scholarly journals Profiling of the Ethical Concepts Good / Evil and Justice from the Etymological Perspective

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (1) ◽  
pp. 191-206
Author(s):  
Eldar Veremchuk

The paper gives a comprehensive insight into the peculiarities of concept profiling through defining the related etymological domains. The aim of the paper is to reveal the peculiarities of the profiling of the concepts GOOD / EVIL and JUSTICE through elucidating their source domains from an etymological perspective. The choice of the analysed ethical concepts is stipulated by their higher contextual actualization frequency, as compared with the other ethical concepts, according to the data obtained from British National Corpus. The research method of trajector / landmark alignment used in this work is based on R. Langacker’s views on the profiling of concepts in language utterances and on the tenets of Conceptual Metaphor Theory. The novelty of this approach consists in the fact that it was elaborated and tailored for the analysis and explanation of the onomasiological principles of ‘wrapping’ abstract ethical concepts into the language form. The underlying idea is that abstract categories were conceptualized on the basis of background central life experience and knowledge of concrete things. It is argued that such things were the source domains in ontological cross-domain mappings for the target ethical concepts. The current research into the source domain etymons of the ethical categories made it possible to determine the underlying images, which are the core for drawing metaphorical correspondences between source and target concepts. The etymological layer of source domain lexicalizers revealed the intrinsic psychological mechanisms of human cognition and perception of the world, which consist in the inherent proclivity of the human mind to make metaphorical parallels in the direction from daily, central experience to complex abstract ideas and notions. The results made it possible to develop the matrix model of the analysed concepts, which was further developed into a ‘conceptual edifice’ multi-layer model, which reveals the conceptualization paths along which the human mind classifies and categorizes abstract ethical ideas. 

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (9) ◽  
pp. 1114-1120
Author(s):  
Mingjie Huo ◽  
Jiaxuan Chen

This paper presents an analysis of embodiment of predicative metaphor which is an important topic in cognitive linguistic study. Previous researches are mainly about the identification, classification and construal of predicative metaphor, while its cognitive motivation has not been discussed. Based on the conceptual metaphor theory and embodied philosophy, the cognitive motivation of the metaphorical usage of English body-action verbs is discussed. It is concluded that the metaphorical usage of English body-action verbs arises from the embodied experience. Concepts related to human body are preferred to be the source domain of the cross-domain mapping used to understand other concepts. The metaphorical usage of English body-action verbs is created through human body metaphor.


2018 ◽  
Vol 41 (2) ◽  
pp. 260-279 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christian Burgers ◽  
Kathleen Ahrens

AbstractThe literature provides diverging perspectives on the universality and stability of economic metaphors over time. This article contains a diachronic analysis of economic metaphors describing trade in a corpus of 225 years of US State of the Union addresses (1790–2014). We focused on two types of change: (i) replacement of a source domain by another domain and (ii) change in mapping within a source domain. In our corpus, five source domains of trade were predominant: (i) PhysicalObject, (ii) Building, (iii) Container, (iv) Journey, and (v) LivingBeing. Only the relative frequency of the Container source domain was related to time. Additionally, mappings between source and target domains were mostly stable. Nevertheless, our analyses suggest that the Trade metaphors in our corpus are related to concreteness in a more nuanced way as typically assumed in conceptual metaphor theory: metaphors high in the concreteness dimension of physicality and low in the concreteness dimension of specificity are likeliest to be used over longer time periods, by providing communicators with freedom to adjust the metaphor to changing societal circumstances.


2020 ◽  
Vol 11 (3) ◽  
pp. 427
Author(s):  
Hongyan Hua

Vocabulary plays an essential role in foreign language learning, and it is the same with Chinese students’ learning English. However, in China traditional ways of English vocabulary learning focuses on the recitation and analysis of the sound, spelling and meaning of English words without considering their cognitive motivations and thus makes understanding and memorization of them invalid and boring, which directly affects Chinese students’ English level of listening, speaking, reading and writing. Therefore, some effective methods of English vocabulary learning must be found so as to arouse students’ interests and facilitate their learning of English words. Conceptual metaphor theory reveals that metaphor is not only a universal cognitive phenomenon but also a cognitive tool of human beings, which can shed some lights onto English words learning, a kind of cognitive activity. Conceptual metaphor theory also depicts cross-domain mapping as its working mechanism by saying that cross-domain mapping is a kind of thinking link from source domain to target domain. And this thinking link is of great help to the memorizing processes of words and understanding of words’ connotation and can make English vocabulary learning systematic and flexible. This paper explores the application of conceptual metaphor theory into college English vocabulary learning from three aspects, namely, polysemous words, idiomatic expressions and word connections, aiming at cultivating students’ metaphorical awareness and improving their metaphorical competence in vocabulary learning.


