International Journal of Language and Linguistics

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Conceptual Metaphors as Motivation for Proverbs Lexical Polysemy

Received: 22 October 2016    Accepted: 07 November 2016    Published: 22 April 2017
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Abstract

This paper deals with the lexical polysemy of proverbs from the standpoint of the Conceptual Metaphor Theory. The thesis that proverbs take on many meanings is widely discussed and commonly accepted in the literature on proverb understanding and use at large (Milner, 1969; Kirshenblatt-Gimblett, 1973; Lakoff & Turner, 1989; Honeck, 1997; Gibbs & Beitel 1995, etc.). Yet much attention has been paid only to the proverb discursive polysemy. On the premise that proverbs have stable meanings, there is every reason to believe that some proverbs are lexically polysemous because of their metaphorical structurings. That is, the lexical polysemy of proverbs is motivated by some given conceptual metaphors the interplay of which gives rise to a range of lexical meanings, which may serve, in turn, as bases for inferring eventual contextual meanings.

DOI 10.11648/j.ijll.20170503.11
Published in International Journal of Language and Linguistics (Volume 5, Issue 3, May 2017)
Page(s) 57-70
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This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, provided the original work is properly cited.

Copyright

Copyright © The Author(s), 2024. Published by Science Publishing Group

Keywords

Proverbs, Conceptual Metaphors, Lexical Polysemy

References
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[3] Mieder, W. (1985). A proverb is a short sentence of wisdom. Proverbium. 2, 109-143.
[4] Norrick, N. R. (1985). How proverbs mean: Semantic studies in English proverbs. Mouton: New York.
[5] Cram, D. (1994). The linguistic status of the proverb. In W. Mieder (Ed.), Wise words: Essays on the proverb (pp. 73-98). Garland: New York. (Original work published in 1983).
[6] White, G. M. (1987). Proverbs and cultural models: An American psychology of problem solving. In D. Holland and H. Quinn (Eds.), Cultural models in language and thought (pp. 151-172). Cambridge University Press: New York.
[7] Feldman, J., & Narayanan, S. (2004). Embodied meaning in a neural theory of language. Brain and Language, 89 (2), 385–392.
[8] Feldman, J. (2006). From molecule to metaphor. The MIT Press: Cambridge.
[9] DeHaene, S. (2009). Reading in the brain. Penguin Viking: New York.
[10] Lakoff , G. (1013). Neural Social Science. In D. Franks & J. Turner, Handbook of Neurosociology (pp. 9-25). Springer Dordrecht Heidelberg: New York London
[11] Lakoff, G., and Johnson, M. (1980). Metaphors we live by. University of Chicago Press: Chicago.
[12] Lakoff, G., and Turner, M. (1989). More than cool reason: a field guide to poetic metaphor. University of Chicago Press: Chicago.
[13] Milner, G. B., (1969). What is a proverb? New Society, 332, 199-2002.
[14] Kirshenblatt-Gimblett, B. (1973). Toward a theory of proverb meaning. Proverbium, 22, 821-827.
[15] Honeck R. P. (1997). A Proverb in Mind. The Cognitive Science of Proverbial Wit and Wisdom. Psychology Press: London.
[16] Gibbs, R., L., Strom, & M. Spivey-Knowlton. (1997). Conceptual metaphors in mental imagery for proverbs. Journal of Mental Imagery, 21, 83-110.
[17] Sperber, D., and Wilson, D. (1986). Relevance: Communication and cognition. Harvard University Press: Cambridge.
[18] Langacker, R. (2013). Essentials of Cognitive Grammar. Oxford University Press: New York.
[19] Lakoff, G., Johnson, M. (1999). Philosophy in the Flesh. Basic Books: New York.
[20] Grady J. (1997). Foundations of meaning: Primary metaphor and primary scenes. Dissertation, University of California: Berkeley.
[21] Johnson, M. (1987). The body in the mind. University of Chicago Press: Chicago.
[22] Lakoff, G. (1993). The contemporary theory of metaphor. In A. Ortony (Ed.), Metaphor and thought (202–251). Cambridge University Press: New York.
[23] Fauconnier, G., and Turner, M. (2002). The way we think: conceptual blending and the mind’s hidden complexities. Basic Books: New York.
[24] Kovecses, Z. (1986). Metaphors of Anger, Pride, and Love: A Lexical Approach to the Structure of Concepts. John Benjamins: Philadelphia.
[25] Kovecses, Z. (1988). The Language of Love: The Semantics of Passion in Conversational English. Bucknell University Press: Lewisburg, Penn.
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Author Information
  • French Language Department, Cadi Ayyad University, Marrakech, Morocco

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    El Mustapha Lemghari. (2017). Conceptual Metaphors as Motivation for Proverbs Lexical Polysemy. International Journal of Language and Linguistics, 5(3), 57-70. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijll.20170503.11

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    El Mustapha Lemghari. Conceptual Metaphors as Motivation for Proverbs Lexical Polysemy. Int. J. Lang. Linguist. 2017, 5(3), 57-70. doi: 10.11648/j.ijll.20170503.11

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    El Mustapha Lemghari. Conceptual Metaphors as Motivation for Proverbs Lexical Polysemy. Int J Lang Linguist. 2017;5(3):57-70. doi: 10.11648/j.ijll.20170503.11

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  • @article{10.11648/j.ijll.20170503.11,
      author = {El Mustapha Lemghari},
      title = {Conceptual Metaphors as Motivation for Proverbs Lexical Polysemy},
      journal = {International Journal of Language and Linguistics},
      volume = {5},
      number = {3},
      pages = {57-70},
      doi = {10.11648/j.ijll.20170503.11},
      url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijll.20170503.11},
      eprint = {https://download.sciencepg.com/pdf/10.11648.j.ijll.20170503.11},
      abstract = {This paper deals with the lexical polysemy of proverbs from the standpoint of the Conceptual Metaphor Theory. The thesis that proverbs take on many meanings is widely discussed and commonly accepted in the literature on proverb understanding and use at large (Milner, 1969; Kirshenblatt-Gimblett, 1973; Lakoff & Turner, 1989; Honeck, 1997; Gibbs & Beitel 1995, etc.). Yet much attention has been paid only to the proverb discursive polysemy. On the premise that proverbs have stable meanings, there is every reason to believe that some proverbs are lexically polysemous because of their metaphorical structurings. That is, the lexical polysemy of proverbs is motivated by some given conceptual metaphors the interplay of which gives rise to a range of lexical meanings, which may serve, in turn, as bases for inferring eventual contextual meanings.},
     year = {2017}
    }
    

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    AB  - This paper deals with the lexical polysemy of proverbs from the standpoint of the Conceptual Metaphor Theory. The thesis that proverbs take on many meanings is widely discussed and commonly accepted in the literature on proverb understanding and use at large (Milner, 1969; Kirshenblatt-Gimblett, 1973; Lakoff & Turner, 1989; Honeck, 1997; Gibbs & Beitel 1995, etc.). Yet much attention has been paid only to the proverb discursive polysemy. On the premise that proverbs have stable meanings, there is every reason to believe that some proverbs are lexically polysemous because of their metaphorical structurings. That is, the lexical polysemy of proverbs is motivated by some given conceptual metaphors the interplay of which gives rise to a range of lexical meanings, which may serve, in turn, as bases for inferring eventual contextual meanings.
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