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Part of
Proverbs within Cognitive Linguistics: State of the art
Edited by Sadia Belkhir
[Cognitive Linguistic Studies in Cultural Contexts 16] 2024
► pp. 65–85

Chapter 3
Contradiction in proverbs

The role of stereotypical metaphors

| Cadi Ayyad University , Morocco

Contradiction in proverbs has been noted over centuries. As a culture-specific phenomenon, contradiction is an important research topic for Conceptual Metaphor Theory. It must be asked why given proverbs contradict. The likely answer is that they express opposite meanings. Granted the metaphoricity of proverbs’ meanings, contradictory proverbs must be assumed to be motivated via opposite metaphors. This hypothesis is workable, but with the proviso that the metaphorical conceptualisations concerned are not standard conceptual metaphors but rather stereotypical metaphors – a kind of metaphors that emerge from stereotypes, that is, stereotypical thoughts that speakers within a speech community attach to concepts.

Keywords: conceptual metaphor, contradiction, proverbs, stereotypical metaphor
Article outline
  • 1.Introduction
  • 2.Truth, wisdom, and contradiction in proverbs: A brief overview
  • 3.Presenting the framework of stereotypical metaphor
    • 3.1Conceptual metaphor/stereotypical metaphor
    • 3.2Ambiguous metaphorical expressions: A case in point
  • 4.How stereotypical metaphors account for contradiction in proverbs
  • 5.Conclusion
  • References
Published online: 30 May 2024
DOI logo
https://doi.org/10.1075/clscc.16.03lem
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