CONCEPTUAL METAPHORS IN WEATHER EXPRESSIONS OF PRECIPITATION AND TEMPERATURE

Abstract

This paper aims to explore cross-linguistic variation in conceptual metaphors related to weather with a particular focus on precipitation (rain) and temperature (heat). We specifically examine how metaphorical mappings differ across languages concerning lexical category (i.e., nouns, verbs, adjectives) and source domain. Drawing on Conceptual Metaphor Theory (CMT), we analyse weather descriptions from ten typologically diverse languages: Turkish, English, Polish, Italian, Persian, Filipino, German, French, Swahili, and Korean. We elicited these descriptions through email correspondence with native speakers, all of whom possess at least an intermediate level of English. We asked informants to describe two weather scenes (i.e., rainy and sunny) in their native languages and then to provide literal English translations of their descriptions. This method allowed us to observe how metaphorical expressions are grammatically and lexically encoded across linguistic systems. We find that metaphorical variation aligns with the dynamic vs. stative nature of weather events: rain, as a dynamic phenomenon, is more frequently expressed through motion-based metaphors, while heat, as a stative condition, tends to be framed via state or intensity-based metaphors. Moreover, while conceptual metaphors show cross-linguistic consistency, their grammatical realisation regarding lexical categories and argument structure varies according to language-specific typological patterns.

Keywords

• Conceptual Metaphor Theory
• cognitive linguistics
• source-target relations
• linguistic typology
• weather expressions

Supporting Institution

The authors have stated that there is no institution providing support for the current work.

Ethical Statement

The authors declare no need for ethics board approval for the research.

Thanks

None.

YAĞIŞ VE SICAKLIK BELİRTEN HAVA DURUMU İFADELERİNDEKİ KAVRAMSAL METAFORLAR

Abstract

Bu çalışma, hava durumuna ilişkin kavramsal metaforların diller arası farklılıklarını, yağış (yağmur) ve sıcaklık (ısı) kavramlarına odaklanarak incelemeyi amaçlamaktadır. Kavramsal Metafor Kuramı çerçevesinde yürütülen çalışmada, metaforik eşleşmelerin sözcük türleri (ad, eylem, sıfat) ve kaynak alan bakımından diller arasında nasıl farklılaştırıldığı araştırılmıştır. Veriler, anadili Türkçe, İngilizce, Lehçe, İtalyanca, Farsça, Filipince, Almanca, Fransızca, Swahili ve Korece olan ve en az orta düzeyde İngilizce bilen kaynak kişilerden e-posta yoluyla toplanmıştır. Kaynak kişilerden, iki hava durumu sahnesini (yağmurlu ve güneşli) kendi anadillerinde betimlemeleri ve ardından bu betimlemelerin İngilizce çevirilerini yapmaları istenmiştir. Bu yöntem, metaforik ifadelerin farklı dillerde sözcüksel ve biçimbilimsel olarak nasıl kodlandığını gözlemlememizi sağlamıştır. Bulgularımız, metaforik değişkenliğin çoğunlukla hava olayının dinamik ya da durağan doğasıyla ilişkili olduğunu ortaya koymaktadır. Dinamik bir olgu olan yağmur, sıklıkla hareket temelli metaforlarla, durumsal bir olgu olan sıcaklık ise daha çok durum veya yoğunluk temelli metaforlarla ifade edilmektedir. Ayrıca, kavramsal metaforlar diller arasında genel olarak tutarlılık gösterse de, bu metaforların sözcük türü ve tümce yapısı bakımından dilsel gerçekleşimi, incelenen dillerin tipolojik özelliklerine bağlı olarak değişkenlik göstermektedir.

Keywords

• Kavramsal Metafor Kuramı
• bilişsel dilbilim
• hedef-kaynak ilişkisi
• dilbilimsel tipoloji
• hava durumu ifadeleri

Supporting Institution

Araştırmacılar çalışma için finansal destek sağlayan bir kurumun bulunmadığını beyan etmektedir.

Ethical Statement

Araştırmacılar çalışma için etik komisyon iznine gerek duyulmadığını beyan etmektedir.

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