A contrastive study of metaphoric fields in German and Spanish: A contribution to cognitive semantics

This dissertation begins by reviewing the main principles of cognitive linguistics such as prototypes, basic level categories, linguistic evidence, experientialism and embodiment, image-schemes and idealized cognitive models. Then, we present the cognitive metaphor theory as shaped by Lakoff and Johnson treating the principal features of metaphor such as its irreversibility and invariance: we go on to discuss Turner's and Fauconnier's theory of blending as an alternative explanation. Among the principal functions of metaphor we underline the fact that metaphor provides cognitive disponibility of abstract concepts, allows creativity and gives systematicity. Then, we propose our classification based on the one Lakoff and Johnson proposed in 1999. A review of an important German precursor of cognitive metaphor theory, Harald Weinrich, follows. We also briefly contrast the cognitive metaphor theory with other theories such as the classical ones of Aristotle and Quintilianus and the modern interactional theory of Richards and Black. An important aspect of the theoretical part is the discussion of the concepts of motivation (cognitive metaphor provides motivation to many linguistic signs---to simple and compound words as well as to idiomatic expressions---especially in the case of polysemy). We also discuss the Saussurean dichotomy of diachrony and synchrony in the light of the cognitive theory concluding that it is indispensable. In relation to the comparison between languages we advocate the onomasiological viewpoint, that is, we part from the concept---or, in our case, from domains---to contrast the different linguistic expressions in German and Spanish which serve to conceptualize these domains. In the practical part, which occupies more than half of the text, we explore with much detail the domains of time, intellectual activity, language and emotions (interest, happiness, sadness, astonishment, anger, fright, disgust and satiety, disdain, shame, consciousness of one's guilt and conscience) in German and Spanish.