The Study of the Representation of Conceptual Metaphors in “Siyavash” Story of Ferdowsi’s Shahnameh: A Cognitive Approach

Abstract

Metaphor is one of the devices and elements which has been used for conveying and objectifying the great human concepts in Ferdowsi’s Shahnameh as an excellent, mythical, and heroic work. Accordingly, the structural nature of the stories of Ferdowsi’s Shahnameh has been represented as a metaphorical narrative. There are various characters in Shahnameh and each of them illustrates a symbol of different characteristics of human beings. Among the effective characters in Shahnameh, “Siyavash” as a “wise” person faces events that can be a metaphor or symbol of human life concepts. The aim of the present study is to investigate the different types of conceptual metaphors, i.e. 1) Orientational metaphor; 2) Ontological metaphor, including (2-1) Substance metaphor; (2-2) Container metaphor; (2-3) Personification metaphor; and 3) Structural metaphor, following Lakoff and Johnson’s (1980) model in “Siyavash story” of Ferdowsi’s Shahnameh. The results showed that ontological metaphor, particularly substance type has been significantly applied more than other metaphors in “Siyavash story” (p<0.05). On the contrary, the orientational metaphor has been used less than other ones.

Keywords

• cognitive linguistics
• conceptual metaphor
• orientational metaphor
• ontological metaphor
• structural metaphor
• ferdowsi’s shahnameh