An empirical approach to the use and comprehension of mixed metaphors

2010 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
pp. 66-92 ◽  
Author(s):  
Martin Hilpert
Keyword(s):  
Empirical Study ◽  
Experimental Evidence ◽  
Conceptual Metaphor ◽  
Empirical Approach ◽  
Test Case ◽  
Conceptual Metaphor Theory ◽  
Figurative Meaning ◽  
Linguistic Research ◽  
Metaphor Theory ◽  
Corpus Data

So-called mixed metaphors have not received much attention in cognitive linguistic research, despite acknowledgments to the fact that the combination of metaphors is in fact pervasive. This paper makes the case that mixed metaphors present a unique test case for existing theories of metaphor, in particular Conceptual Metaphor Theory and Blending Theory, since these theories make different predictions with regard to the comprehension of mixed metaphors. It will be argued that mixed metaphors selectively combine aspects of semantically conflicting source domains into one figurative meaning. The argument will be made through a two-tiered empirical study that uses quantitative corpus data as well as experimental evidence.

scholarly journals Tracing Metaphor Transformations in Translation of Fiction by Type and Density

2021 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-14
Author(s):  
Ivaylo Dagnev ◽  
Zlatka Chervenkova
Keyword(s):  
Text Analysis ◽  
English Language ◽  
Conceptual Metaphor ◽  
Cultural Analysis ◽  
Conceptual Metaphor Theory ◽  
Language And Thought ◽  
Linguistic Research ◽  
Metaphor Theory ◽  
Methodological Tool ◽  
Parallel Text

Heavily neglected by language scholars and ascribed poetics value only, metaphor was reinvented by Lakoff and Johnsons’ iconic study in the 1980s, which showed its pervasiveness in language and thought. Paradoxically, though, the Conceptual Metaphor Theory, especially in its early variants, alienated metaphor research from poetics. The latter has slowly been finding its feet in conceptual metaphor studies, especially with the help of newly developed fields of linguistic research such as corpus studies, which allow for obtaining of ample material for cross-cultural analysis. This paper is an example of such an analysis and aims by identifying the conceptual metaphors behind the metaphorical linguistic expressions in key texts from five of the greatest stylists of the English language, and by comparing them to their translations into Bulgarian, to find out whether metaphor is lost or transformed in any way. The main methodological tool used in the current paper is parallel text analysis. Our findings regarding literature in translation, suggest that the target texts (the translated ones) are not inferior in terms of metaphor type and density to the original ones and are appropriate for close reading.

scholarly journals Metaphorical conceptualization of success in American success books, aphorisms and quotes

2016 ◽  
Vol 58 (1) ◽  
pp. 39-54
Author(s):  
Jolanta Łącka-Badura
Keyword(s):  
Conceptual Metaphor ◽  
Lexical Entry ◽  
Conceptual Metaphor Theory ◽  
Linguistic Research ◽  
Cognitive Linguistic ◽  
Metaphor Theory ◽  
Metaphorical Expression

AbstractThe paper seeks to investigate how SUCCESS is conceptualized metaphorically in popular American success books, aphorisms and quotes. The study is based on an analysis of a corpus comprising over 600 utterances in which the lexical entry SUCCESS is regarded as constituting part of a metaphorical expression. The utterances have been extracted from the initial corpus of 10 success guide books, as well as 150 success aphorisms and quotes by famous Americans. The study investigates two aspects of this conceptualization. In the first instance, it examines which metaphorical source domains, as understood within the framework of Conceptual Metaphor Theory, prove to be most productive in the corpus. Secondly, in line with the frequently expressed views that the significance of conceptual metaphor as an explanatory construct is sometimes overstated in cognitive linguistic research, the paper attempts to analyze examples of linguistic metaphors which appear to be motivated in ways that are, at least in part, independent of well-established conceptual mappings, with particular emphasis on the resemblance-based and image metaphors associated with the predicate nominative forms ‘X is a Y’.

scholarly journals Metaphorical conceptualizations of the body in psychopatology and poetry

