The rise and fall of metaphor: A study in meaning and meaninglessness

Semiotica ◽  
2016 ◽  
Vol 2016 (213) ◽  
pp. 419-433
Author(s):  
Nathan Black Rupp
Keyword(s):  
Conceptual Metaphor ◽  
Social Meaning ◽  
Conceptual Blending ◽  
Conceptual Metaphor Theory ◽  
New Meanings ◽  
Metaphor Theory

AbstractI propose the specific words used by a community define that community, yet at the same time the community is defined by those words. This ever-changing lexicon of communal metaphor is the storehouse of all the meanings and their usages used by a given group. By looking at the metaphors that permeate any communal language, we see that all language is metaphoric. With the use of Conceptual Metaphor Theory and Conceptual Blending Theory, I investigate how new meanings enter our lexicon and become social meaning. This investigation also provides a closer understanding of “literal” meanings. We come to see they are just stale metaphors or neglected blendings devoid of potency. The process by which meanings are created illuminates how they become “literal.” Thus, showing us the danger that accompanies us in the modern, literal age.

An analysis of Arabic metaphorical and/or metonymical compounds

2018 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
pp. 100-133 ◽  
Author(s):  
Aseel Zibin ◽  
Abdel Rahman Mitib Salim Altakhaineh
Keyword(s):  
Native Speaker ◽  
Conceptual Metaphor ◽  
The Other ◽  
Conceptual Blending ◽  
Semantic Transparency ◽  
Conceptual Metaphor Theory ◽  
Metaphor Theory ◽  
The One ◽  
Metaphor And Metonymy

Abstract This study provides an analysis of Arabic metaphorical and/or metonymical compounds, extracted from a 20,000-word corpus, based on Conceptual Metaphor Theory and Conceptual Blending Theory. The analysis focuses on the semantic transparency of these compounds, on the one hand, and their linguistic creativity, on the other. In line with Benczes (2006, 2010), we suggest that the comprehension of Arabic metaphorical and/or metonymical compounds is possibly one of degree depending on which element is affected by metaphor and metonymy. Here, it is proposed that there are compounds which are more creative than others. We argue that in addition to the degree of semantic transparency and linguistic creativity of Arabic metaphorical and/or metonymical compounds, there are other factors that can influence the comprehension of these compounds; namely, the frequency of the compound, the conventionality of the metaphors involved in the compound and whether conceptual metonymy acts on the compound. Our proposal is supported by the judgments of 12 native-speaker informants, who were asked to provide the meaning of 35 Arabic metaphorical and/or metonymical compounds. The study concludes with recommendations for further research.

‘The explosive devices of memory’: trauma and the construction of identity in narrative

2006 ◽  
Vol 15 (1) ◽  
pp. 91-106 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sean McAlister
Keyword(s):  
Textual Analysis ◽  
Conceptual Metaphor ◽  
The Other ◽  
Conceptual Blending ◽  
Cognitive Approach ◽  
Conceptual Metaphor Theory ◽  
Construction Of Identity ◽  
Other Hand ◽  
Metaphor Theory ◽  
Explosive Devices

This article attempts to show how a cognitive approach to textual analysis can function alongside other critical methodologies. Helen Weinzweig's novel Basic Black with Pearlsis an examination of the effects of trauma on the psyche, and in particular on its construction and maintenance of a sense of identity. As Shirley, the novel's narrator, struggles to locate the various aspects of her own identity, so too is the reader forced to experience this struggle in the act of attempting to construct for Shirley an identity out of her fragmented and discontinuous narrative. I approach this interpretational problem from two perspectives. Making use primarily of the work by Caruth, I demonstrate how Weinzweig's text might be read according to a canonical trauma paradigm. On the other hand, I consider Weinzweig's text within a cognitive stylistic framework, making use of Turner and Fauconnier's theory of conceptual blending and its various incarnations, as well as Lakoff's conceptual metaphor theory. With these methodologies, the article proposes an account of the specific stylistic differences between the narrative representation of identity and that of identity in trauma.

Meaning Construction of Selected Quranic Metaphors

2018 ◽  
Vol 10 (6) ◽  
pp. 134
Author(s):  
Amani M. Alhusban ◽  
Mohammad Alkhawaldah
Keyword(s):  
Conceptual Metaphor ◽  
Meaning Construction ◽  
Stage Model ◽  
Conceptual Blending ◽  
Conceptual Metaphor Theory ◽  
Metaphor Theory ◽  
Holy Quran ◽  
Cognitive Theories ◽  
The Holy Quran

This paper examines a number of Quranic conceptual metaphors from the perspective of Kövecses (2013) model of metaphor analysis. This is a model of metaphorical expressions’ meaning construction based on the idea of the main meaning construction that incorporates in its analysis aspects from both cognitive theories, the Conceptual Metaphor Theory (CMT) (Lakoff and Johnson, 1980) and the Conceptual Blending Theory (CBT) (Faucconier and Turner, 1998, 2003). The purpose of the study is to demonstrate the adequacy of Kövecses (2013) four-stage model for studying the meaning construction of metaphorical expressions in the Holy Quran, and to draw attention to the important role of lexical items in the appropriate meaning specification which enables comprehending the divine messages implemented in Quranic metaphorical instantiation.

