A Cross-Cultural Account of the Metaphor Conceptualizations of Thought as Food in Persian

Khajeh, Zahra & Ho Abdullah, Imran & Tan, Kim Hua. (2014). A cross-cultural account of the metaphor conceptualizations of thought as food in Persian. Pertanika Journal of Social Science and Humanities. 22. 1115-1131.

This article and text has been taken from the original study, appearing in the Pertanika Journal of Social Sciences & Humanities. It can be found on here.
Visit the journal for the full study.

Abstract

The eating experience, being vitally essential for the survival of human beings, can be extended to convey other conceptually abstract experiences. As a cognitive-semantic account of metaphor conceptualizations, this study aims to investigate the relationship between food-related metaphorical concepts and Persian cultural cognition and cultural models, as well as how they influence the targeted speakers’ beliefs and ideas. Following the orientation of experientialists’ views (Lakoff & Johnson, 1980, 1999) and most discussions of metaphorical concepts since then within the cognitive linguistics movement, this study in particular explores the commonalities and variations in ontological metaphor conceptualizations of thought/ideas as food in a cross-cultural comparative study of English and Persian. The metaphoric extensions of food and cognition in Persian, to a great extent, are mediated and motivated by embodied experiences; as well as socio-cultural orientation, Iranian traditional medicine and the spiritual tradition of Suism as it is shown through the marginal role the Persian language plays a role in the rational-irrational dichotomy.

---

Interested in Persian? Find relevant research abstracts, blog posts, articles, and resources here.

And if you’re just here for the food, you can learn more about food metaphors and linguistics here.