Keywords
Abstract
This study, entitled “A Study of Metaphor in Everyday Language,” examines various types of metaphor in Pashto oral literature. Contrary to classical rhetoric, which regards metaphor merely as a literary device and poetic ornament, this study demonstrates that metaphor is deeply rooted in the human mind, cognition, and thought processes, functioning through the mapping of information from one concrete concept onto another target concept.
Drawing upon examples from everyday Pashto discourse, metaphors are first classified into three principal categories: orientational, ontological, and structural metaphors.
Simultaneously, from the perspective of rhetorical reinforcement, explicit (tasrīḥī), implicit (makniyyah), sensory, intellectual, extended (murashaḥah), and stripped (mujarradah) metaphors are analyzed through living examples drawn from actual language use. The findings of this study reveal that the widespread and largely unconscious presence of metaphor in everyday Pashto not only facilitates communication and comprehension by rendering abstract concepts more concrete and accessible, but also reflects the distinctive cultural worldview and cognitive categorization patterns of the Pashtun people.
References
Fotouhi, Mahmoud. (1385 A.H. Solar / 2006–2007). Balāghat wa Tasvīr [Rhetoric and Imagery]. Tehran: Sokhan Publications.
Golfam, Arsalan; Shirin, Mamasani. (1387 A.H. Solar / 2008–2009). A Cognitive Study of Metaphor and Metonymy in Idioms Containing Human Body Parts. Tehran: Pazhand Quarterly.
Hamkar, Mohammad Ibrahim. (1398 A.H. Solar / 2019–2020). Bayān Pohana [Rhetoric]. Nangarhar: Hamkar Publishing Society.
Hashimi, Zahra. (1389 A.H. Solar / 2010–2011). Nazariyya-ye Esteʿāreh-ye Mafhūmī az Dīdgaah-e Lakoff wa Johnson [The Theory of Conceptual Metaphor from the Perspective of Lakoff and Johnson]. Tehran: Adabpazhuhi.
Kövecses, Zoltán. (2005). Metaphor in Culture: Universality and Variation. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Lakoff, G, and Johnson, M. (1980). Metaphors We Live By. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
Maʿsumi, Ali; Kurdbacheh, Maryam. (1389 A.H. Solar / 2010–2011). Ontological Metaphors in Children's Stories. Tehran: Pazhand Quarterly.
Muslim Dost, Abdul Rahim. (1379 A.H. Solar / 2000–2001). Khwāga Zhaba [Sweet Language]. Peshawar: Saba Library.
Rezaei, Mohammad; Moqimi, Narjes. (1392 A.H. Solar / 2013–2014). Barrasi-ye Esteʿārehā-ye Mafhūmī dar Zarb al-Mathalhā-ye Fārsi [A Study of Conceptual Metaphors in Persian Proverbs]. Tehran: Mutālaʿāt-e Zabānī wa Balāghī.
Saeed, J. L. (2009). Semantics. Oxford: Blackwell Publishing.
Safavi, Kourosh. (1390 A.H. Solar / 2011–2012). Negāhī be Maʿnāshenāsī [A Perspective on Semantics]. Tehran: Sūreh Mehr Publications.
Shafiʿi Kadkani, Mohammad Reza. (1386 A.H. Solar / 2007–2008). Sowar-e Khiyāl dar Sheʿr-e Fārsi [Imagery in Persian Poetry]. Tehran: Agah Publications.