Metaphor in Libyan Dialect

J. Edu. Sci., Vol. (20) No. (3) 2013 Metaphor in Libyan Dialect Dr. Ismael F. Hussain AL-Bajjari Department of English Language / College of Education University of Mosul Received 16 / 04 / 2013 Accepted 14 / 05 / 2013 المستخلص یتعامل هذا البحث مع الظاهرة السیاقیة "الاستعارة" باعتبارها وسیلة ذهنیة فعاله ومؤثرة في التخاطب البشري عموما وفي اللهجة العربیة اللیبیة المستخدمة في مجتمع طبرق على وجه الخصوص. تعد هذه الظاهرة من أبرز الملامح البلاغیة التي تمیز وبشكل واضح تلك اللهجة من قریناتها من اللهجات الا خرى المستعملة في العالم العربي حیث أن هذه اللهجة تزخر بالتعابیر والت اركیب البلاغیة المتنوعة مثل الشعر الشعبي الا مثال الشعبیة الا حجیات والا لغاز وغیر ذلك مما یدرج ضمن سیاق الاستعارة. أن هذه التعابیر والت اركیب الاستعاریة هي في حقیقة الا مر إست ارتیجیة تخاطبیه ناجعة ذات صلة وثیقة بالفعالیات والا نشطة الذهنیة الخاصة بتعلم و تقدیم واستیعاب اللغة وهي جزء من الملكة اللغویة للمتكلم التي من خلالها یستطیع ذلك المتكلم أن یعبر عن آ اري ه ومواقفه الشخصیة والاجتماعیة والفكریة بكل دقة ووضوح وبالتالي یتمكن من تحقیق أهدافه المنشودة من و ارء عملیة المخاطبة مع الا خرین. ویقدم هذا البحث بعض من الدوافع الذهنیة والسیاقیة الناجمة عن استخدام ت اركیب وتعابیر الاستعارة المتنوعة وعن تلك النزعة الجلیة التي یبدیها متكلموا هذه اللهجة تجاه تلك التعابیر كما ویقدم البحث تصنیفا شاملا لهذه الت اركیب والتعابیر حیث تم تصنیفها الى ستة أنواع ري یسیة والتي تبین من خلال نتاي ج التحلیل أن المجتمع اللیبي في طبرق یتفوق على غیره من المجتمعات وخاصة المجتمع الا نجلیزي في میله الملحوظ الى توظیف هذه الا نواع من التعابیر البلاغیة في التخاطب الیومي وهذ یمكن أن یعزى الى أسباب ودوافع حضاریة ثقافیة اجتماعیة وفكریة. وللوصول الى النتاي ج الموضوعیة والعلمیة المرجوة من هذا البحث فقد تم توظیف منهج ذهني هنا لد ارسة بیانات التحلیل المختارة مستوحى من المنهج الذهني الذي تم تا سیسه وتطویره من قبل عالم اللغة الا مریكي البروفسور جورج لكوف.(1993) Abstract The present paper concerns the extra-linguistic phenomenon of "Metaphor" as being a dynamic conceptual device in human 70