2010 ◽  
Vol 26 (spe) ◽  
pp. 435-451
Author(s):  
Alfonso Santarpia ◽  
R. Venturini ◽  
A. Blanchet ◽  
M. Cavallo
Keyword(s):  
Conceptual Metaphor ◽  
The Body ◽  
Special Focus ◽  
Body Parts ◽  
Conceptual Metaphor Theory ◽  
Physical Body ◽  
Italian Poetry ◽  
Metaphor Theory ◽  
Corpus Data ◽  
High Degree

The goal of our study is to identify several conceptualizations of the body expressed in the contexts of psychopathology and literature. We propose a specific categorization of literary sentences drawing on Conceptual Metaphor Theory (Lakoff and Johnson 1980; 1999) and Context-Limited Simulation Theory (Ritchie 2003; 200; 2008). Based on corpus data, we show that in psychiatric manuals the physical body is always reasoned in metaphoric terms of the BODY - CONTAINER category, thus with a high degree of non-specific attributes. In psychoanalysis manuals, the body is represented by "sexual-sensual sentences" or by abstract "notions". Italian poetry offers an additional representation of the body with special focus on the organs and other body parts like "heart," hand(s)", "face", but also "blood", "chest", "arm(s)," "eye(s)","breast(s)", "head," "flesh," "skin".

Multisensory perception and tactile metaphors for voice in the work of Herta Müller

2019 ◽  
Vol 48 (2) ◽  
pp. 129-143
Author(s):  
Pavlo Shopin
Keyword(s):  
Conceptual Metaphor ◽  
Multisensory Perception ◽  
Conceptual Metaphor Theory ◽  
Literary Works ◽  
Figurative Meaning ◽  
Metaphorical Language ◽  
Analytical Reasoning ◽  
Sensory Modalities ◽  
Metaphor Theory ◽  
Sensory Impression

Abstract In this article, I examine tactile metaphors for voice in the work of Herta Müller. I use conceptual metaphor theory and consider the process of multisensory perception to argue that tactile metaphors can activate multiple senses. Müller evokes tactile experience to reason about voice in her works. These seemingly modality-specific metaphors relate voice to more than one sensory impression. While multisensory perception enables the author to associate her characters’ voices creatively with different sensory phenomena, it simultaneously problematizes scholarly efforts to analyze metaphorical language and categorize figurative associations according to sensory modalities. In her literary works, tactile metaphors for voice appear well-established and even conventional, but Müller defamiliarizes them and foregrounds a metaphorical reading of tactile language. Since analytical reasoning about metaphors can be problematic because of multisensory perception, Müller’s works can be challenging to interpret as she focuses the reader’s attention on the figurative meaning of language.

Metaphor, Cognition, Culture

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Zoltán Kövecses
Keyword(s):  
Conceptual Metaphor ◽  
The Other ◽  
Conceptual Metaphor Theory ◽  
Conceptual Metaphors ◽  
Culture And Cognition ◽  
Metaphor Theory ◽  
The One ◽  
Cultural Reality ◽  
Metaphor And Metonymy

The chapter reports on work concerned with the issue of how conceptual metaphor theory (CMT) functions as a link between culture and cognition. Three large areas are investigated to this effect. First, work on the interaction between conceptual metaphors, on the one hand, and folk and expert theories of emotion, on the other, is surveyed. Second, the issue of metaphorical universality and variation is addressed, together with that of the function of embodiment in metaphor. Third, a contextualist view of conceptual metaphors is proposed. The discussion of these issues leads to a new and integrated understanding of the role of metaphor and metonymy in creating cultural reality and that of metaphorical variation across and within cultures, as well as individuals.

scholarly journals Conceptualizations of the Heart in Jordanian Arabic: A Cognitive Perspective

2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (4) ◽  
pp. 65
Author(s):  
Omar Bani Mofarrej ◽  
Ghaleb Rabab'ah
Keyword(s):  
Human Body ◽  
Human Heart ◽  
Conceptual Metaphor ◽  
Cognitive Mechanisms ◽  
Conceptual Metaphor Theory ◽  
Cognitive Perspective ◽  
Jordanian Arabic ◽  
Metaphor Theory ◽  
Idiomatic Expressions ◽  
Levantine Arabic

