Metaphorical Meaning Research Articles

Zoometaphors of multiple: substantive and adverbial semantics

The article describes semantic, pragmatic, and derivational characteristics of zoonyms denoting sets: выводок, гурт, караван, косяк, отара, помёт, рой, свора, стадо, стая, табун (11 lexemes). In the existing explanatory dictionaries, their secondary meanings are presented inconsistently and incompletely. In particular, adverbial uses of metaphorical meanings that actually function in the modern Russian language are not noted. Such metaphors mainly denote the movement and movement of large masses of objects, most often people. Based on the material of explanatory dictionaries and the Russian National Corpus, methods and formulas are proposed for correcting and unifying the lexicographic description of Russian lexemes with the meaning of ‘many animals,’ as well as introducing special pragmatic labels to differentiate their use. A multidimensional analysis of the units of the microgroup “Animal Groups” clearly demonstrates the process of complex interaction between semantics and grammar in the processes of metaphorization and adverbial conversion. The sample size includes 638 contexts with set metaphors associated with the class of counter words in the grammatical aspect and the thematic field of zoonyms in the lexical aspect.

"Ibn Al-Jazari and his Verbal Opinions on Meaning."

The research explores the notion that as long as an adjective remains noticeable without the addition of the letter "taa", if the phonetics dominate to the extent that the meaning becomes unnoticed due to its description, the "taa" is introduced. When this term becomes a noun for the referred object, such that the confirmation or negation of its existence is not noticeable, they considered it to be true. The study addresses that the words introduced by religious law are few, and their inclusion in the Qur'an does not disqualify it from being labeled as Arabic, just as someone who composes a poem in Persian containing a few Arabic words, the poem is still considered Persian despite the inclusion of those few Arabic words. The significance of the research lies in demonstrating that the Qur'an contains no non-Arabic words, as evidenced by words found in the Qur'an that are not Arabic, such as "al-Mashka" which is Abyssinian, "al-Qistas" which is Roman, and "al-Istibraq" and "al-Sajeel" which are Persian. The research emphasizes the validation of the four truths, including their legitimacy. It is known that, aside from linguistic truth from the perspective of transmission, deviation from the original is a point of contention. If the wording fluctuates between being transmitted or remaining consistent with linguistic truth, the originality is to remain because what was fixed in the past remains the default. It is a continuation, and it is an assumption of the current situation, which is evidence indicating the continuation of what was before. The study concludes that if metaphorical usage is established, it indicates deviation from the original because it relies on many prerequisites, leading to its improbability. It requires the original context, alignment between the topic with its wording, and the metaphorical meaning, as well as the transfer of the word to that meaning. Its indication is contingent upon circumstantial or conditional evidence, and the implication of such evidence is obscure, possibly causing misunderstanding due to its ambiguity.

Hallucinations in automated texts – A critical view on the emerging terminology

The term hallucination is used in AI discourse to describe AI-generated outputs that are unfounded and lack backing in input data, a phenomenon which occurs frequently enough for the academic community to shun widespread collaboration with AI writing tools, particularly in certain disciplines. The issue of hallucinatory outputs will diminish as AI advances, but the appropriateness of using the terms hallucinate and hallucination in this context remains under debate. Originating from Latin, terms related to hallucination were once exclusively used within specialized medical terminology. Over time, and across languages, its metaphorical meaning has evolved, becoming part of colloquial language through the semantic innovation characteristic of youth language. We also show how this trend coincides with the use of metaphors such as anthrophomorphisms in scientific discourse. The newest addition to hallucination’s list of meanings – an established metaphor for a new phenomenon – is contentious. On the one hand, there is a similarity in that both AI-induced and medically induced hallucinations are elusive and difficult to identify. On the other hand, it suggests a trivialization of medical conditions that remain significantly stigmatized in contemporary societies.

The Conflict between Individuals and Society in Seize the Day

This paper explores the existential problem in Seize the Day—the conflict between individuals and society in modern society. With a brief introduction of Saul Bellow and the novel, the paper emphasizes the analysis of the conflict and the sources of the conflict. Besides, Saul Bellow uses many rhetorical devices to intensify the conflict. The analysis of these rhetorical devices is beneficial for us to interpret and understand the true meaning of the novel. Through the study of Bellow’s vision and the novel’s metaphorical meaning, we may find an effective solution to the conflict that our human being is involved in, and realize the social values of this novel.