Metaphor in Libyan Dialect. communication, and specifically, in Libyan speech community of Tobruk. Metaphor has been handled from various perspectives; descriptive, linguistic, stylistic, semantic, or pragmatic. Nevertheless, the concept of metaphor in relation to the conceptual processing underlying metaphorical language still forms a rich subject of debate in the current literature. Apart from all those classical doubtful models working in the same field, this paper adopts a contemporary cognitively based theory established by the cognitive linguist George Lakoff (1993). In this view, metaphor, the understanding of one idea (or conceptual domain) in terms of another (e.g. 'quantity' in terms of 'directionality': "prices are rising"), is a conceptual system underlying language use; conventional mappings (or conceptual overlapping) of an inheritance hierarchy across conceptual domains. From this perspective, some metaphorical expressions in the Libyan dialect spoken in Tobruk community, and the neighbouring areas, are examined here in terms of conceptual metaphors underlying more surface concrete manifestations of subject matters categorized into six types of genre: proverbs, verses (poetic extracts), riddles, jokes, everyday speech, and epithets of names. Offering a rich fertility of conceptual metaphors, these communicative varieties of discourse are well fitting for highlighting the tenet that metaphors are not simply a matter of language per se, but a matter of thought (and culture). To reveal the extra-linguistic functions of metaphors involved, an attention to the cognitive-pragmatic motives behind the remarkable use of metaphors, by the dialect interlocutors in their daily communicative interactions, is presented here. At a large scale, Tobruk dialect community shows a considerable metaphorical bias, and this is presumably due to the richness of the social, cultural and cognitive background or heritage of the community members. Keywords: Cognitive/Conceptual Metaphors, Conceptual Mapping/Overlapping, Source Domains, Target Domains, Image Schemas, CCTM, Cognitive-Pragmatic Motives. 1. Introduction Metaphor is often thought to be occurring in poetry and other forms of literature, but it is used in daily speech with no attention to it. It is conceptually built into language. (See Lakoff & Johnson 1980; Crystal 1997; Santa Ana 1999; also Dignan 2005). The word 'metaphor' in Greek means "carry across" or "transfer", and is normally used to refer to the method of comparing two different items based on resemblance or similarity without the use of like or as (it carries meaning from one word, image, or idea to another): "A man is but a weak reed", "The road was a ribbon of moonlight", "A sea of troubles", "Her eyes were ponds", etc. (cf. Brooks & Warren 1970; Greimas 1978; West & Endicott 1985; Matienzo 2001, inter alia). Such a traditional view of metaphor, distinguishing between literal and figurative meaning and focusing on rhetorical and 71

Dr. Ismael F. Hussain AL-Bajjari literary contexts, considers metaphor to be a feature of language (making language more interesting or entertaining) rather than thought (See Lakoff 1987,1997; also Smith 2000). Apart from its traditional (rhetorical/literary) sense above, metaphor has recently come to the more plausible stage of 'cognitive metaphor', whereby metaphorical language is characterized via underlying cognitive principles related to our conceptual system and categorization that schematically control our use of language. In this cognitive view, metaphors are seen as cognitive instruments, a matter of cognition as opposed to language, and are essential to conceptualize the world of experience or reality. Metaphors are not, but results of a cognitive mapping across conceptual domains, from 'source' to 'target', and normally from the concrete to the more abstract (cf. Lakoff & Johnson 1980; Lakoff 1993; also the figure, below). Consequently, abstract concepts are understood in terms of concrete processes. A conceptual domain is said to be any coherent organization of human experience. The regularity with which different languages employ the same perceptually based metaphors has raised the assumption that the mapping between conceptual domains corresponds to neural mappings in the brain (cf. Lakoff & Johnson 1980; Johnson 1987; Feldman & Narayanan 2004, inter alia). Within this view, Lakoff & Johnson (1980) have found that 'poetic metaphors' are extensions or novel combination of everyday metaphors which are, especially 'dead metaphors' (i.e. conceptual metaphors), automatic, unconscious, and more deeply entrenched in human cognition (cf. Lakoff 1987, 1993; also, Rohrer 1995). Furthermore, Lakoff & Johnson (1980) regarded metaphor as neither part of the grammar of a language, nor the language lexicon; rather, it is part of the conceptual system underlying language. It is a conceptual mapping for understanding one idea in terms of another. In this sense, they (ibid.) state that highlevel concepts like 'time', 'emotions', 'causality', 'life', 'war', etc., are perceived to be semantically grounded in low-level domains of physical experience; for instance, "love" or "life" in terms of "journey", "war" in terms of "fairy tales", "times" in terms of "things", etc. (cf. ibid.; Crystal 1997; Lakoff 1993, 2001c). Metaphorical understanding is usually, as Lakoff (2001b) points out, grounded in non-metaphorical understanding. This discoursal-conceptual 'figure'-'ground' relationship of metaphor is, he (ibid.) proceeds, systematically reflected in its schematic structure within the conceptual system of language and deeply entrenched in people's cognition. (See. Lakoff 1987; Hussain 1996; Smith 2000, for relevant 'Grounding' details). It is this cognitive interpretation of metaphor that this paper is trying to adopt; namely, the theory of cognitive, (or conceptual) metaphor known as the Contemporary 72

