Universality versus variation in the conceptualization of anger: A question of methodology

Cognitive linguistic investigations into the metaphorical conceptualization of anger suggest that languages are remarkably similar on a schematic level, with intensity and control as two, possibly universal dimensions underlying the metaphorical conceptualization of anger. These dimensions, however,...

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Main Authors: Zoltán Kövecses, Réka Benczes, Anna Rommel, Veronika Szelid
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Peoples’ Friendship University of Russia (RUDN University) 2024-03-01
Series:Russian Journal of Linguistics
Subjects:
Online Access:https://journals.rudn.ru/linguistics/article/viewFile/38056/23151
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author Zoltán Kövecses
Réka Benczes
Anna Rommel
Veronika Szelid
author_facet Zoltán Kövecses
Réka Benczes
Anna Rommel
Veronika Szelid
author_sort Zoltán Kövecses
collection DOAJ
description Cognitive linguistic investigations into the metaphorical conceptualization of anger suggest that languages are remarkably similar on a schematic level, with intensity and control as two, possibly universal dimensions underlying the metaphorical conceptualization of anger. These dimensions, however, can manifest themselves in language-specific metaphors. Yet arriving at a definitive answer to the question of universality versus variation is hindered by (a) a relatively limited number of systematic, contrastive analyses; and (b) varied methodologies, with some papers adopting a type-based account, while others following a token-based analysis. We take up both challenges in the present paper with the aim of offering a more definitive answer to the question of the universality and variation of anger metaphors. We investigate the anger metaphors of a type-based analysis, focusing on dictionary data of anger-related idioms, and a token-based analysis, focusing on data collected from online corpora, in three languages: (American) English (2,000 random instances of the lemma anger from the Corpus of Contemporary American English), Hungarian (1,000 instances of the lemma düh from the Hungarian National Corpus) and Russian (1,000 instances of the lemma gnev from the Russian National Corpus). The lexical data were analyzed with the well-established Metaphor Identification Procedure (MIP). Our results indicate that there is a great deal of congruence relative to shared metaphors in both approaches, but this derives from specific-level metaphors in the lexical approach, whereas it derives from more schematic, generic-level metaphors in the corpus-based approach. The study shows that the full picture of the metaphorical conceptualization of a complex emotion concept such as anger can only emerge with the combination of the type- and token-based approach.
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spelling doaj.art-65e5afab53d54913af7770da429e45a62024-03-06T13:09:51ZengPeoples’ Friendship University of Russia (RUDN University)Russian Journal of Linguistics2687-00882686-80242024-03-01281557910.22363/2687-0088-3483420887Universality versus variation in the conceptualization of anger: A question of methodologyZoltán Kövecses0https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9642-4662Réka Benczes1https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3481-8279Anna Rommel2https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0543-8530Veronika Szelid3https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1899-8345Eötvös Loránd UniversityCorvinus University of BudapestEötvös Loránd UniversityEötvös Loránd UniversityCognitive linguistic investigations into the metaphorical conceptualization of anger suggest that languages are remarkably similar on a schematic level, with intensity and control as two, possibly universal dimensions underlying the metaphorical conceptualization of anger. These dimensions, however, can manifest themselves in language-specific metaphors. Yet arriving at a definitive answer to the question of universality versus variation is hindered by (a) a relatively limited number of systematic, contrastive analyses; and (b) varied methodologies, with some papers adopting a type-based account, while others following a token-based analysis. We take up both challenges in the present paper with the aim of offering a more definitive answer to the question of the universality and variation of anger metaphors. We investigate the anger metaphors of a type-based analysis, focusing on dictionary data of anger-related idioms, and a token-based analysis, focusing on data collected from online corpora, in three languages: (American) English (2,000 random instances of the lemma anger from the Corpus of Contemporary American English), Hungarian (1,000 instances of the lemma düh from the Hungarian National Corpus) and Russian (1,000 instances of the lemma gnev from the Russian National Corpus). The lexical data were analyzed with the well-established Metaphor Identification Procedure (MIP). Our results indicate that there is a great deal of congruence relative to shared metaphors in both approaches, but this derives from specific-level metaphors in the lexical approach, whereas it derives from more schematic, generic-level metaphors in the corpus-based approach. The study shows that the full picture of the metaphorical conceptualization of a complex emotion concept such as anger can only emerge with the combination of the type- and token-based approach.https://journals.rudn.ru/linguistics/article/viewFile/38056/23151anger metaphorsuniversalityvariationamerican englishhungarianrussian
spellingShingle Zoltán Kövecses
Réka Benczes
Anna Rommel
Veronika Szelid
Universality versus variation in the conceptualization of anger: A question of methodology
Russian Journal of Linguistics
anger metaphors
universality
variation
american english
hungarian
russian
title Universality versus variation in the conceptualization of anger: A question of methodology
title_full Universality versus variation in the conceptualization of anger: A question of methodology
title_fullStr Universality versus variation in the conceptualization of anger: A question of methodology
title_full_unstemmed Universality versus variation in the conceptualization of anger: A question of methodology
title_short Universality versus variation in the conceptualization of anger: A question of methodology
title_sort universality versus variation in the conceptualization of anger a question of methodology
topic anger metaphors
universality
variation
american english
hungarian
russian
url https://journals.rudn.ru/linguistics/article/viewFile/38056/23151
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