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Article published In:
Metaphor and the Social World
Vol. 8:1 (2018) ► pp.100–133

An analysis of Arabic metaphorical and/or metonymical compounds

A cognitive linguistic approach

| University of Jordan
| Al Ain University of Science and Technology

This study provides an analysis of Arabic metaphorical and/or metonymical compounds, extracted from a 20,000-word corpus, based on Conceptual Metaphor Theory and Conceptual Blending Theory. The analysis focuses on the semantic transparency of these compounds, on the one hand, and their linguistic creativity, on the other. In line with Benczes (2006, 2010), we suggest that the comprehension of Arabic metaphorical and/or metonymical compounds is possibly one of degree depending on which element is affected by metaphor and metonymy. Here, it is proposed that there are compounds which are more creative than others. We argue that in addition to the degree of semantic transparency and linguistic creativity of Arabic metaphorical and/or metonymical compounds, there are other factors that can influence the comprehension of these compounds; namely, the frequency of the compound, the conventionality of the metaphors involved in the compound and whether conceptual metonymy acts on the compound. Our proposal is supported by the judgments of 12 native-speaker informants, who were asked to provide the meaning of 35 Arabic metaphorical and/or metonymical compounds. The study concludes with recommendations for further research.

Keywords: Arabic compounds, blending theory, conceptual metaphor theory, conventionality, corpus, metaphor, metonymy.
Article outline
  • 1.Introduction
  • 2.Theoretical framework
  • 3.Compositionality and transparency of compounds in mainstream linguistics
  • 4.Transparency of metaphorical and/or metonymical compounds from a cognitive linguistic perspective
  • 5.Methodology
  • 6.Analysis of Arabic metaphorical and/or metonymical compounds
    • 6.1Compounds in which the head is metaphorical
    • 6.2Compounds in which both elements are metaphorical
    • 6.3Compounds in which the relationship between the head and the non-head is metaphorical
    • 6.4Metaphorical and metonymical compounds (metaphtonymy)
  • 7.Conclusion
  • Notes
  • References
Published online: 7 May 2018
DOI logo
https://doi.org/10.1075/msw.16023.zib
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