Metaphor in Libyan Dialect. Cognitive Theory of Metaphor (CCTM, henceforth) developed by George Lakoff (1987; more importantly, 1993). The central assumption presented in CCTM is that metaphor operates at the level of thinking, linking two conceptual domains, viz. the source domain from which language users draw metaphorical expressions (e.g., "life is a journey"), and the target domain that those users try to understand (e.g., "life is a journey"). The source domain consists of a set of literal, concrete entities, attributes, processes and relationships, linked semantically and stored together in the mind (cf. Lakoff 1993). These are expressed in language through related words and expressions, as organized groups of lexical sets or lexical fields (ibid.). The target domain, as being abstract, takes its structure from the source domain, through the metaphorical link, or conceptual metaphor (See the figure, below). At the level of language, entities, attributes and processes in the target domain are, according to Lakoff (1993), lexicalized using words and expressions from the source domain. Thus, metaphor, in accordance with CCTM, is a matter of thought rather than a matter of language, since the latter is believed to be merely surface manifestations of the former(cf. Lakoff 2001a, 2001b ;also see Richard 1999). In CCTM, conceptual metaphors are based on concepts that are understood away from any metaphorical sense. Lakoff (1993) has referred to these concepts as 'image schemas' which serve as grounding for conceptual metaphors. These image schemas are based on the physical bodily experience of being in the world. For example, there are many conceptual metaphors based on 'up-down' conceptualization, and these are supposed to be developed from an 'Up-Down Image Schema'. This schema is, in turn, said to have developed from our bodily experience of being 'vertical' when awake and well, and 'horizontal' when asleep, ill, or dead; 'HAPPY IS UP': "I'm feeling up", "My spirits rose", "You're in high spirits"; 'SAD IS DOWN': "I'm feeling down", "He's really low these days", "My spirits sank"(cf. Lakoff ibid.; also Lakoff & Johnson 1980; See the figure, below). Due to cultural effects, conceptual metaphorical mappings vary in universality; some seem to be universal, others are widespread, and some seem to be culture-specific (cf. Lakoff 1993, 2001a; 2001c; also Grady, Oakley & Coulson 1999; Sandikcioglu 2000; See next section). In an attempt to portray the theoretical framework of CCTM; notably, frames concerning the conceptual system and the dynamic mechanism of the mapping process underlying metaphorical language, I have schematized my view of CCTM in this figure, as follows: 73

Dr. Ismael F. Hussain AL-Bajjari Cognition Short-Term Memory Special Formats or Symbols Long-Term Memory Metapho Source Domain Target Domain Short-Term Memory Special Formats or Symbols Audio-Visual Input System Realization Mapping Experience Sensory-Input System Language Output Input Reality Figure: A Schematization of Lakoff's CCTM (1993) Due to the scope and limits of the paper, just hints of the most striking theorizing ideas imposed in CCTM are presented here, apart from any depth, or delicate details. (See Lakoff 1993, 2001a; also Gibbs 1994; Kövecses 2002, 2005; Evans & Green 2006, for further discussion of the theory within the field of cognitive linguistics). 2. Data Analysis Apart from linguistic data tended to be generated intuitively, either by the researcher or by informants, this paper following CCTM, is based on the analysis of naturally occurring language data. In this regard, the data collected here is principally taken from actual communicative situations occurring daily in the dialect under discussion. The data examples analyzed here are indeed illustrative of contemporary metaphor research. They are generally classified into six types of genre mostly come from two discoursal domains of metaphor; poetic (or highly rhetorical) metaphor and novel metaphor (cf. Derrida 1982, for types of metaphor). Poetic metaphor covers three types of discourse that are mostly heterogeneous in membership at least in their communicative values, or rhetorical effects; these are: proverbs, popular extracted verses, and riddles. Novel metaphor, the more colloquial or informal genre, covers three discoursal variations mostly based on everyday conventional metaphor; these are: jokes, casual conversational expressions, and epithets of names (see section 2.2 below). In the coming section, the poetic set of conceptual metaphors underlying; proverbs, extracted verses, and riddles, is to be closely examined with the CCTM orientation. 74

