International Journal of Language and Culture - Volume 11, Issue 2, 2024

Abstract

This paper studies the orientational metaphor of zhōng (中, ‘middle’) and its cultural values behind this metaphor in Chinese Traditional Classic The Doctrine of Mean. It is found that there are three metaphorical meanings for the orientational metaphor of zhōng (中, ‘middle’), including “an emotion of calm.”; “a moderate degree” and “an ethical standard”. The ethical standard of zhōng is the judge criteria for the Chinese traditional role schemas jūnzǐ (君子, ‘a person of noble character’) and xiǎorén (小人,‘a person of petty character’). In addition, the cultural values of Chinese society revealed by the ethical standard of zhōng (中, ‘middle’) are concluded systematically from the levels of individual, family and state.

Abstract

Synesthesia had been studied mainly as an early intersensory association in the brain, i.e., the experience of this phenomenon in synesthetes arises in childhood, or perhaps earlier, and lasts over a lifespan. However, empirical research provides extensive evidence that synesthesia might be induced or acquired at a later age and might surface in cognitive and verbal forms — through synesthetic metaphors, including bright sounds and loud colors. Although these examples demonstrate that we are all synesthetes, at least to some extent, the question that arises is whether musical expertise favors the development of certain types of synesthetic mappings that might prove meaningless outside the context where they have been produced and consolidated. Participants were recruited from three university centers, Music (n = 25), Linguistics (n = 25), and Engineering (n = 25), to rate, in terms of comprehensibility, seventy synesthetic metaphors whose target domain is musical sound. As the music group is instructed on how to capture the nuances of musical sounds, this group might conceive of and verbalize such sounds distinctly. Participants’ responses, which were analyzed for statistical significance using a Chi-square test of independence, show that the music group’s rating statistically differs from that of the other groups, indicating that musical expertise does lead to the emergence of synesthetic metaphors specific to musical discourse.

Abstract

This paper deals with a corpus study of event-based time concepts. Here we investigate their use in time reckoning practices in modern Polish culture and language. The results presented here are based on a cognitive-conceptual and linguistic analysis of the Polish National Linguistic Corpus (NKJP). These results suggest that Polish has rich inventories of lexical and phrasal expressions for event-based time intervals based on environmental and celestial indices and social norms that have not previously been described from a cognitive, anthropological, and cultural perspective. Event-based time intervals found in domains of times of day and night, are here presented.

We hypothesize that even when the Polish language employs conventional metric (calendar and clock) time units, the hybrid blends of day/night cycle and cardinal directions (north, south, east, west) could reveal an emergent form of time conceptualization. This conceptual and cultural hybridization is still common among the users of the Polish language and is indicative of complexity and dynamism in body-environment interactions. This interaction is schematized in twofold conceptual constructions of event-based and metric time, blending processes that may generate more creative enactions as an alternative to the mechanical 24-hour system.

Abstract

This paper addresses conceptualizations of Iranian women represented in the dialogues and visuals of the Iranian locally-produced film The Paternal House; a film that portrays Iranian women in pre- and post-revolutionary Iran. Our findings, based on cultural conceptualizations analytical framework, revealed cultural metaphors (woman as slut, rancid food, crooked rib, ungodly human, and big-mouthed), cultural schemas (Iranian women as related to one’s aberou ‘credit’, gheirat ‘honor’, and Iranian women as humiliated characters who suffers from lack of personal autonomy), and a cultural category (inferior gender) related to Iranian women before the Islamic Revolution in Iran. Also, the study showed a reconceptualization of the cultural schema of lack of personal autonomy in post-revolutionary Iran, where educated Iranian women confidently strive for their freedom of choice. The study highlights the importance of film dialogues and visuals in conveying cultural conceptualizations of women in a specific speech community over time.

Abstract

In the current global economy, the increased migration across the world has heightened the need for culture maintenance due to its capacity to give meaning and value to individual identity. Family relations and values are significant cultural components that ensure psychological wellbeing among migrants if they are maintained in their host society. Australia’s multicultural policy has provided scope for the study of culture maintenance among its immigrant communities since the late 1970s. Among the immigrant groups in Australia, Bangladeshi-born migrants are a relatively new but fast-growing community that has attracted comparatively little research to date. This article is a narrative inquiry into the culture maintenance among Bangladeshi migrants in Queensland, particularly emphasising family values, acculturation, and identity. This study focuses on psychological, behavioural, and cognitive aspects of their acculturation in terms of what changes happen during acculturation. The findings of this research demonstrate the efforts and strategies for maintaining their family values and cultural identity in Australia. The final part of this article discusses the perception and attitudes of this group of Bangladeshi migrants towards their acculturation and identity. This study provides insights that are pertinent to developing ideas about different migrant communities in multicultural Australia.

This article reviews Metaphorical conceptualizations: (Inter)cultural perspectives