TRACING THE ETHEREAL: EXPLORING AESTHETIC HERITAGE AND CULTURAL IDENTITY IN HISTORIC GARDENS - A CASE STUDY OF SHALIMAR GARDEN

Mughal gardens are a prominent figure in the history of landscape architecture, serving as a symbol of artistic talent and horticultural genius. The Mughal gardens thrived throughout the Mughal Empire's rule in South Asia, and this dissertation investigates the profound philosophy that underpinned its design planting methods. The study explores the sociocultural factors that influenced Mughal gardening practices within the historical framework of that period. This study makes use of both primary and secondary sources to illuminate the main components of Mughal Garden design, including the widespread use of geometric patterns, water features, and the blending of architecture and landscape. A strong link between the gardens and the Mughal worldview is shown when the research additionally looks at the spiritual and metaphorical meanings connected to the fauna and plants selected for these gardens. Additionally, the study focuses on the cultivation practices used by Mughal horticulturists, showcasing their creative approaches to attaining a harmonic fusion of form and function. Mughal gardens are renowned for their overall visual effect, mostly due to the careful selection and placement of their flora. This dissertation tries to uncover the underlying plantation philosophy of Mughal gardens through a thorough investigation of historical records and garden ruins, highlighting the complex interactions between art, culture, and environment throughout this era. Modern landscape designers and hobbyists may take inspiration from the Mughal approach to horticulture and apply its timeless wisdom to contemporary gardening techniques by comprehending the fundamental ideas that guided the building of these gardens.

Conceptual Metaphors in Narrative Advertisements for Places: A Comparative Study Between English and Lithuanian

The paper examines 15 conceptual metaphors in advertisements for hotels based in Lithuania, focusing on the similarities and differences between English and Lithuanian versions of these advertisements. 21 English and Lithuanian hotel websites were analysed, resulting in 104 metaphorical expressions in English and 39 metaphorical expressions in Lithuanian. The focus was on categorizing the findings based on whether the compared texts: 1) maintained consistent metaphorical meanings in both languages; 2) featured distinct metaphorical expressions in one language; 3) lacked metaphors in one language; 4) had instances of missing metaphorical sentences. The research employed a descriptive-analytic approach to examine the source and target domains of conceptual metaphors in hotel advertisements in both English and Lithuanian. A contrastive method was utilized to compare conceptual metaphors and metaphorical expressions across the two languages. The Conceptual Metaphor Analysis method was then employed to discern the connection between identified metaphorical expressions and conceptual metaphors. Lastly, quantitative analysis was conducted to assess the frequency of conceptual metaphors present in the advertisements. This study is unique as no previous comparative research has been conducted on conceptual metaphors and their variations in English and Lithuanian hotel advertisements. The findings contribute to understanding linguistic changes in metaphorical expressions between the two languages. The analysis reveals that metaphorical expressions are more prevalent in English hotel advertisements compared to the Lithuanian ones. Furthermore, the majority of conceptual metaphors identified are related to the very hotels, objects, atmosphere, rooms, and available services, portraying them as personified entities capable of interacting with guests in an appealing and courteous manner. The most commonly observed conceptual metaphor in both languages is PLACE IS A PERSON / VIETA YRA ASMUO.

Is there also a hidden health cue in the background? The impact of natural imagery on product attitude in food marketing

Prior studies have primarily concentrated on the role of food imagery, which depicts the food itself or its ingredients, in conveying food messages, with less emphasis on background imagery. Background imagery, which often carries symbolic or metaphorical meanings through the depiction of food-related and non-food-related subjects, also serves as a vital medium for communicating food messages. This study investigates the role of natural imagery, a type of background imagery, in transmitting health-related attributes of food. This study employed an implicit association test (IAT) alongside three scenario experiments. The findings demonstrate that natural imagery triggers a health association with food, leading to a favorable product attitude, referred to as the “health metaphor effect.” Subsequently, the boundary conditions for this effect were examined, revealing its presence in healthy product categories as opposed to unhealthy ones. Building upon these findings, the study also assessed the influence of food imagery in food visuals on the role of natural imagery. The result indicates that, for healthy foods, the health metaphor effect is more pronounced when the food imagery is depicted in a processed (vs. raw) state.