The present paper examines the metaphorical and metonymical conceptualizations of the heart in Jordanian Arabic (JA) within the framework of Conceptual Metaphor Theory developed by Lakoff and Johnson (1980). The main aim is to explore how the human heart is conceptualized in JA, and to test the applicability of the different general cognitive mechanisms proposed by Niemeier (2003 and 2008) to those found in JA. The data were extracted from Idioms and Idiomatic Expressions in Levantine Arabic: Jordanian Dialect (Alzoubi, 2020), and other resources including articles, dissertations and books of Arabic proverbs. The findings revealed that all the four general cognitive mechanisms suggested by Niemeier (2003 and 2008) are applicable to JA. The findings also showed that the similarity derives from the universal aspects of the human body, which lends tremendous support to the embodiment hypothesis proposed by cognitive linguists. 

Metaphor Research and the Hebrew Bible

2021 ◽  
Vol 19 (3) ◽  
pp. 235-285
Author(s):  
Mason D. Lancaster
Keyword(s):  
Hebrew Bible ◽  
Conceptual Metaphor ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Conceptual Metaphor Theory ◽  
Current Trends ◽  
Metaphor Theory ◽  
Recent Developments

This article provides an overview of metaphor theories and research on their own terms, as well as their use in Hebrew Bible (HB) studies. Though metaphor studies in the HB have become increasingly popular, they often draw upon a limited or dated subset of metaphor scholarship. The first half of this article surveys a wide variety of metaphor scholarship from the humanities (philosophical, poetic, rhetorical) and the sciences (e.g., conceptual metaphor theory), beginning with Aristotle but focusing on more recent developments. The second half overviews studies of metaphor in the HB since 1980, surveying works focused on theory and method; works focused on specific biblical books or metaphor domains; and finally noting current trends and suggesting areas for future research.

scholarly journals Beauty And The Beast From A Cognitive Linguistic Perspective: Animal Metaphors For Women In Serbian And Romanian

2014 ◽  
Vol 13 (1) ◽  
pp. 163-178 ◽  
Author(s):  
ANNAMARIA KILYENI ◽  
NADEŽDA SILAŠKI
Keyword(s):  
Conceptual Metaphor ◽  
Physical Appearance ◽  
Linguistic Analysis ◽  
Character Traits ◽  
Conceptual Metaphor Theory ◽  
Beauty And The Beast ◽  
Cognitive Linguistic ◽  
Metaphor Theory

Abstract Under the theoretical wing of Conceptual Metaphor Theory, we present a contrastive cognitive and linguistic analysis of the women are animals metaphor as used in Romanian and Serbian. Our main aim is to establish whether the names of the same animals are used in the two languages to conceptualise women and their various characteristics (particularly physical appearance and character traits), or alternatively, whether the two languages exhibit any linguistic or conceptual differences in this regard.

Once Upon a Time in the Realm of Notions : The Conceptualisation of Novak Djokovic-Inspired Personality Shifts

2020 ◽  
pp. 1-23
Author(s):  
Nenad Blaženović ◽  
Emir Muhić
Keyword(s):  
Conceptual Metaphor ◽  
The Other ◽  
Tennis Player ◽  
Conceptual Metaphor Theory ◽  
Conceptual Metaphors ◽  
Bilingual Speakers ◽  
Metaphor Theory

An analysis was carried out with two interviews given by the tennis-player Novak Djokovic, one of which was in English and the other in his native Serbian. In both instances, Novak Djokovic used many conceptual metaphors throughout his speech, some of which were analysed in more detail. The main premise of the research was that people’s personalities change in accordance with language they speak at any given time and that they use different conceptual metaphors to describe the same events in different languages. The aim of the paper was to investigate whether personality shift in bilingual speakers can be observed through the speaker’s use of conceptual metaphors in different languages. Through the framework of conceptual metaphor theory, it was shown that Djokovic’s personality does change with the language he speaks. This change was shown through the conceptual metaphors, i.e., source and target domains that Djokovic used during the interviews. He does indeed use different source domains to conceptualise the same target domains in different languages.

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