Evolution of conceptual metaphor “time is a valuable commodity” in British linguoculture

The metaphor “time is a valuable commodity” is examined together with the set of words representing the concept of time: “time”, “hour”, “minute”, “year”, “month”, “week”, “moment”, “instant”. The research is conducted on the basis of textual materials written by British writers in the period from the XIVth to the XIXth centuries. The conducted study helped to reveal the changing dynamics of this metaphor, which in turn reflects the evolution of the concept of time in British linguoculture. The obtained data is viewed from several perspectives: the change in the number of metaphor markers; the frequency of the metaphor usage in literary contexts; the correlation between markers that are repeatedly used by different authors and those that appear in British linguoculture sporadically as determined by the social nature of the language. “Consumption” and “loss” are the concepts that can be considered as invariant dominants of the perception of time as a valuable commodity. The evolution of such perception can be indicated by the change in the number of characteristics of a valuable object, which features are attributed to the concept of time.