Metaphor in Libyan Dialect. 2.1. Poetic Metaphor The poetic (or literary) metaphors collected are currently used by people in Tobruk and also in some other neighbouring areas. They are classified here, according to their discoursal genre and communicative functions, into proverbs, extracted verses, and riddles, covering nine metaphorical examples, three for each. This scope of data, albeit limited, is quite sufficient for the generalizations governing metaphorical utterances in the dialect considered here. 2.1.1. Proverbs In Arabic-world societies, among which is the Libyan society in Tobruk, proverbs, being usually in the form of short poems, are widely used in everyday conversations with highly effective communicative values. Proverbs are often conceived as an essential part of the cultural, social, and ideological heritage of the society they belong to. Thus, the collection of proverbs presented here can be interpreted as delicate discoursal indicators that express the Libyans' outlook, philosophy, or ideology towards aspects of life, viz. how they conceptualize reality (See Abdu-lkafi 1968, and Ashiurakis 1978; for a comprehensive survey of Libyan proverbs). Consider these three cases of conceptual metaphors realized in the following proverbs:.1 یتعلم ألا حسانه في روس الیتامه. alyetaamah) (Yataҁallam alihsaanah fee roos Linguistic Reading: He learns to shave by shaving orphans. ( A barber learns to shave by shaving fools or helpless people). Conceptual Interpretation: the 'target domain' (getting skilful experience without payment) is understood in terms of the 'source domain' (doing unjust actions against unconscious or helpless orphans). Linguistically, the linguistic expression denoting some attributes of 'fool or helpless people' is metaphorically used outside of its normal conventional meaning to express the concept of 'the knowledge and experience of getting skilled easily'. The latter half of the proverb structure ('orphans' heads') invokes certain assumptions about concrete experience and requires the reader or listener to apply them to the preceding abstract concept of 'getting free (sometimes, illegitimate) skilful experience' in order to understand the proverb in which the conceptual metaphor is used. This metaphorical sense is intended as a condemned statement about an unskilled practitioner. Initially, the metaphor may seem to be explainable in terms of direct mapping from the source domain of 'doing unjust actions against unconscious or helpless orphans' to the target domain of 'getting illegitimate skilful experience', guided by a series of fixed counterpart mappings: "people with no care or justice about others' 75

Dr. Ismael F. Hussain AL-Bajjari properties" onto "unskilled practitioners"; "orphans' heads" maps onto "free stage of practising"; "human beings" onto "substance of experiments"; "scissors" onto "multiple devices depending on the context"; "defenceless property" onto "incompetence"; and so forth. Moreover, this analysis of the cross-domain relationships reveals a 'fairy tale' scenario given, though implicitly, to the proverb via metaphor: The "illegitimate, incompetent practitioner" with bad manners stemming from 'illegitimacy' like 'selfishness', 'greediness', 'cruelty', 'hardness', 'oppression', 'savagery', etc., is the villain; the "orphans' heads" with characteristics like 'innocence', 'helplessness', 'unconsciousness', 'defencelessness', 'righteousness', etc., are the victims; the crime is the immoral illegitimate exploitation of defenceless properties, and the hero is the society's conscience represented by the speaker who delivers such a proverb. In other words, the metaphorical scenario conceptualized here can be an effective social strategy for reproaching, or criticizing indirectly (and sometimes with a humour sense), ill-manners and bad behaviour exercised by the society individuals.. 2 كراع في الگبر وكراع ألبر(في البر.( al-barrah). (kraaҁ fee l-gabur wa kraaҁ Linguistic Reading: One foot is in the grave and the other outside. (An old doting fool, with one foot already in the grave). Conceptual Interpretation: the 'target domain' (dying-stage time) is conceptualized in terms of the 'source domain' (grave- entering experience ). Metaphor, in this example, is expressed through a specific transference of an expression from the context of 'grave' and 'dying stage' (i.e. half dead and half alive); or 'death', into another one which is cognitively related to the context of 'oldness, infirmness, illness, etc.'. The metaphorical imagery visualized in this proverb is about the end (more precisely, the immediate stage before the end) of the human life span. The grim image of 'entering the grave' is transferred metaphorically into the 'time just before the departing of one's life'. More technically, the idea of 'dying-stage time' is being conceptualized here in terms of the bodily experience of 'grave-entering event', with the implication that the life is about to stop and reach its final destination (i.e. the event of death), including a metaphorical conceptualization of the human lifecycle in its latest stage as the latest stage of a journey, or a plant's lifecycle. This metaphorical conceptualization is motivated by the 'image schema' of the 'LIFE IS A JOURNEY' metaphor, in which events in life, like birth, graduation, marriage, death, etc., are destinations; that is, inevitable locations to be reached. Put another way, the course of the person's life (target domain) addressed here takes the form of an actual 76

