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Language Endangerment: Disappearing metaphors and shifting conceptualizations
Edited by Elisabeth Piirainen and Ari Sherris
[Cognitive Linguistic Studies in Cultural Contexts 7] 2015
► pp. 155–174

8. Receding idioms in West Danish (Jutlandic)

The purpose of this chapter is to present and analyze dialectal idioms because they seem to be in retreat. The study employs a theory of conventional figurative units based on the conceptual theory of metaphors. The idioms are discussed in some detail inside a broad range of semantic fields. These include idioms of oppositions (e.g., richness vs. poorness, cleverness vs. foolishness, selfishness vs. cooperation). An additional purpose is to identify the lexicographic consequences of idioms (i.e., polysemy) due to the figurative use of words, which may influence the structure of dictionary entries. The results of the entire study are summarized in an overview-chart with key concepts from each idiom. The chart indicates characteristics that constitute each idiom’s distribution and figurativeness. These characteristics lead to considerations of the possible survival of dialectal idioms, including idioms also found in Standard Danish.
Keywords: dialects, figurative units, lexicographic impact, metaphors, polysemy, semantic fields
Published online: 14 October 2015
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https://doi.org/10.1075/clscc.7.07arb
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