Automatic metaphor processing in developmental dyslexia

IntroductionPrevious research found metaphor impairments with dyslexia; however, it is unclear if difficulties are due to initial activation of the metaphorical meaning or to subsequent discourse integration processes. The study examines the presence of early automatic processing of metaphors in adults with developmental dyslexia, considering the role of executive functions and metaphor familiarity. MethodsUsing a sentence recall task and a semantic judgment task from the Metaphor Interference Effect (MIE) paradigm, we evaluated two early stages of metaphor comprehension, namely the generation of the figurative meaning and the suppression of the literal meaning. High and low familiar metaphors, and their scrambled counterparts, were aurally presented to participants, who were asked to judge whether sentences were literally true or literally false. Afterwards, they were provided ten minutes to recall the sentences they heard to verify the depth of processing for each type of stimulus. A total of 26 participants with dyslexia were included in the experimental group, and 31 in the control group. ResultsIndividuals with dyslexia showed a MIE and an accuracy rate that are similar to participants without dyslexia. Inhibition correlated with the MIE size only for high familiar metaphors, and working memory seemed to play no role in the process. In the recall task, both groups demonstrated a better encoding of the metaphorical sentences compared to scrambled metaphors, but participants with dyslexia recalled less metaphors than did the control group, showing that metaphors are no exception to the limitations in sentence retrieval typically found in dyslexia. ConclusionsOur findings suggest that individuals with dyslexia are comparable to participants without dyslexia in their ability to automatically compute metaphorical meanings. Thus, difficulties in metaphor comprehension in people with dyslexia that have been detected in previous studies might depend on meaning construction in context rather than online semantic processing.

Метафора банковского кризиса 2023 г. как составляющая экономического дискурса

INTRODUCTION. A cognitive-discourse analysis of the 2023 banking crisis (BC) metaphor is presented. The need to comprehend current events through a multi-level analysis of economic discourse and its components, the task of modeling a cognitive metaphor in economic media texts that carry information about business in order to identify the dominant metaphorical models characteristic of economic discourse, the feasibility of determining general trends in the development of economic discourse through comparative analysis of the metaphor of BC and EC (economic crisis) determines the relevance of the topic.MATERIALS AND METHODS. The study of sources of English-language business economic information (March-December 2023) was conducted on the basis of the following methods: continuous sampling, descriptive and comparative, cognitive modeling method.RESULTS AND DISCUSSION. The most frequent metaphorical models were identified: “BC is a person”, “BC is a disease”, “BC is a natural disaster”, “BC is a road” and a new model “BC is the process of cooking”. Established metaphors are characterized by processuality, and the complexity of concepts acting as source spheres ensures the semantic irradiation of the main concept due to the transformation of the meanings and assessments collectively reflected in it and leads to the consolidation of metaphors in economic discourse. Dominant metaphorical models also dominate the representation of EC 2008–2012. Comparing the metaphors of two economic crises allows us to identify some general trends in the development of economic discourse.CONCLUSIONS. The combination of different metaphorical models enhances their impact on the addressee. Metaphorical meaning generation is an ongoing process that creates a cognitive frame for the perception of economic discourse. Prospects for further research consist in considering the interaction of metaphorical models with each other and with other means of influence – precedent phenomena, emotive and euphemistic vocabulary, phraseology.

A look at, inside, and outside metaphors

Abstract How metaphors are comprehended and their pragmatic effects have long been of interest (Colston, 2019; Gibbs, 2017; Gibbs & Colston, 2012). Attending to the varied constructions where metaphors appear has also advanced our understanding (Athanasiadou, 2017). How metaphors in extra-linguistic mediums has been of particular interest of late, as have the import of embodied simulations (Bergen, 2012; Cienki & Muller, 2008; Forceville & Urios-Aparisi, 2009). But these explorations outside of language and inside the body have left some bits relatively unattended. Metaphors and their host constructions can be embedded into an array of language genres. These also bring their own idiosyncratic influences on metaphor cognition. Moreover, the target domain content that metaphors invoke adds to this complex mixture. And metaphors can be layered within metaphors. This paper presents a tour of just some of the immense fractalesque complexity invoked when we look at the full richness of metaphorical meaning.

