Cultural variance in the metaphorical extension of body part names

Publication Name: Magyar Nyelv

Publication Date: 2021-01-01

Volume: 117

Issue: 3

Page Range: 257-277

Description:

The study examines the cultural embedding of the conceptualization of the human body in a cultural-cognitive linguistic framework. Body parts, organs, body fluids serve as the bases for many metaphorical expressions, which are rooted in physiological experience on the one hand and culturally and historically embedded on the other. The cultural conceptualization of the body can thus be understood as a process at the intersection of physiological experience, cognition, culture, and language. The questions of the study are as follows: (1) What is the role of culture in the figurative (metaphoric or metonymical) use of names of body parts? (2) Which conceptual domains are dominantly utilized in the metaphoric expressions? The paper provides an overview of the main directions of the metaphorical extension of names of body parts through examples from Hungarian and results of research conducted in several other languages. These directions include the domains of EMOTIONS, COGNITION, INTERPERSONAL RELATIONS, CULTURAL VALUES, and issues of spatial representation and grammaticalization.

Open Access: Yes

DOI: 10.18349/MagyarNyelv.2021.3.257

Authors - 1