A cognitive approach to the conceptual metaphors in Shi Jing (The Book of Poetry)

2020 ◽  
Vol 0 (0) ◽  
Author(s):  
Chun Lan ◽  
Zichong Yin
Keyword(s):  
Conceptual Metaphor ◽  
Comprehensive Analysis ◽  
Chinese History ◽  
Cognitive Approach ◽  
Conceptual Metaphor Theory ◽  
Aesthetic Object ◽  
Conceptual Metaphors ◽  
Linguistic Study ◽  
Metaphor Theory ◽  
Cognition And Culture

AbstractThis is a cognitive linguistic study of Shi Jing (The Book of Poetry), the first collection of poems in Chinese history dated from the 11th to the 6th century B.C. Adopting the framework of Conceptual Metaphor Theory, we carry out a comprehensive analysis of all the metaphorical expressions in the collection, with the aim of investigating the underlying conceptual metaphors and exploring the interrelationships between metaphor, cognition and culture. The main findings are: 1) Altogether 476 metaphorical expressions have been identified, not only in those poems traditionally associated with bĭ (comparison) or xìng (affective image), but also in those poems traditionally associated with fù (narration). 2) Most of the metaphorical expressions identified belong to the Great Chain of Being Metaphor and can be further divided into downward ones and upward ones, with the former outnumbering the latter. 3) From the underlying conceptual metaphors, it can be observed that the conceptualization pattern of the Zhou Dynasty is rather anthropocentric and anthropomorphic, with a certain tendency towards animism. It is also patriarchal in regarding men as aesthetic subject and women as aesthetic object. 4) The Zhou people also showed remarkable figurative creativity. All the four devices summarized by Lakoff and Turner (1989) for creating novel language from conventional materials (extending, elaborating, questioning and composing) have been skillfully employed by the Zhou people to sing for their love and lament the miseries of life.

The conceptual metaphor of joy

2019 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
pp. 139-150
Author(s):  
Oana-Maria Păstae ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Cognitive Linguistics ◽  
Conceptual Metaphor ◽  
Cognitive Model ◽  
Conceptual System ◽  
Theoretical Frameworks ◽  
Cognitive Approach ◽  
Conceptual Metaphor Theory ◽  
Conceptual Metaphors ◽  
Basic Premise ◽  
Metaphor Theory

The purpose of this paper is to study how ‘joy’, an emotional concept, is metaphorised in English from a cognitive perspective. It introduces the theoretical framework of Cognitive Linguistics, then briefly touches upon the definition of metaphor, the different types of conceptual metaphors and, finally, the conceptual metaphors of ‘joy’. We think in metaphors, which we learn very early. Our conceptual system, in terms of what we both think and act, is fundamentally metaphorical in nature (Lakoff, & Johnson 2003: 8). Lakoff and Johnson’s book Metaphors we live by changed the way linguists thought about metaphor. Conceptual Metaphor Theory was one of the earliest theoretical frameworks identified as part of the cognitive semantics enterprise and provided much of the early theoretical impetus for the cognitive approach. The basic premise of Conceptual Metaphor Theory is that metaphor is not simply a stylistic feature of language, but that thought itself is fundamentally metaphorical in nature. The cognitive model of joy can be described using the example of Lakoff for anger: JOY IS A FLUID IN A CONTAINER: She was bursting with joy; JOY IS HEAT/FIRE: Fires of joy were kindled by the birth of her son; joy is a natural force: I was overwhelmed by joy; JOY IS A SOCIAL SUPERIOR: If I ruled the world by joy; JOY IS AN OPPONENT: She was seized by joy; joy is a captive animal: All joy broke loose as the kids opened their presents; JOY IS INSANITY: The crowd went crazy with joy; JOY IS A FORCE DISLOCATING THE SELF: He was beside himself with joy.

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.

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.

scholarly journals A Cognitive Approach to EkeGusii Pop Songs

2018 ◽  
Vol 9 (3) ◽  
pp. 166
Author(s):  
Victor Ondara Ntabo ◽  
Moses Gatambuki Gathigia ◽  
Naom Moraa Nyarigoti
Keyword(s):  
Conceptual Metaphor ◽  
Review Of Literature ◽  
Cognitive Approach ◽  
Conceptual Metaphor Theory ◽  
Identification Procedure ◽  
Metaphor Theory ◽  
Great Chain Of Being ◽  
Folk Conception ◽  
Different Levels