2018 ◽  
pp. 95-106
Author(s):  
Valentina Benigni

Adopting a data based approach, the study explores Russian intensifying metaphors of COMPLETENESS. A wide range of instantiations of the metaphor of COMPLETENESS is analyzed within the framework of Conceptual Metaphor Theory (Lakoff & Johnson 1980), comprising achievement of a result (soveršennyj idiot), filled container (nabityj durak) and round form (kruglyj otličnik). The contrastive perspective (Russian-English-Italian) provides new insights on the mapping of the source domain of COMPLETENESS onto the target domain of INTENSITY in different languages and cultures.


2019 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Peer F. Bundgaard

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.


Literator ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 40 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Suren Naicker

This article investigates the use of metaphorical language in The Complete Works of Swami Vivekananda (henceforth CW). Vivekananda is one of the most important modern-day Hindu scholars because his interpretation of ancient Hindu scriptural lore has been very influential. Vivekananda’s influence was part of the motivation for choosing his CW as the empirical domain for the current study. AntConc software was used to mine Vivekananda’s CW for water-related terms, which seemed to have a predilection for metaphoricity. Which terms to search for specifically was determined after a manual reading of a sample from the CW. The data were then tagged using a convention inspired by the well-known Metaphor Identification Procedure – Vrije University (MIPVU). Then, a representative sample of the data was chosen, and the metaphors were mapped and analysed thematically. Five of these are referred to in this article, but special emphasis is placed on the theme of the Vedanta philosophy as the basis for neo-Hinduism, which has become synonymous with contemporary Hinduism, with Yoga as the practical wing, and Vedanta as the ideological basis for the practice; this aspect is expounded upon in more detail. The study’s main aim was therefore to investigate whether Hindu religious discourse uses metaphors to explain abstract religious concepts in a specific way, and indeed one of the main findings was the pervasiveness of water as a source domain. Hence, the key finding in this article is that neo-Hindu thought, as reconceptualised by Vivekananda, relies heavily on the water frame (as is convention in the field of Cognitive Semantics, conceptual domains are written in upper case, including hypothetical frames and conceptual metaphors), which is not as pervasive in other religio-philosophical traditions.


2018 ◽  
Vol 5 (2) ◽  
pp. 6-15
Author(s):  
Енкарнацьйон Санчеc Аренас ◽  
Ессам Басем

The concept of motion is central to the human cognition and it is universally studied in cognitive linguistics. This research paper investigates concept of motion, with special reference to traveling, in the poetry of Widad Benmoussa. It mainly focuses on the cognitive dimensions underlying the metaphorical representation of traveling. To this end, the research conducts a semi-automated analysis of a corpus representing Widad’s poetic collections. MetaNet’s physical path is mainly used to reveal the cognitive respects of traveling. The personae the poetess assigns are found to pursue a dynamic goal through activation of several physical paths. During the unstable romantic relations, several travel impediments are met. Travel stops and detours, travel companions, paths in journey as well as changing travel destinations are the most stressed elements of ‘Traveling’ respects. With such a described high frequency of sudden departures and hopping, the male persona the poetess assigns evinces typical features of 'wanderlust' or dromomania. References Arenas, E. S. (2018). Exploring pornography in Widad Benmoussa’s poetry using LIWC and corpus tools. Sexuality & Culture, 22(4), 1094–1111. Baicchi, A. (2017). The relevance of conceptual metaphor in semantic interpretation. Estetica. Studi e Ricerche, 7(1), 155–170. Carey, A. L., Brucks, M. S., Küfner, A. C., Holtzman, N. S., Back, M. D., Donnellan, M. B., ... & Mehl, M. R. (2015). Narcissism and the use of personal pronouns revisited. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 109(3), e1. David, O., & Matlock, T. (2018). Cross-linguistic automated detection of metaphors for poverty and cancer. Language and Cognition, 10(3), 467–493. David, O., Lakoff, G., & Stickles, E. (2016). Cascades in metaphor and grammar. Constructions and Frames, 8(2), 214–255. Essam, B. A. (2016). Nizarre Qabbani’s original versus translated pornographic ideology: A corpus-based study. Sexuality & Culture, 20(4), 965–986 Forceville, C. (2016). Conceptual metaphor theory, blending theory, and other cognitivist perspectives on comics. The Visual Narrative Reader, 89–114. Gibbs Jr, R. W. (2011). Evaluating conceptual metaphor theory. Discourse Processes, 48(8), 529–562. Kövecses, Z. (2008). Conceptual metaphor theory: Some criticisms and alternative proposals. Annual Review of Cognitive Linguistics, 6(1), 168–184. Lakoff, G. (2014). Mapping the brain's metaphor circuitry: Metaphorical thought in everyday reason. Frontiers in Human Neuroscience, 8, 958. Lakoff, G., & Johnson, M. (2008). Metaphors We Live By. University of Chicago press. Lee, M. G., & Barnden, J. A. (2001). Mental metaphors from the Master Metaphor List: Empirical examples and the application of the ATT-Meta system. Cognitive Science Research Papers-University of Birmingham CSRP. Lönneker-Rodman, B. (2008). The Hamburg metaphor database project: issues in resource creation. Language Resources and Evaluation, 42(3), 293–318. Martin, J. H. (1994). Metabank: A knowledge‐base of metaphoric language conventioms. Computational Intelligence, 10(2), 134–149. MetaNet Web Site: https://metanet.icsi.berkeley.edu/metanet/ Pennebaker, J. W., Boyd, R. L., Jordan, K., & Blackburn, K. (2015). The development and psychometric properties of LIWC2015. Retrieved from https://repositories.lib.utexas.edu/ handle/2152/31333 Santarpia, A., Blanchet, A., Venturini, R., Cavallo, M., & Raynaud, S. (2006, August). La catégorisation des métaphores conceptuelles du corps. In Annales Médico-psychologiques, revue psychiatrique. Vol. 164, No. 6. (pp. 476-485). Elsevier Masson. Stickles, E., David, O., Dodge, E. K., & Hong, J. (2016). Formalizing contemporary conceptual metaphor theory. Constructions and Frames, 8(2), 166–213 Tausczik, Y. R., & Pennebaker, J. W. (2010). The psychological meaning of words: LIWC and computerized text analysis methods. Journal of Language and Social Psychology,29(1), 24–54. Sources Benmoussa, W. (2001). I have Roots in Air (in Arabic). Morocco: Ministry of Culture. Benmoussa, W. (2006). Between Two Clouds (in Arabic and French). Morocco: Marsam Publishing House. Benmoussa, W. (2007). I Opened It on You (in Arabic). Morocco: Marsam Publishing House. Benmoussa, W. (2008). Storm in a Body (in Arabic). Morocco: Marsam Publishing House. Benmoussa, W. (2010). I Hardly Lost my Narcissism (in Arabic). Syria: Ward Publishing House. Benmoussa, W. (2014). I Stroll Along This Life. Morocco: Tobkal Publishing House