The Embodied Effect in the Comprehension of Chinese Action-Verb Metaphors.

Embodied cognition holds that one's body, actions, perceptions, and situations are integrated into the cognitive process and emphasizes the fact that sensorimotor systems play a role in language comprehension. Previous studies verified the embodied effect in literal language processing but few of them paid attention to metaphors in embodied cognition. The present study aims to explore the embodied effect in the comprehension of Chinese action-verb metaphor. Participants watched a video containing icons and corresponding actions to learn the relationship between them and how to perform these actions in the learning phase and in the test phase, a series of action-describing metaphor phrases were presented to participants with either the icons as primes or no prime at all. The results confirmed the embodied effect as the reaction times (RTs) were significantly shorter when action prime matched the action-verb in the following action-verb metaphor than that of no-prime condition, which are consistent with the facilitation observed in previous relevant studies in embodied cognition. In conclusion, this study verified the embodied effect in the comprehension of Chinese action-verb metaphor, offering further support to embodied cognition and providing a new interpretation for the metaphoric meaning construction of Chinese action-verbs.

Art Vandalism and Heritage: Meaning-Making Processes of Climate Activists’ Performance in Museums

ABSTRACT In the landmark year of 2022, climate activists staged 38 heritage performances in museums and galleries worldwide to raise awareness about the pressing threats of global warming and climate crises. This article explores the advantages that heritage offers to climate activists for conveying their message and analyzes their performances within the framework of heritage. Having redefined art vandalism and suggested new terminology, the research examines all recorded incidents in 2022, with a detailed case study of the “Letzte Generation” group in Germany, who chose the Barberini Museum to throw mashed potatoes on Monet’s Meules. The group’s performance is analyzed through Professor Laurajane Smith’s concept of “heritage as performance,” demonstrating different layers of metaphorical, social, and emotional meaning.

An ERP study on the late stage of Chinese metaphor processing.

Psycholinguistic models of metaphor processing remain a subject of debate. A prime-probe design using Chinese materials with a specific time span (300 ms) was applied to test the mechanisms of metaphor processing. Conventional and familiarized metaphors were designed as primes, followed by a probe word semantically related to the prime metaphor (MT), a probe word related to the literal meaning of the final word of the prime metaphor (LT), control/unrelated probe word (UT), or non-word. Event-related potentials (ERPs) elicited by the probes were recorded to examine metaphor processing. In N400, results revealed that UT and LT elicited significantly more negative waveforms than MT in both primes. MTs and LTs showed no difference between conventional and familiarized metaphors, suggesting that metaphorical meaning may be accessed directly, regardless of whether conventional or familiarized metaphors. The results were generally compatible with the direct processing model.

Characteristics and translation of metaphorical language in traditional Chinese medicine texts

This article is devoted to the study of the characteristics of metaphorical language and its translation in the texts of traditional Chinese medicine. The research subject of this article is metaphorical language in TCM texts. The characteristics of the metaphorical language of TCM texts determine that translation should focus on cross-cultural communication and meaning interpretation. The purpose of the study is to investigate, learn how to accurately decipher metaphorical language and convey the connotation of these metaphorical expressions, so as to promote the effective dissemination of TCM culture in intercultural communication. And also - to reduce misunderstandings caused by cultural and linguistic differences, to improve the quality and accuracy of translations of TCM texts, to build a better linguistic bridge for TCM to the world. In terms of research methodology, this paper uses the method of literature study - extensive collection of relevant information and detailed interpretation of typical metaphorical expressions, as well as the method of comparative analysis - comparing the differences in the use of metaphorical language in different literatures. Scientific novelty is reflected in the in-depth interpretation and translation of TCM metaphors. Through an in-depth study of TCM theories and practices, the scientific principles underlying metaphors are revealed and presented to readers in a clearer and more accurate way. At the same time, innovative translation methods such as the method of literal translation with commentary, the free translation method, etc., allow readers to better understand the unique meaning of TCM metaphors. Through in-depth analysis, it is found that metaphorical language has important characteristics such as imagery, cultural relevance and polysemy, and is an important cognitive approach and tool in Chinese medicine and at the same time not only embodies a special description of physiological phenomena, but also a unique cognitive marker of alternative psychophysiological communication.

