Idioms of body parts in the Hijazi dialect of Arabic : a study based on cognitive semantics
This study explores the meaning of idioms concerning six parts of the human body (eye, head, mind, hand, tongue, and nose) in the Hijazi dialect of Arabic (henceforth HDA), as used in the city of Jeddah in Saudi Arabia. It uses the theoretical perspective of cognitive semantics and tests the cognitive linguistic hypothesis that idiomatic expressions are motivated by conceptual mechanisms of the native speakers of a language. These mechanisms are conceptual metaphors, conceptual metonymies, and conventional knowledge of the speakers of a language. The study also explores how far our conceptual system results from the kind of beings we are and the way we interrelate with our physical and cultural environments. In the absence of Hijazi dialect dictionaries, the researcher collected these idioms first-hand and verified their figurative meanings with HDA-speakers. These figurative meanings were classified and then translated, both literally and figuratively, into English. Using the Conceptual Theory of Metaphor and Metonymy, developed mainly by George Lakoff and Mark Johnson (1980), Lakoff (1987), and KoÌvecses (2002), the analysis demonstrates that: HDA-speakers' conceptual system is metaphorical; that there
Al-Jahdali, Najah Ali Mohammed
Idioms of body parts in the Hijazi dialect of Arabic : a study based on cognitive semantics. This study explores the meaning of idioms concerning six parts of the human body (eye, head, mind, hand, tongue, and nose) in the Hijazi dialect of Arabic (henceforth HDA), as used in the city of Jeddah in Saudi Arabia. It uses the theoretical perspective of cognitive semantics and tests the cognitive linguistic hypothesis that idiomatic expressions are motivated by conceptual mechanisms of the native speakers of a language. These mechanisms are conceptual metaphors, conceptual metonymies, and conventional knowledge of the speakers of a language. The study also explores how far our conceptual system results from the kind of beings we are and the way we interrelate with our physical and cultural environments. In the absence of Hijazi dialect dictionaries, the researcher collected these idioms first-hand and verified their figurative meanings with HDA-speakers. These figurative meanings were classified and then translated, both literally and figuratively, into English. Using the Conceptual Theory of Metaphor and Metonymy, developed mainly by George Lakoff and Mark Johnson (1980), Lakoff (1987), and KoÌvecses (2002), the analysis demonstrates that: HDA-speakers' conceptual system is metaphorical; that there
idioms body_part dialect_arabic study_base cognitive semantics study_explore mean idiom concern part human_body eye head mind hand tongue dialect_arabic henceforth use city saudi_arabia use theoretical_perspective cognitive semantics test cognitive_linguistic hypothesis idiomatic expression motivate conceptual mechanism native_speaker language mechanism conceptual_metaphor conceptual metonymy conventional knowledge speaker language study also_explore far conceptual_system kind being way interrelate physical cultural_environment absence dialect dictionary researcher collect idioms first_hand verify figurative_meaning speakers figurative_meaning classify translate_literally english using conceptual theory_metaphor metonymy develop mainly george lakoff mark johnson lakoff analysis demonstrates speakers conceptual_system metaphorical