Universality vs. cultural specificity of anger metaphors and metonymies in English and Vietnamese idioms

Bibliographic Data

ID22248023
AuthorsBa Tien Tran (0000-0002-3716-1137, Vinh University, corresponding author)
Year2022
Volume26
Issue1
Pages74-94
Publication date2022-03-30
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueRussian Journal of Linguistics (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 2686-8024 • E-ISSN: 2687-0088
PublisherPeoples' Friendship University of Russia (PUBLISHER • RU)
DOI10.22363/2687-0088-24951
OpenAlexW4205922842
LanguageEN
Citations received6
References cited18

As a human basic emotion, anger has been extensively investigated to gain insights into human cognition and psychology. From the cognitive linguistic perspective, research into metaphor and metonymy of anger across languages can shed light on the cultural models of respective speech communities. This paper looks into metaphors and metonymies of anger in Vietnamese and English idioms to find out how this emotion is conceptualized in each language, what features are universal and what characteristics are culturally specific. The Conceptual Metaphor Theory framework proposed by Lakoff Johnson (1980) was used for data analysis, which involves 68 English and 52 Vietnamese idioms. It was found that both languages conceptualize anger based on embodied experiences as well as cultural models. Six major conceptual metaphors of anger are identified with more diverse elaborations in Vietnamese idioms. Cultural differences are that Vietnamese makes frequent use of body parts and internal organs metonymies while English tends to utilize the whole body to describe emotional states. Vietnamese feudalist values and folk culture are also evident in the metaphorical and metonymic idioms of anger. These findings have both linguistic significance and pedagogical implications. It is suggested that awareness of conceptual motivation should be promoted when teaching idioms as figurative, metaphorically based expressions

Anger · Cognition · Cognitive linguistics · Cognitive psychology · Conceptual metaphor · Linguistics · Literal and figurative language · Metaphor · Metonymy · Vietnamese · Categorization, perception, and language · Humor Studies and Applications · Language, Metaphor, and Cognition · Psychology · Social Psychology

Tools

Open DOIOpen Access