scholarly journals Anger stinks in Seri: Olfactory metaphor in a lesser-described language

2020 ◽  
Vol 31 (3) ◽  
pp. 367-391 ◽  
Author(s):  
Carolyn O’Meara ◽  
Asifa Majid
Keyword(s):  
Lexical Resources ◽  
States Of Affairs ◽  
Hunter Gatherers ◽  
Valuable Data ◽  
Metaphor And Metonymy

AbstractPrevious studies claim there are few olfactory metaphors cross-linguistically, especially compared to metaphors originating in the visual and auditory domains. We show olfaction can be a source for metaphor and metonymy in a lesser-described language that has rich lexical resources for talking about odors. In Seri, an isolate language of Mexico spoken by indigenous hunter-gatherers, we find a novel metaphor for emotion never previously described – “anger stinks”. In addition, distinct odor verbs are used metaphorically to distinguish volitional vs. non-volitional states-of-affairs. Finally, there is ample olfactory metonymy in Seri, especially prevalent in names for plants, but also found in names for insects and artifacts. This calls for a re-examination of better-known languages for the overlooked role olfaction may play in metaphor and metonymy. The Seri language illustrates how valuable data from understudied languages can be in highlighting novel ways by which people conceptualize themselves and their world.

Metonymy in Dance: Ballet Bunheads Take a Cognitive Turn

2019 ◽  
Vol 37 (1) ◽  
pp. 18-34
Author(s):  
Edward C. Warburton
Keyword(s):  
Identity Formation ◽  
Cognitive Science ◽  
Artistic Development ◽  
Individual Level ◽  
Figures Of Speech ◽  
Self Image ◽  
Level I ◽  
Dance Educators ◽  
The Individual ◽  
Metaphor And Metonymy

This essay considers metonymy in dance from the perspective of cognitive science. My goal is to unpack the roles of metaphor and metonymy in dance thought and action: how do they arise, how are they understood, how are they to be explained, and in what ways do they determine a person's doing of dance? The premise of this essay is that language matters at the cultural level and can be determinative at the individual level. I contend that some figures of speech, especially metonymic labels like ‘bunhead’, can not only discourage but dehumanize young dancers, treating them not as subjects who dance but as objects to be danced. The use of metonymy to sort young dancers may undermine the development of healthy self-image, impede strong identity formation, and retard creative-artistic development. The paper concludes with a discussion of the influence of metonymy in dance and implications for dance educators.

Embodied displacements in young German children’s storytelling

2019 ◽  
Vol 3 (1-2) ◽  
pp. 168-195 ◽  
Author(s):  
Vivien Heller
Keyword(s):  
Picture Book ◽  
Book Reading ◽  
Lexical Resources ◽  
Narrative Space ◽  
Multimodal Analysis ◽  
Different Types ◽  
German Speaking ◽  
Picture Book Reading ◽  
The Given

This paper is concerned with embodied processes of joint imagination in young children’s narrative interactions. Based on Karl Bühler’s notion of ‘deixis in the imagination’, it examines in detail how a 19-month-old German-speaking child, engaged in picture book reading with his mother, brings about different subtypes of deixis in the imagination by either ‘displacing’ what is absent into the given order of perception (e.g. by using the hand as a token for an object) or displacing his origo to an imagined space (e.g. by kinaesthetically aligning his body with an imagined body and animating his movements). Drawing on multimodal analysis and the concept of layering in interaction, the study analyses the ways in which the picture book as well as deictic, depictive, vocal and lexical resources are coordinated to evoke a narrative space, co-enact the storybook character’s experiences and produce reciprocal affect displays. Findings demonstrate that different types of displacement are in play quite early in childhood; displacements in the dimension of space and person are produced through layerings of spaces, voices and bodies.

Domestizierung im Vergleich

2016 ◽  
Vol 7 (2) ◽  
pp. 93-110 ◽  
Author(s):  
Erhard Schüttpelz
Keyword(s):  
Hunter Gatherers ◽  
Controlled Reproduction

"Domestizierung lässt sich durch einen Nukleus aus drei technischen Tätigkeiten definieren: durch die gesteuerte Reproduktion, die eigens eingerichtete Ernährung und den Schutz von Tieren und Pflanzen vor Schädigungen. Wenn man diese Definition an einen Vergleich von Kulturen und Kollektiven anlegt, stellen sich zwei Überraschungen ein: Außerhalb jeder Domestizierung entwickeln Wildbeuter eine rituelle Domestizierung oder ein mythologisches Verständnis, ihre Welt sei bereits domestiziert. Und in der Moderne tritt an die Seite der technischen Domestizierung ihre mögliche Naturalisierung. Der Aufsatz zieht einige Konsequenzen aus diesem typologischen Vergleich. Domestication can be defined by a nucleus of three technical activities: controlled reproduction and nutrition as well as protection of animals and plants from damage. If one applies this definition to a comparison of cultures and collectives, two surprises arise: Without being in touch of any kind of domestication, hunter-gatherers develop a ritual domestication or a mythological understanding that their world already is domesticated. And in modernity, possible naturalization arises at the side of technical domestication. The paper draws some conclusions from this typological comparison. "

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document