied across Persian, German, and English, with a specific focus on perceptual modalities and body-part–based action effectors. Building on earlier findings reported in Banaruee and Khatin-Zadeh (2026), which identified language, nation, and education as key predictors of abstract embodiment, the current study extends this work by specifying how such sociocognitive variables are instantiated at the level of bodily experience.

Embodiment as bodily and cultural grounding

Across all three languages, LIFE was consistently more strongly embodied than DEATH, confirming that abstractness is not categorical but graded. However, the degree and structure of embodiment differed systematically across languages. Persian speakers exhibited the highest levels of overall sensorimotor involvement and the most multimodal sensorimotor embodiment of LIFE and DEATH. In contrast, German speakers showed the lowest levels of aggregated sensorimotor involvement for both concepts, indicating the highest level of abstraction, while nevertheless displaying a clear internal differentiation between LIFE and DEATH. English speakers occupied an intermediate position overall, with particularly schematic representations of DEATH. These cross-linguistic differences suggest that the embodiment of LIFE and DEATH is culturally and linguistically modulated, rather than universal or uniform. Language and nation emerged as the strongest predictors of embodiment, especially for DEATH, a concept that is existentially salient yet experientially indirect. This pattern aligns with linguistic relativity and cultural embodiment accounts, according to which languages and cultures shape not only how concepts are expressed, but also which bodily channels are recruited during mental simulation (Banaruee and Khatin-Zadeh, 2026; Barsalou, 2008; Boroditsky, 2011; Shapiro, 2019). Because language and nation are naturally related sociocultural variables, their effects cannot be interpreted as fully independent. Rather, they jointly reflect the broader cultural–linguistic environments in which conceptual representations develop.

Bodily experience and sociocognitive modulation

Beyond language and nation, bodily and experiential variables such as handedness and gender exerted systematic, though more limited, effects. Handedness predicted interoceptive and action-based dimensions of embodiment, particularly for DEATH, supporting prior findings linking valence, spatial cognition, and lateralized bodily experience (Casasanto, 2009; Gottwald et al., 2015; Yamada et al., 2025). These results suggest that abstract concepts are partially grounded in affective-spatial schemas that emerge from habitual bodily interaction with the environment (see Barsalou, 2010; Wilson, 2002). Gender effects were restricted to specific perceptual dimensions, most notably vision for LIFE, indicating that socially and biologically grounded experience can selectively modulate perceptual aspects of abstract meaning. Religion also showed domain-specific effects, particularly in haptic and action-related dimensions associated with DEATH. Although weaker than language and nation, these effects point to the role of symbolic belief systems and ritualized practices in reinforcing culturally shared embodied schemas of mortality. By contrast, level of education did not reliably predict embodiment patterns, suggesting that abstract embodiment is not primarily shaped by formal instruction but by lived bodily and cultural experience supporting previous findings (Banaruee and Khatin-Zadeh, 2026). Because the identification of dominant modalities was based on descriptive thresholds within relatively small language groups, these patterns should be interpreted cautiously and primarily as indicators of modality prominence rather than definitive evidence of prototype structure.

Graded embodiment and theoretical implications

Taken together, the findings of the present study indicate that the embodiment of LIFE and DEATH is neither uniform nor categorical but graded and multidimensional. Differences between the two concepts emerged not only in overall embodiment strength but also in the specific perceptual modalities and body effectors through which they were grounded. Across languages, LIFE showed more consistent and multimodal sensorimotor engagement, whereas DEATH exhibited greater variability and weaker embodiment, indicating a higher degree of schematicity. These patterns are more readily compatible with graded embodiment accounts, which propose that concepts recruit perceptual and motor systems to varying degrees rather than through uniform sensorimotor simulation (e.g., Gallese and Lakoff, 2005). Although LIFE and DEATH were sometimes associated with similar concrete domains, the perceptual routes and action-based channels through which these domains were activated varied substantially across languages and sociocognitive conditions. This variability suggests that similar neural resources may be recruited to different degrees rather than identical sensorimotor simulations being uniformly activated. Instead, the results are consistent with a weak or graded embodiment framework, in which abstract meaning emerges through the dynamic interaction of bodily experience, linguistic structure, and cultural context (Barsalou, 2010; Clark, 2008; Shapiro, 2019). The present findings suggest that the abstract concepts LIFE and DEATH are neither fully amodal nor uniformly embodied; rather, they are instantiated through flexible simulations that reflect both universal bodily constraints and culture-specific elaborations (Banaruee and Khatin-Zadeh, 2026). Concreteness, therefore, is not an intrinsic property of concepts but an emergent outcome of how perceptual and motor systems are differentially engaged across contexts. Because the present findings are based on subjective sensorimotor ratings rather than behavioral or neurocognitive measures, they should be interpreted as indicative of perceived embodiment patterns rather than as a direct test of competing theoretical models.

Conclusions and future directions

This study demonstrates that the embodiment of abstract concepts can be systematically investigated through cross-linguistic sensorimotor norming combined with sociocognitive predictors. Methodologically, it shows that focusing on perceptual modalities and body-part-specific effectors provides a more precise account of abstract grounding than treating embodiment as a unitary construct. Theoretically, it reinforces the view that embodiment is predictable yet non-uniform, shaped by bodily capacities, language, and culture. Future research should extend this approach to a wider range of abstract concepts and linguistic communities, particularly beyond Indo-European languages. Integrating sensorimotor norming with physiological, neurocognitive, and gestural data may further clarify how abstract meaning is enacted and communicated through the body. In this way, embodied language research can move toward a more comprehensive, empirically grounded understanding of how humans construct meaning at the intersection of body, language, and culture.

Limitations

An important limitation of the present study concerns the restricted stimulus set. The empirical analysis focuses exclusively on two lexical items, LIFE and DEATH. Although these concepts are highly abstract and culturally salient, they also constitute a semantically opposed pair strongly associated with existential, emotional, and religious meanings. Consequently, they cannot be considered representative of the full range of abstract concepts. The findings should therefore be interpreted primarily as a focused case study of the embodied representation of LIFE and DEATH across languages rather than as a comprehensive account of abstract conceptual representation. While the results provide insight into how these particular concepts are grounded in perceptual and bodily experience, it remains unclear whether similar patterns would emerge for other types of abstract concepts, such as moral, institutional, or epistemic concepts. Future research should therefore extend the present approach to a broader and more diverse set of abstract concepts to determine whether the sociocognitive and sensorimotor patterns observed here generalize across semantic domains or are specific to existential concepts such as LIFE and DEATH.

A second limitation concerns the relatively modest sample size within each language group (n = 30). Although this sample size is comparable to many psycholinguistic rating and norming studies, embodiment-related judgments may involve substantial individual variability. Studies employing fine-grained bodily mapping techniques, such as Nummenmaa et al. (2014), often require larger samples to construct highly detailed population-level representations. In contrast, the present study focuses on sensorimotor rating patterns that aim to identify general modality engagement rather than precise spatial body maps. As noted by Skulmowski and Rey (2018), appropriate sample sizes in embodied cognition research depend strongly on the methodological paradigm employed. Nevertheless, future research would benefit from larger and more diverse samples to further test the robustness of the cross-linguistic patterns reported here.