Literary Metaphor Comprehension in the Rational and Experiential Cognitive Styles of Human Thinking

Prior research on the poetic metaphor interpretation has focused on describing metaphoric structure and identifying its principles by observing semantically mapped properties of a metaphor. Cognitive literary studies have highlighted an experimental approach to the metaphoric thinking. The experimental approach examines, among others, the empirical processes of metaphor interpretation and comprehension. For metaphor processing, emergent meanings are crucial. We already have many reports, findings and normative data on metaphor processing, but individual cognitive mechanisms and variations across people have received an insufficient attention. To address this issue, this empirical study examines the influence of rational (analytical) and experiential (intuitive) cognitive styles on the comprehension of a poetic literary metaphor. In our statistical analysis, we have used a fractional pooling of the participants. It highlights the non-identical metaphor processes in rational and experiential cognitive preferences. According to our findings, people with a preference for the experiential cognitive style produce relatively more emergent metaphorical meanings than people with a preference for the rational cognitive style. These findings contribute to the more complex knowledge of the metaphoric thinking consequences. Keywords: Literary metaphor; Interpretation of metaphor; Rational (analytical) cognitive style; Experiential (intuitive) cognitive style; Emergent metaphorical meaning

Figurative Language of Song Lyrics in Akimoto Yasushi’s Works Sung by Keyakizaka46

The language used in song lyrics generally has an aesthetic, poetic style of language that contains meaning to entertain the audience. Song lyrics are a place for an author to express feelings about his experiences or the other people's lives. In a song lyric, the words are selected and adjusted so that the meaning and message of the song lyrics reaches the audience directly or indirectly. Indirectly conveying song content usually uses figurative language or figurative words such as conceptual metaphors. This study aims to describe the meaning and types of conceptual metaphors found in 3 song lyrics by Akimoto Yasushi performed by the idol group Keyakizaka46. Most of the songs created by Akimoto performed by Keyakizaka46 have the theme of differences and disputes, they performed the song without showing a smile, this is one of the uniqueness of Keyakizaka46. The method used is descriptive qualitative method. The theory used is Lakoff & Johnson's conceptual metaphor theory. The results of the study found 13 metaphors, consisting of 6 types of structural metaphors, 1 type of orientational metaphor, and 6 types of ontological metaphors. The metaphors in these 3 song lyrics by Akimoto Yasushi have meaning, namely an invitation for poets to dare to speak out and have an opinion in choosing, not to be afraid of disputes and differences, and to invite them to live life according to their own will and not be controlled by others. The use of metaphors in Akimoto's song lyrics shows the uniqueness and characteristics of the Keyakizaka46 idol group.

National specificity of Kyrgyz and English gender political discourse

Relevance. Since the modern world is constantly transforming in terms of linguistic means, i.e. communication is undergoing several changes, there is a high need to study the national peculiarities of political gender discourses. Purpose. The study aims to provide a national interpretation of political discourse regarding gender aspects manifested in the context of linguistic and communicative parameters in the speech activities of male and female politicians. Methodology. The study analyzed political speeches by Kyrgyz and British politicians, examining linguistic parameters such as hesitation, categoricity, irony, and tone, to compare gender-specific communication strategies in both countries' political discourses. Results. This study presents the national specificity of Kyrgyz and British political gender discourse. The analysis identified the main differences between the speech activities of men and women politicians. In the Kyrgyz political discourse, men are characterised by hesitations, categorical and directness, irony, raising the tone of voice, active metaphorisation and hidden meanings. British political discourse in terms of male communication is characterised by a high degree of categoricity, almost no pauses, active use of irony, metaphorical and implicit means, and a moderate degree of emotionality. Conclusions. The Kyrgyz discourse reflects "soft power" approaches, while the British discourse shows women more actively defending their positions. Both discourses employ metaphorical language. These findings highlight the interplay between gender, national culture, and political communication styles. Keywords: speech; linguistic resources; implicitness; categoricity; emotionality

