engleski

Zoosemy in Conceptual Metaphor and Metonymy Theory: A Cross-and intralinguistic study

The use of animal names to refer to humans and conceptualize their physical and behavioural characteristics has been in the focus of linguistic interest since time immemorial. Apart from serving as a controversial example and fertile ground for examining and defining the crucial theoretical constructs (conceptual metaphor and metonymy), the phenomenon is attested in all languages in the world and could be considered universal. The bulk of the paper is thus devoted to presenting and examining a number of dimensions, as suggested by Kövecses (2005), along which the two languages overlap and differ with respect to the use and effect of the phenomenon, both cross- and intralinguistically. Special emphasis is put on differences in slang use and across different discourse types/ groups (e.g. different senses and effects of use of dog and cat in rap/hip-hop and jazz slang, respectively, as opposed to the more conventionalized figurative senses), as dimensions of subjective and intralinguistic variation. Furthermore, the cross- linguistic comparison focusing on English and Croatian examples from a variety of sources (computerized corpora, dictionaries), supported by data from other languagues and studies, should help establish potential universal factors and dimensions accounting for the overlap in imagery and the choice of preferred metaphoric vehicles. The latter is ascribed to an interplay of high-level cognitive mechanisms and cultural factors (e.g. linguistic borrowing due to the shared cultural sources). Cross-linguistic variation is expected to rise with the growth of specificity both in the type of experiences motivating the meaning construction and the cultural evaluation of certain relevant concepts which will also be established and compared (e.g. the differing role of AGE and SEX, both of source concepts and of the intended referents). On the theoretical plane, the study thus plans to emphasize the role of different theoretical constructs (functional domains (Barcelona 2002), main meaning focus (Kövecses 2002), primary metaphors (Grady 1997) at work on the three levels of conceptual metaphor and metonymy analysis (superindividual, individual and individual (Kövecses 2002)) stressing their differing appropriateness and efficacy in accounting for the established overlaps and differences. Special emphasis is put on the examining the role and effect of primary metaphors (Grady 1997) as a construct supporting the embodiment thesis and speaking in favour of the universal nature of conceptual metaphors (Lakoff & Johnson 1999), yet ultimately being considerably culture-dependent along a number of dimensions (Kövecses 2005).

zoosemy; conceptual metaphor; conceptual metonymy; functional domain; pragmatic function; polysemy

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