A review of literature on pop songs reveals that composers use metaphors to communicate their feelings. In particular, the meaning of the metaphors in EkeGusii pop songs needs to be interpreted to reveal the message of the composers. The EkeGusii pop singer Christopher Mosioma’s (Embarambamba) songs have gained fame in Kenya because of their richness in the usage of metaphors. One of Christopher Mosioma’s songs, amasomo (education) which was launched in 2015 has gained acclaim from Kenyans. The song amasomo (education) is basically presented as a piece of advice to students to embrace education in order to optimally reap from its benefits. The study identified 10 metaphors in the song amasomo (education) through the Metaphor Identification Procedure Vrije Universiteit. In order to interpret the metaphors in the EkeGusii pop song amasomo (education), the Conceptual Metaphor Theory complemented by the folk conception of the generic Great Chain of Being Metaphor were employed. The study employed four coders (including the researchers) in the identification of the metaphors. The study found that, inter alia, animal, plant and object metaphors are used in the song amasomo (education). The study concludes that the metaphors in the EkeGusii pop songs belong inherently to different levels of the generic Great Chain of Being Metaphor.

scholarly journals Conceptual Metaphor of Eliot’s Waste Land Versus Al-Sayyab’s Rain Song

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mohamed Ayed Ibrahim Ayassrah ◽  
Mohd Nazri Latiff Azmi
Keyword(s):  
Conceptual Metaphor ◽  
Modern Poetry ◽  
Conceptual Metaphor Theory ◽  
Conceptual Metaphors ◽  
The Waste Land ◽  
Waste Land ◽  
Metaphor Theory ◽  
Arabic And English ◽  
Logical Mapping ◽  
Modern Arabic

Of the rhetorical tools, metaphor still has insufficient interest, primarily as a crosscultural phenomenon though it is an attractive and vivid area, so it should be studied and highlighted (Suhadi, 2018) and (Barton, 2017). This comparative study investigated the conceptual metaphor in modern Arabic versus English poetry with reference to Al-Sayyab and T. S. Eliot as two poles of modern poetry in Arabic and English. This study tried to shed light on the frequency of the conceptual metaphors in Al-Sayyab’s The Rain Song versus Eliot’s The Waste Land. Besides, it aimed to explore the similarities and differences between the two poems in using the CMT orientational ’Up’ and ’Down’ strategy. However, to accomplish its aims, this study adopted Lakoff and Jonson’s Conceptual Metaphor Theory ’CMT’ (1980); this theory asserted that metaphor is an inborn mental system in which we understand a certain concept in terms of another by drawing a logical mapping between the source domain and the target one. Finally, the study found that modern poetry was wealthy of conceptual metaphors. It also discovered that The Rain Song involved 65.29% conceptual metaphors of its total lines, so it exceeded The Waste Land which comprised only 39.40%. Furthermore, the study revealed that the two poems were generally pessimistic in which the ’Down’ domain exceeded the ’Up’ one in each poem. Also, it detected that Eliot was more pessimistic than Al Sayyab who was more optimistic.

The structure of our concepts: A critical assessment of Conceptual Metaphor Theory as a theory of concepts

2019 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Peer F. Bundgaard
Keyword(s):  
Meaning Making ◽  
Conceptual Metaphor ◽  
Abstract Concepts ◽  
Conceptual Metaphor Theory ◽  
Specific Domain ◽  
Conceptual Metaphors ◽  
Cross Domain ◽  
Metaphor Theory ◽  
George Lakoff ◽  
Experimental Findings

Abstract George Lakoff and Mark Johnson’s Conceptual Metaphor Theory is by and large a theory of what (abstract) concepts are, how they are structured, and how this structure is acquired — i.e., by mapping of structure from one more concrete or sensory-motor specific domain to another more abstract domain. Conceptual metaphors therefore rest on “cross-domain mappings.” The claims to the effect that our abstract concepts are metaphorically structured and that cross-domain mappings constitute one of the fundamental cognitive meaning-making processes are empirical and can therefore be put to the test. In this paper, I will critically assess Conceptual Metaphor Theory as a theory of concepts in light of recent experimental findings. Many such findings provide evidence for the psychological reality of cross-domain mappings, i.e., that structure activated in one domain actually can perform cognitive tasks carried out in another domain. They do not, however, support the claim that the structure of our (abstract) concepts is still metaphorical, as Lakoff and Johnson claim — that is to say, that our mind actually does perform cross-domain mappings when we process conventional conceptual metaphors such as “Death is Rest” or “Love is a Journey.” Two conclusions can be drawn from this: (1) it is necessary to distinguish between cross-domain mappings (which are psychologically real) and the metaphoric structure of our concepts (which is not, in the sense that such concepts do not any longer activate cross-domain mappings when processed); (2) Conceptual Metaphor Theory is not an adequate theory of concepts. I will therefore sketch another more viable theory of concepts where the structure of our concepts is defined as the full ecology of their situations of use, which includes the kind of situations (objects, agents, interactions) they apply to and the kind of emotional, cognitive, bodily, and behavioral responses they elicit. On this view, the contents of our concepts are to be considered as vague predicates, with vague extensions, which take on a specific form in their situation of use.

