Metaphors We Die By
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.24086/cuejhss.v9n1y2025.pp86-93Keywords:
Central Kurdish, Conceptual metaphor, Death, Metaphorization of death, Source-path-goal schemaAbstract
This study which is entitled “Metaphors We Die By” is concerned with death metaphor in Central Kurdish. The expression “we” in the title refers to Kurdish people, i.e. the study is a detailed explanation of metaphors the Kurds die by. It attempts to elucidate how Central Kurdish speakers think about death. In other words, the main aim of the study is to identify the perspective of Central Kurdish (CK) speakers on the phenomenon of death. The primary questions of the study are: Ho do the Kurds contemplate death? What are the source conceptual domains that CK speakers rely upon to understand death? What factors paly a role in structuring the conceptual mappings of the linguistic metaphors? The study explicates the concept of death in CK from the standpoint of Conceptual Metaphor Theory (CMT). According to the Cognitive approach to metaphor, it explores the way Kurdish speakers think about death. The study is particularly significant for understanding Kurdish culture and their perspective on one of life’s most important phenomena. The interpretation of death according to the framework of CMT involves the identification of various source domains that play a role in the conceptualization of death. The data of the study is based on everyday speech of CK through which an attempt is made to infer Kurdish thoughts and worldviews about death. Hence, the study, in light of the theory it relies on, views language as a reflection of thought. In CMT, thought has a metaphorical nature, so language, which is a mirror of thought, basically operates metaphorically.
Downloads
References
AAbrams, M.H., & Harpham, G.G. (2012). A Glossary of Literary Terms. 10thed. Boston, MA: Wadsworth Cengage Learning.
Al-Basir, K.H. (1981). Zanistî Awełwata (The Science of Metaphor). Baghdad: The Printing House of the Iraqi scientific Academy.
Allan, K., & Burridge, K. (1991). Euphemism and Dysphemism. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Biela-Wolonciej, A. (2013). “Death is the essence of all evil”-but not equally everywhere: Polish-English study on valuing and masking. Intercultural Pragmatics, 10(2), 235-264.
Bywater, I. (1940). Poetics. Overland Park: Digireads.com Publishing.
Cruse, A. (2006). A glossary of Semantics and Pragmatics. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press.
El-Sharif, A. (2011). A Linguistic Study of Islamic Religious Discourse: Conceptual Metaphors in the Prophetic Tradition. (PhD Thesis), Queen Mary-University of London.
Garello, S. (2024). The Enigma of Metaphor: Philosophy, Pragmatics, Cognitive Science. Cham: UNIPA Springer Series.
Gibbs, R.W. (1994). The Poetics of Mind: Figurative Thought, Language, and Understanding. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Glucksberg, S. (2001). Understanding Figurative Language: From Metaphors to Idioms. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Harshami, S. (2022). Ferhengî Îtîmołojî Kurdî, Mêjûy Pêkhatinî Wishe le Zmanî Kurdîda (Kurdish Etymological Dictionary, the History of Word Formation in Kurdish). Vol. 2. New Delhi: Jamal Irfan Cultural Institute, Tehran Printing House.
Jezhny, K., Aziz, S., & Kamal, D. (2024). Orientational metaphor in central Kurdish. Journal of University of Raparin, 11(3), 916-939.
Johnson, M. (1993). Moral Imagination: Implications of Cognitive Science for Ethics. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
Kövecses, Z. (2017). Conceptual metaphor theory. In: Koller, V., Semino, E., & Demjen Z., (eds.), Routledge Handbook of Metaphor and Language. London: Routledge. p56-69.
Kövecses, Z., & Koller, B. (2006). Language, Mind, and Culture: A Practical Introduction. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Lakoff, G. (1987). Women, Fire, and Dangerous Things: What Categories Reveal about the Mind. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
Lakoff, G. (2006). The Contemporary Theory of Metaphor. In: Geeraerts, D. Cognitive Linguistics: Basic Readings. Berlin, New York: Mouton de Gruyter.
Lakoff, G., & Johnson, M. (1980a). Metaphors We Live By. Chicago and London: The University of Chicago Press.
Lakoff, G., & Johnson., M. (1980b). Conceptual metaphor in everyday language. The Journal of Philosophy, 77(8), 453-486.
Lakoff, G., & Turner, M. (1989). More than Cool Reason, A Field Guide to Poetic Metaphor. Chicago and London: The University of Chicago Press.
Marín Arrese, J.I. (1996). To die, to sleep, a contrastive study of metaphors for death and dying in English and Spanish. Language Sciences, 18(1-2), 37-52.
Osman, H. (2013). Chemkî Mirdin le Zmanî Kurdîda (The Concept of Death in Kurdish). Hawler: Haji Hashm Printing House.
Rasse, C. (2022). Poetic Metaphors. Figurative Thought and Language. Amsterdam, Philadelphia, PA: John Benjamins Publishing Company.
Richards, I.A. (1936). The Philosophy of Rhetoric. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Semino, E., & Demjen, Z (2017). The Routledge Handbook of Metaphor and Language. London, New York: Routledge.
Stern, J. (2000). Metaphor in Context. Massachusetts, MA: MIT Press.
Turner, M. (1996). The Literary Mind: The Origins of Thought and Language. New York, Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Wachowski, W., & Sullivan, K. (2022). Metonymies and Metaphors for Death Around the World. New York: Routledge.
Downloads
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
License
Authors who publish with this journal agree to the following terms:
- Authors retain copyright and grant the journal right of first publication with the work simultaneously licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution License [CC BY-NC-ND 4.0] that allows others to share the work with an acknowledgment of the work's authorship and initial publication in this journal.
- Authors are able to enter into separate, additional contractual arrangements for the non-exclusive distribution of the journal's published version of the work (e.g., post it to an institutional repository or publish it in a book), with an acknowledgment of its initial publication in this journal.
- Authors are permitted and encouraged to post their work online (e.g., in institutional repositories or on their website) prior to and during the submission process, as it can lead to productive exchanges, as well as earlier and greater citation of published work (See The Effect of Open Access).
