Papers by Veronika Szelid
Russian journal of linguistics, Mar 5, 2024
Cognitive linguistic investigations into the metaphorical conceptualization of ANGER suggest that... more Cognitive linguistic investigations into the metaphorical conceptualization of ANGER suggest that languages are remarkably similar on a schematic level, with intensity and control as two, possibly universal dimensions underlying the metaphorical conceptualization of ANGER. These dimensions, however, can manifest themselves in language-specific metaphors. Yet arriving at a definitive answer to the question of universality versus variation is hindered by (a) a relatively limited number of systematic, contrastive analyses; and (b) varied methodologies, with some papers adopting a typebased account, while others following a token-based analysis. We take up both challenges in the present paper with the aim of offering a more definitive answer to the question of the universality and variation of ANGER metaphors. We investigate the ANGER metaphors of a type-based analysis, focusing on dictionary data of ANGER-related idioms, and a token-based analysis, focusing on data collected from online corpora, in three languages: (American) English (2,000 random instances of the lemma anger from the Corpus of Contemporary American English), Hungarian (1,000 instances of the lemma düh from the Hungarian National Corpus) and Russian (1,000 instances of the lemma gnev from the Russian National Corpus). The lexical data were analyzed with the well-established Metaphor Identification Procedure (MIP). Our results indicate that there is a great deal of congruence relative to shared metaphors in both approaches, but this derives from specific-level metaphors in the lexical approach, whereas it derives from more schematic, generic-level metaphors in the corpus-based approach. The study shows that the full picture of the metaphorical conceptualization of a complex emotion concept such as ANGER can only emerge with the combination of the type-and token-based approach.
John Benjamins Publishing Company eBooks, Sep 15, 2022
Bilingual Figurative Language Processing
Abstract This chapter studies metaphors for anger in four languages, American English, Spanish, T... more Abstract This chapter studies metaphors for anger in four languages, American English, Spanish, Turkish, and Hungarian from a cognitive linguistic perspective. Our database includes large corpora and standard newspapers and magazines in the four languages for the past 10 years. First, we intend to uncover the most common conceptual metaphors in the respective languages. Second, we discuss the main systematic similarities and differences between the languages regarding the way anger is talked about and conceptualized in the languages under investigation. Given our results, we assess some of the implications of our work for the cross-cultural corpus-based study of metaphor. In particular, we propose a new complex measure of metaphorical salience as a tool to determine the cultural importance of conceptual metaphors. Keywords : anger metaphor, conceptual metaphor, corpus analysis, metaphorical mappings, metaphorical salience In the cognitive linguistic view , metaphor is conceptualizing one domain of experience in terms of another (Lakoff & Johnson, 1980; Kovecses, 2010). The domain of experience that is used to comprehend another domain is typically more physical, more directly experienced, and better known than the domain we wish to comprehend, which is typically more abstract, less directly experienced, and less known. The more concrete domain is called the source domain and the more abstract one is called the target domain . Domains of experience are represented in the mind as concepts given as mental frames. This is why we talk about conceptual metaphors .
This is a research into the ways in which the speakers of one of the most ancient Hungarian diale... more This is a research into the ways in which the speakers of one of the most ancient Hungarian dialects living on the eastern slopes of the Carpathian mountains conceptualized 'love' when their folksongs were born, by studying conceptual mechanisms through the texts of the songs. In spite of the fact that in the language of most of the researched modern societies 'love' is taken to be a romantic emotion and as such, conceptualized by the metaphor EMOTIONS ARE FORCES (Kövecses 2000), Csángó authors of the folksongs seem to think about it in an utterly different way. The concept of 'love' is based on morality metaphors, more specifically, those of the STRICT FATHER morality (Lakoff 1996). It can be ascertained that beyond the rich erotic meaning emphasized by folklorists, the metaphors of folksongs reveal a complex love model based on moral aspects.
Cognitive Sociolinguistics Revisited
Cognitive Linguistic Studies
In this paper I have a twofold aim: (1) to reveal the complexity of the concept of love in Hungar... more In this paper I have a twofold aim: (1) to reveal the complexity of the concept of love in Hungarian folklore by analyzing a number of its linguistic (oral-verbal) and visual representations side by side; and (2) to decipher these two modes of expression in light of each other, with the help of Conceptual Metaphor Theory. The reason for doing so is that folkloric artefacts and folk poetry are two different self-expressional modes of a community; therefore, if their symbolism represents certain aspects of the same concept, it enables us to get a more complex view on the concept itself, as well as to explore and compare the different modes the messages are conveyed by. Texts of folk songs and the patterns, structure and functions of the hope chest, an artefact that played an essential role in a woman’s life in Hungarian folklore, are analyzed in line with each other. I propose that the model of love revealed by folk poetry and folk art is thoroughly intertwined with the concepts of mo...
ARGUMENTUM
The way we talk about complex and abstract ideas is inherently metaphorical and therefore perspec... more The way we talk about complex and abstract ideas is inherently metaphorical and therefore perspectivized. Not even scientific language is an exception to this. The present study provides a linguistic analysis of Mark Johnson's philosophical book, Morality for Humans, focusing on the two moral theories presented in the book (traditional and naturalized), based on five search terms. Johnson calls the morality of traditional ethics into question by assuming that, since it builds on absolute truths, it cannot provide adequate solutions to moral dilemmas. However, the postmodern approach offers an embodied conception of morality, and along with this, in Johnson's view, also the right solutions to moral issues. The present analysis uncovers and contrasts the persuasive strategies of the author of the book in the description of the two theories (with special regard to conceptual metaphors and categorization), and aims to reflect on the ways he persuades his readers about the validity of his own conception. More broadly, this research is interested in the persuasive (or even manipulative) power of metaphors in scientific discourse, which can easily become dangerous, inasmuch as it affects both the reader's conceptualization, and the writer's credibility.
Bilingual Figurative Language Processing, 2015
Annual Review of Cognitive Linguistics, 2008
Applying concepts of Cognitive Linguistics to dialectological data of a traditional kind, the pre... more Applying concepts of Cognitive Linguistics to dialectological data of a traditional kind, the present paper addresses the question whether differences of culture and conceptualization could be detected language-internally, not just across languages. At the same time, it shows that the traditional methodology of evaluating dialectological data at the level of language structure can be challenged by a usage-based cognitive linguistic analysis. The language variant in focus is the Moldavian Southern Csango, an archaic Hungarian dialect. We investigate the conceptualization of forty internal qualities (emotions and character traits) on the basis of two usage-based types of analysis: one in which we try to determine the entrenchment of the investigated concepts, and one in which we have a look at the semantic relationships between them. The two approaches provide converging evidence that negative concepts are more elaborated in the mind of the Csangos and that the most crucial factor org...
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Papers by Veronika Szelid