Symbolism in Flux: The Conceptual Metaphor of "World Liquescence" Across Media, Genres and Realities

2015 ◽  
Vol 59 (3) ◽  
pp. 413-430 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anastasia Kostetskaya
Keyword(s):  
Cultural Context ◽  
Cognitive Linguistics ◽  
Conceptual Metaphor ◽  
Conceptual Blending ◽  
Conceptual Metaphor Theory ◽  
Silver Age ◽  
Russian Symbolism ◽  
Metaphor Theory ◽  
Embodied Experiences ◽  
Visual Discourses

“Symbolism in Flux: the Metaphor of World Liquescence across Media, Genre and Realities” examines cultural implications of conceptual metaphor, in this case the metaphor of liquescence of the human emotional domain. The central question discussed in my paper is how poetics of water is metaphorically present in visual discourses of boundary transgression and blending, both static and dynamic, namely painting and film of the Russian Symbolist period. In my analysis of the painterly and cinematic texts selected, I apply concepts from cognitive linguistics, specifically Conceptual Metaphor Theory and Conceptual Blending Theory that see the roots of the human proclivity for metaphor in somatic embodied experiences. They provide tools and terms useful for theorizing discourses that implement the “water principle” as their modus operandi in approaching various metaphysical issues. They are particularly instrumental within the specific historical-cultural context of Russian Symbolism with its close attention to stirrings of the soul which in many cases are expressed via the “water metaphor.” I look at representations of the conceptual blend fusing human and water ontologies in these “Silver Age” texts: two paintings by V. Borisov-Musatov and two scenes from a film by E. Bauer. The innovative aspect of my work is found in my applying it to interacting art forms, which supports the central stance of Conceptual Metaphor Theory: that metaphor is not just a figure of language, but first and foremost, a figure of thought.

scholarly journals A Cognitive Linguistics approach to internet memes on selected Polish internet sites

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Julia Ostanina-Olszewska ◽  
Aleksandra Majdzińska-Koczorowicz
Keyword(s):  
Social Communication ◽  
Cognitive Linguistics ◽  
Conceptual Metaphor ◽  
Conceptual Blending ◽  
Frame Semantics ◽  
Conceptual Metaphor Theory ◽  
Semantic Framework ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Metaphor Theory ◽  
Salient Features

A Cognitive Linguistics approach to internet memes on selected Polish internet sitesThe present study aims to analyse selected internet memes as examples of social communication from the perspective of Cognitive Linguistics, and to examine more closely the relation between their visual and verbal aspects. Internet memes contain a wide range of constructions (necessary for rebuilding the semantic framework and extracting selected content), which are fragmentary but at the same time sufficient to induce a whole framework of meanings by using their salient features. The multimodal context is considered within the frameworks of conceptual metaphor theory (Lakoff & Johnson, 1980), construal (Langacker, 1987, 2008), frame semantics (Fillmore, 1988), conceptual blending theory (Fauconnier & Turner, 2002) and Discourse Viewpoint Space (Dancygier & Vandelanotte, 2016). The paper will present an analysis of the structure of internet memes, which are rich concepts that spread rapidly and widely, and also invite recipients to actively participate in the construction of the message, thus becoming contributors. Memy internetowe na wybranych polskich stronach internetowych. Podejście językoznawstwa kognitywnegoMemy są często bogatymi tworami, łączącymi konstrukcje i zabiegi językowe z elementami wizualnymi, które pomimo bycia jedynie cząstkowymi desygnatami, pozwalają na wydobycie ram semantycznych oraz zrozumienie określonych treści z często fragmentarycznego przekazu obrazka. Przyswojenie komunikatu odbywa się przy pomocy wybranych elementów językowych i ikonicznych osadzonych w kontekście multimodalnym.Celem artykułu jest analiza relacji pomiędzy aspektem wizualnym i werbalnym w wybranych memach internetowych, rozumianych jako przykłady komunikacji społecznej, przy pomocy narzędzi językoznawczych, m.in. teorii metafory pojęciowej i metonimii (Lakoff i Johnson, 1980), obrazowania mentalnego (Langaker, 1987, 2008), semantyki ramowej (Fillmore, 1988), teorii amalgamatów pojęciowych (Fauconnier i Turner, 2002) oraz perspektywy narracyjnej (ang. Discourse Viewpoint Space) (Dancygier i Vandelanotte, 2016).

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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