Conceptualizing Sadness through the Conceptual Domain of Container in Persian and Arabic Languages

Abstract

The present study surveys the concept of sadness in those parts of Persian and Arabic languages which have been conceived and expressed through the source domain of container in order to illustrate the way speakers of the above languages think in this domain, as well as the similarities and differences between them. Moreover, the study intends to reveal the order behind the discrete and seemingly irregular expressions of the sad person as a container and describe its cognitive system. The method employed in this research is analytical-semantic. Conducting comparative studies, understanding how common concepts are structured in the conceptual system of speakers of different languages, and identifying culture-based metaphors play an important role in the cognitive understanding of cultures. For instance, through the results of the present study, it can be stated that Arabic speakers consider sadness to be mainly something that blocks their throats (غصّ، شجا، جرض for example); i.e. the blockage is prominent while Persian speakers consider sadness to be mainly something edible (غم/ غصه خورد meaning He ate sadness/grief). That is to say, the difficulty of swallowing is not prominent in Persian and the problem is that this food has accumulated in the heart (stomach) and puts this organ under pressure (دلم ترکید meaning My heart exploded), or that this food has wounded the heart (خونِ دل می‌خورد meaning Eating sadness caused the heart to bleed).

Keywords

• container
• sadness
• basic-culture metaphors
• persian and arabic languages