Expressing Gender Opposition in Kazakh Proverbs Through Metaphor

Despite the growing interest in gender differences reflected in proverbs, little attention has been paid to binary oppositions in the proverbial discourse. The paper aims to explore metaphorical gender representations in Kazakh proverbs. It focuses on how the gender oppositions in proverbs reflect the socio-cultural perceptions of gender relations in the Kazakh culture, and what new information about gender can be gained from the study of gender oppositions in proverbs. The research material was drawn from the dictionary The Ancestors' Words by purposive sampling. The study used a qualitative research design and focused on proverbs based on binary gender oppositions involving man- and woman-specific social actors. The cognitive representations of gender oppositions were examined using the Conceptual Metaphor Theory. As a result, proverbs containing binary gender oppositions are shown to reflect a typical patriarchal worldview based on the image of a man as a provider for the family, warrior and defender possessing physical strength and higher social status, and the image of a woman as a guardian of the family hearth having a subordinate status. At the same time, they reveal the complementarity of the metaphorically expressed male and female binary oppositions. Thus, gender metaphors placed in opposition in proverbs highlight the multifacetedness of gender relations in the Kazakh family and society and the inseparability and importance of both genders in the family union. The paper suggests a fresh line of investigation into the metaphorical meaning of proverbs based on binary oppositions.

The view of synthetic biology in the field of ethics: a thematic systematic review.

Synthetic biology is designing and creating biological tools and systems for useful purposes. It uses knowledge from biology, such as biotechnology, molecular biology, biophysics, biochemistry, bioinformatics, and other disciplines, such as engineering, mathematics, computer science, and electrical engineering. It is recognized as both a branch of science and technology. The scope of synthetic biology ranges from modifying existing organisms to gain new properties to creating a living organism from non-living components. Synthetic biology has many applications in important fields such as energy, chemistry, medicine, environment, agriculture, national security, and nanotechnology. The development of synthetic biology also raises ethical and social debates. This article aims to identify the place of ethics in synthetic biology. In this context, the theoretical ethical debates on synthetic biology from the 2000s to 2020, when the development of synthetic biology was relatively faster, were analyzed using the systematic review method. Based on the results of the analysis, the main ethical problems related to the field, problems that are likely to arise, and suggestions for solutions to these problems are included. The data collection phase of the study included a literature review conducted according to protocols, including planning, screening, selection and evaluation. The analysis and synthesis process was carried out in the next stage, and the main themes related to synthetic biology and ethics were identified. Searches were conducted in Web of Science, Scopus, PhilPapers and MEDLINE databases. Theoretical research articles and reviews published in peer-reviewed journals until the end of 2020 were included in the study. The language of publications was English. According to preliminary data, 1,453 publications were retrieved from the four databases. Considering the inclusion and exclusion criteria, 58 publications were analyzed in the study. Ethical debates on synthetic biology have been conducted on various issues. In this context, the ethical debates in this article were examined under five themes: the moral status of synthetic biology products, synthetic biology and the meaning of life, synthetic biology and metaphors, synthetic biology and knowledge, and expectations, concerns, and problem solving: risk versus caution.

Ibn Taymiyya and Divinities: A Critical Study of the Concepts of Affirmation, Anthropomorphism and Sense Organs

One of the distinctive features of Ibn Taymiyyah's approach to theology is his understanding of ambiguous texts involving anthropomorphic expressions, such as Al-yad "hand" and Al-Istiwaau "ascension." Hence arises the problematic aspect of the study, represented by the principal question: What are the characteristics that distinguish Ibn Taymiyyah's understanding of divine attributes from others, earning him such renown? The reason for this choice is to answer the previous question and its ramifications. The significance of the study lies in uncovering the foundations of Ibn Taymiyyah's understanding of attributes, and whether this understanding aligns with the issue of divine transcendence from resembling created beings. To achieve this, several methodologies were pursued, notably: the inductive approach, the descriptive approach, and the critical approach. The aim of the study is to reveal this understanding, which differs from others. The study concludes that his understanding of attributes is based on three pillars: affirmation, anthropomorphism, and sense organs. The intended meaning of affirmation is to negate all metaphorical meanings accepted by the text. The intended meaning of literal interpretation is that the hand and the face are entities in themselves, necessitating corporeality. Although he does not expressly affirm corporeality, he never categorically denies it. The study recommends examining the aspects of the methodology adopted by Ibn Taymiyyah in his understanding of attributive reports, in which he diverged from others.