scholarly journals Going Up Is Always Good: A Multimodal Analysis of Metaphors in a TV Ad with FILMIP, the Filmic Metaphor Identification Procedure

2020 ◽  
Vol 28 ◽  
pp. 177-189
Author(s):  
Lorena Bort-Mir
Keyword(s):  
Language Learning ◽  
Social Status ◽  
Conceptual Metaphor ◽  
Spatial Position ◽  
Conceptual Metaphor Theory ◽  
Identification Procedure ◽  
Conceptual Metaphors ◽  
Multimodal Analysis ◽  
Metaphor Theory ◽  
Tv Commercial

Conceptual Metaphor Theory developed by Lakoff & Johnson (1980) suggested that we use metaphors to evaluate and communicate in our various environments. Although metaphors encompass a large variety of taxonomies, orientational metaphors are those that rely on spatial position to map concepts into other ones, referring to a relation of valence and verticality. Stated by Kövecses (2010) conceptual metaphors such orientational ones draw ‘upward’ and ‘downward’ spatial positions in which ‘upward’ is usually referred to as having positive connotations, whereby their opposites, ‘downwards’, are understood as negative. This paper seeks to unveil how the orientational metaphor good is up is employed in a filmic narrative of a language learning application for technological devices named Babbel. The present analysis is developed under the application of FILMIP (Filmic Metaphor Identification Procedure, Bort-Mir 2019). In the analyzed narrative, the orientational metaphor good is up is represented in the Babbel TV commercial (2018) as a tool for persuading customers that the best way of escalating positions at work is by learning new languages. This analysis demonstrates how orientational metaphors in multimodal media emerge as a convenient device for marketing campaigns in the context of social status improvement.

scholarly journals Metaphor and Collocation. The Case of REIÐI

Orð og tunga ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 21 ◽  
pp. 53-74
Author(s):  
Yuki Minamisawa
Keyword(s):  
Conceptual Metaphor ◽  
Conceptual Metaphor Theory ◽  
Conceptual Metaphors ◽  
Metaphor Theory ◽  
Similarities And Differences

This paper investigates metaphorical expressions of anger in Icelandic (reiði), based on conceptual metaphor theory (Lakoff & Johnson 1980, see section 2.1). In recent years, many studies have been carried out to describe how we understand emotions using conceptual metaphors. Special attention has been paid to the emotion of anger, for which a certain number of conceptual metaphors have been proposed (e.g. Kövecses 1990, 2000; Lakoff 1987). Recently, studies have increasingly focused on cross-linguistic similarities and differences (e.g. Kövecses 1995, 2005; Matsuki 1995, Soriano 2003), finding more or less similar conceptual metaphors in different languages.

Kingdom of heaven versus nirvana: a comparative study of conceptual metaphors for Christian and Buddhist ideals of life

2021 ◽  
Vol 0 (0) ◽  
Author(s):  
Xiuping Gao ◽  
Chun Lan
Keyword(s):  
Comparative Study ◽  
Conceptual Metaphor ◽  
Systematic Investigation ◽  
Human Beings ◽  
Conceptual Metaphor Theory ◽  
Conceptual Metaphors ◽  
Kingdom Of Heaven ◽  
Metaphor Theory ◽  
Upcoming Event ◽  
The Ideal

Abstract This paper adopts Conceptual Metaphor Theory to compare the Christian ideal of life, i.e. the kingdom of heaven and the Buddhist ideal of life, i.e. nirvana. Through a systematic investigation of the metaphorical expressions bearing the two concepts in the Book of Mathew and the Lotus Sutra, we find that they share the static metaphor (the kingdom of heaven/nirvana is a container), i.e. both religions envision the ideal state of life as entering a container. Dynamically, the kingdom of heaven is conceptualized as an upcoming event while nirvana as the destination of a journey. The two dynamic metaphors reveal four major differences. Firstly, the kingdom of heaven is described as arrival into and nirvana as departure from the mundane world. Secondly, the arrival of the kingdom of heaven aims to eliminate the sin of human beings while the departure for nirvana aims to leave behind bitterness of the mundane world. Thirdly, the kingdom of heaven emphasizes the dichotomy between the good and the evil while nirvana emphasizes delivering all living beings. Fourthly, God acts as a king and judge in the final judgement of the kingdom of heaven while Buddha acts as a guide in the journey to nirvana.

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