Arab World English Journal (AWEJ) Volume 11. Number3 September 2020 Pp.515-536
DOI: https://dx.doi.org/10.24093/awej/vol11no3.34
The English Verb See in Fiction Writing: A Cognitive Semantic Analysis
Ruaa Talal Jumaah
Faculty of Modern Languages and Communication,
Universiti Putra Malaysia, Selangor, Malaysia.
Sabariah Md Rashid
Faculty of Modern Languages and Communication,
Universiti Putra Malaysia, Selangor, Malaysia.
Mohd Azidan Bin Abdul Jabar
Faculty of Modern Languages and Communication,
Universiti Putra Malaysia, Selangor, Malaysia.
Afida Mohamad Ali
Faculty of Modern Languages and Communication,
Universiti Putra Malaysia, Selangor, Malaysia.
Abstract:
The study aims at unraveling the conceptual metaphor underlying the English verb of visual perception see in fiction writing. It has two research questions: 1) What are the conceptual metaphors underlying the linguistic expressions of the English verb of visual perception see in fiction writing and 2) What are the theoretical implications of MIND-AS-BODY theory on the motivation of conceptual metaphors underlying the English verb of visual perception see. This study adopts a qualitative approach and is situated within the field of cognitive semantics. A corpus of English fiction writing between the period of 2010 and 2017 was compiled from different sources comprising one million words. Specifically, a sample consisting of 1,000 examples of the English verb of visual perception see was randomly extracted from the corpus using the AntConc 3.5.0 concordancer. The Metaphor Identification Procedures (MIP) were used to identify the metaphorical linguistic expressions in the corpus, and Lakoff and Johnson’s (2003) as well as Sweetser’s (1990) analytical frameworks were adopted for data analysis. The data analysis revealed various conceptual metaphors underlying the English verb see. These conceptual metaphors are related to the domains of knowledge, intellections, and understanding which support Sweetser’s claim regarding the primacy of vision in motivating metaphors of cognition in human speech and thought. Thus, this study contributes to the literature on verbs of perception, particularly verbs of visual perception, as it is the first to address the conceptual metaphors underlying the verb see in English using a real authentic corpus of fiction writing.
Keywords: MIND-AS-BODY conceptual metaphor, conceptual metaphor theory, verbs of perception, verbs of visual perception, vision metaphor, fiction writing
Cite as: Jumaah, R. T., Rashid, S.M., Abdul Jabar, M. Z., & Ali, A. M. (2020). The English Verb See in Fiction Writing: A Cognitive Semantic Analysis. Arab World English Journal, 11 (3) 515-536 .
DOI: https://dx.doi.org/10.24093/awej/vol11no3.34
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