Figurative dimensions of 3ayn ‘eye’ in Tunisian Arabic
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Zouheir Maalej
Abstract
In Tunisian Arabic (TA), ‘heart’ is the most productive body part term in the conceptualization of emotions, cultural values, character traits, and mental faculties (Maalej 2004, 2008). Next in productivity is the outer body part 3ayn ‘eye’. The eye offers the following imaginative configurations: (i) image schema-based metaphors, (ii) metonymy-motivated metaphors, (iii) metaphors, and (iv) metonymies. The goal of the chapter is to show how TA embodies the mind via a cultural ‘eye’ model in the conceptualization of various mental faculties (knowing, understanding, thinking, speaking), physical states (sleep, death, passage of time), emotions (love, desire, anger, guilt, envy), character traits (ambition, greed, naiveté, insolence), and cultural values (respect and hospitality). The findings point to the dominance of metaphors and image schemas in the conceptualization of experience embodied through 3ayn ‘eye’ in TA, and the prevalence of culture-specific embodiment, i.e. embodiment that is not universally attested.
Abstract
In Tunisian Arabic (TA), ‘heart’ is the most productive body part term in the conceptualization of emotions, cultural values, character traits, and mental faculties (Maalej 2004, 2008). Next in productivity is the outer body part 3ayn ‘eye’. The eye offers the following imaginative configurations: (i) image schema-based metaphors, (ii) metonymy-motivated metaphors, (iii) metaphors, and (iv) metonymies. The goal of the chapter is to show how TA embodies the mind via a cultural ‘eye’ model in the conceptualization of various mental faculties (knowing, understanding, thinking, speaking), physical states (sleep, death, passage of time), emotions (love, desire, anger, guilt, envy), character traits (ambition, greed, naiveté, insolence), and cultural values (respect and hospitality). The findings point to the dominance of metaphors and image schemas in the conceptualization of experience embodied through 3ayn ‘eye’ in TA, and the prevalence of culture-specific embodiment, i.e. embodiment that is not universally attested.
Chapters in this book
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents v
- List of contributors vii
- Acknowledgments ix
- Introduction 1
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Part 1. European perspectives
- The relevance of embodiment to lexical and collocational meaning 23
- Dynamic body parts in Estonian figurative descriptions of emotion 41
- Contrasting body parts 71
- head and eye in German and Indonesian figurative uses 93
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Part 2. East Asian perspectives
- Speech organs and linguistic activity/function in Chinese 117
- Inner and outer body parts 149
- A cultural-linguistic look at Japanese ‘eye’ expressions 171
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Part 3. Middle Eastern and North African perspectives
- Conceptualizations of cheshm ‘eye’ in Persian 197
- Figurative dimensions of 3ayn ‘eye’ in Tunisian Arabic 213
- The apocalypse happens when the feet take the position of the head 241
- Index 257
Chapters in this book
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents v
- List of contributors vii
- Acknowledgments ix
- Introduction 1
-
Part 1. European perspectives
- The relevance of embodiment to lexical and collocational meaning 23
- Dynamic body parts in Estonian figurative descriptions of emotion 41
- Contrasting body parts 71
- head and eye in German and Indonesian figurative uses 93
-
Part 2. East Asian perspectives
- Speech organs and linguistic activity/function in Chinese 117
- Inner and outer body parts 149
- A cultural-linguistic look at Japanese ‘eye’ expressions 171
-
Part 3. Middle Eastern and North African perspectives
- Conceptualizations of cheshm ‘eye’ in Persian 197
- Figurative dimensions of 3ayn ‘eye’ in Tunisian Arabic 213
- The apocalypse happens when the feet take the position of the head 241
- Index 257
