engleski

Reality reflecting cognitive models -metonymy and metaphor in euphemisms and dysphemisms

In this paper it will be argued that the elusiveness of what reality actually is ensues as an obvious consequence of the clash existing between individuals and different cultural models, which, on one hand, use different means in making sense of various phenomena surrounding individuals and social groups, but, on the other possess a common quality of relying on general and special cognitive processes such as those studied by Langacker (1991). In this paper, however, we shall narrow our research onto various examples of linguistic intervention in the form of euphemistic and dysphemistic expressions which should serve as a basis for exploring some of the most essential cognitive mechanisms necessary to reassess the value different cultures ascribe to different social phenomena. Those mechanisms are metonymy and metaphor and they will serve as a dissection tool for analyzing English euphemisms from the typically political and journalistic discourse by means of two case studies: the euphemism ‘ to ask someone to step down’ and a relatively recently blended dysphemism, ‘ a chickenhawk’ and their potential Croatian equivalents. In play are, namely, different lexical networks reflecting different ICMs: ‘ chicken’ equals ‘ coward’ in English, but not in Croatian ; ‘ to step down’ is a part of a scenario of leaving a position in English, but not in Croatian. We shall also evaluate the ensuing pragmatic effects and the degree to which they are relevant in a specific cultural or national environment. We shall use a variant of the process known as ‘ cognitive modelling’ , as suggested by Lakoff (1996), characterized by applying one of the most frequent metaphoric mappings HUMANS ARE ANIMALS in which we have a cognitive background in the form of metonymic mappings CATEGORY FOR DEFINING PROPERTY (Radden & Kövecses 1999) in the case of ‘ chickenhawk’ and in some of the euphemistic expressions a very productive metonymic mapping PART OF A SCENARIO FOR THE WHOLE SCENARIO in ‘ stepping down’ . Those two case studies should present a framework for similar research into the creative potential of metonymy and metaphor in the process of intralinguistic inventiveness and possible interlinguistic transfers.

cognitive models; euphemisms; dysphemisms; metaphor; metonymy

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