Author(s):  
Muhammad Adam

This research is conducted to measure how participants’ understanding to a source domain of metaphor will help them to better interpret metaphor in “Titanium” song by using the Conceptual Metaphor Theory (CMT). The CMT approach is introduced by explicitly explain the characteristic of source domain of metaphor to participants. The participants of this research are 10 students of semester V of Faculty of Letters – University of Balikpapan, all native Indonesian speakers. This research is qualitative research, and uses the participants’ written answer as data source. Based on the data analysis, it is concluded that by understanding the source domain of metaphor, participants have a better and improved understanding in interpreting metaphor. In other words, the participants’ comprehension to the intended message of metaphor is improved.


2018 ◽  
Vol 33 (2) ◽  
pp. 400-422
Author(s):  
Dalia Gedzevičienė

This article discusses metaphor and irony as discursive strategies employed by the Lithuanian media while construing the imagery of crime, criminal, and criminality. The method applied to analyse metaphor and irony in Lithuanian criminological discourse combines the framework offered by conceptual metaphor theory with corpus linguistics. First of all, metaphorical and ironical expressions were inventoried, and then conceptual paradigms were reconstructed from them. The conceptual-level analysis revealed that the relations between the conceptual domains of metaphor and irony are processed by different types of mapping (similarity [metaphor] vs. dissimilarity [irony]). Despite differences in the processing of cross-domain mapping, metaphor and irony realised in public criminological discourse carry out the same or very similar rhetorical and social functions. The main function of these discursive strategies is the vivid expression of emotional attitudes and values directed at the criminal—the text adresser evaluates the criminal and crime negatively, dissociates from the offender, and isolates him symbolically from our community. In this way, the contemporary Lithuanian media constructs and shapes the community’s approach to particular social phenomena—crime, criminal, and criminality.


2016 ◽  
Vol 113 (23) ◽  
pp. 6348-6354 ◽  
Author(s):  
Evan L. MacLean

A satisfactory account of human cognitive evolution will explain not only the psychological mechanisms that make our species unique, but also how, when, and why these traits evolved. To date, researchers have made substantial progress toward defining uniquely human aspects of cognition, but considerably less effort has been devoted to questions about the evolutionary processes through which these traits have arisen. In this article, I aim to link these complementary aims by synthesizing recent advances in our understanding of what makes human cognition unique, with theory and data regarding the processes of cognitive evolution. I review evidence that uniquely human cognition depends on synergism between both representational and motivational factors and is unlikely to be accounted for by changes to any singular cognitive system. I argue that, whereas no nonhuman animal possesses the full constellation of traits that define the human mind, homologies and analogies of critical aspects of human psychology can be found in diverse nonhuman taxa. I suggest that phylogenetic approaches to the study of animal cognition—which can address questions about the selective pressures and proximate mechanisms driving cognitive change—have the potential to yield important insights regarding the processes through which the human cognitive phenotype evolved.


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