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Part of
Body Part Terms in Conceptualization and Language Usage
Edited by Iwona Kraska-Szlenk
[Cognitive Linguistic Studies in Cultural Contexts 12] 2020
► pp. 195–214

The metonymic folk model of language in Turkish

Situated within the framework of linguistic embodiment, this chapter examines the speech-related terms ‘voice’, ‘mouth’, ‘tongue’, ‘lips’ and ‘chin’ in Turkish to reveal how speech and language are conceptualized in regards to these terms based on the metonymic chain model (Radden, 2001). The data of the study come from idiomatic constructions, which are analyzed in terms of their figurative uses, and the underlying conceptual metaphors and metonymies. The findings agree with Radden’s (2001) metonymic chain (i.e. speech organ – speaking – speech – language), which is expressed in conceptual code as speech organ for speaking, speaking for speech, and speech for language. The data unveil cognitive mechanisms for each term such as mouth/lip is a container, tongue movements for expression skill, chin for long talk that yield a general cognitive understanding of them. The study confirms the embodiment of verbal behavior as well as the existence of culture-specific patterns in the conceptualization of speech and language.

Keywords: speech-related organs, metonymy, metaphor, embodiment, Turkish
Article outline
  • 1.Introduction
  • 2.Data collection and analysis
  • 3.Conceptualizations of dil ‘tongue’
    • 3.1Tongue for speaking
    • 3.2Tongue for speech
    • 3.3Tongue for language
  • 4.Conceptualizations of ağız ‘mouth’
    • 4.1Mouth for speaking
    • 4.2Mouth for speech
    • 4.3Mouth for language (subdialect)
  • 5.Conceptualizations of dudak ‘lip’
  • 6.Conceptualizations of çene ‘chin’
  • 7.Conceptualizations of ses ‘voice’
  • 8.Discussion
  • 9.Conclusion
  • Acknowledgements
  • References
  • Dictionaries
Published online: 23 March 2020
DOI logo
https://doi.org/10.1075/clscc.12.c09bas
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