Metaphors related to Iraqi women : metaphormorphism as cross domain-mapping

Abstract EN

This paper has initiated a study that aims to analysis the metaphorical expressions uttered by Iraqi males towards females‟ metaphors to understand their conceptual meanings.

The theoretical assumptions are derived from the Conceptual Metaphor Theory developed by Lakoff and Johnson's (2003).

To this end, the data were collected at University of Basra about women's metaphor in the Iraqi society through a questionnaire.

The questionnaire comprised 12 items in Arabic to capture data in metaphorical expressions about women used by men.

The questionnaire was prepared and distributed to students in different colleges and schools in Basra.

425 students in Basra Universities filled the questionnaire.

The answers revealed that the metaphors students use are influenced by their way of life, their personal characteristics, their educational background and their feelings towards women in society.

The findings of the study recommend that the ideological importance of a metaphor (i.e.

the mappings between its source and target domains and its specific lexical encoding) can be better evaluated when investigated comparable to integral or neigh bouring domain of experience.

Finally, this paper showed the need to consider the contextualisation of metaphor in giving an account of their linguistic, social and cultural imports.