Metaphor in Libyan Dialect. journey (source domain) on which he is a traveler with his life events, actions and goals, reaching, by the time travelling-vehicle, to his final event, viz. departing life (cf. Lakoff 1993). Along with this metaphorical scenario, reaching death, as the final destination of one's life-journey, is metaphorically highlighted in this proverb. The event of 'death' is understood here in terms of the action caused by the passage of time (or perhaps some other causal agents, though they are hardly fitting in the present context). Accordingly, the passage of time is personified as being the only agent that eventually results in the death event. This scenario seems to be in harmony with the 'DEATH IS DEPARTURE' metaphor (cf. Lakoff 1993; also Lakoff & Turner 1989), where 'departure' is conceptualized as an event to be understood as a causal action on the part of some agent. Also, it might be harmonious with the 'PEOPLE ARE PLANTS' metaphor which is based on the natural course of things, plants wither and die (cf. Lakoff 1993). In this regard, the `shape' of the event of death envisaged here (health-deteriorating stage, then death) is similar to the `shape' of the event death of plants (withering up, then death). Moreover, there is only one causal aspect or agent causing the death in both events; that is, the passage of time..3 الحمار ألگصیر كل حد یرگا ه. yargaah). (al-himaar al-gaseer kil Hadd Linguistic Reading: The low donkey is prone to be ridden by everyone. (He that is down, down with him ). Conceptual Interpretation: the 'target domain' (a weak, easy-going, peaceable, or coward person) is comprehended in terms of the 'source domain' (a low donkey). The metaphorical sense accomplished here is based on a comparison between two or more unlike objects. More specifically, the comparison is held between the linguistic expression 'a low donkey', the "vehicle", and the concept of 'a human being as being weak, peaceable, easy-going, coward, etc.', the "tenor".(see Richards 1936, for details about the terms vehicle and tenor). In this example, 'a human being' is compared metaphorically to 'a low donkey' to indicate that the speaker sees some well-known traits from this animal, like weakness, peacefulness, calm, defencelessness, cowardice, etc., in such a human being (visualized here as a servant, a dependent, or an employee with no influence or power). In this case, 'a human being' is the target and 'a low donkey' is the source. Conceptually speaking, the image schema of ' ridding on a low donkey', which is based on the physical, bodily experience of being in reality, serves as grounding for the conceptual metaphor that, in turn, leads to the understanding of the more abstract notions of 'weakness, peacefulness, calm, defencelessness, cowardice', carelessness, attributed to a person involved in a particular 77

Dr. Ismael F. Hussain AL-Bajjari context. The cross-domain mapping process, structuring metaphor here, makes it quite possible for the dialect speakers to conceptualize the source domain (ridding on a low donkey) in terms of the target domain (acting aggressively against a weak, defenceless, peaceable person). In context, this proverb might be intended and understood as a negative evaluation of the person with the above traits. Because of his negative (low) personal characteristics, namely, he encounters disrespectful situations, namely, exploitation, blackmailing, humiliation, degradation, aggression, etc., exerted by others against him. Therefore, such a weak personality that is to be criticized as this proverb does (albeit implicitly), results in a permanent negative consequence; evoking others to have the belief that such a person can quite easily be exploited and blackmailed. Thus, instead of blaming the situation, circumstances, or maybe life itself, such a person should hold himself (namely, his weak personality) responsible, not the situation, nor any other external reason. From an Islamic perspective, a strong human being, who holds responsibility regardless of difficulties that he may face, is much better than a weak one, or as the Messenger of Allah Mohammad (May Blessing and Peace of Allah be upon him) said: "The strong believer is better and more beloved to Allah than the weak believer, while there is good in both ". In fact, this socio-cultural charge of dropping responsibility from one's own shoulders is conceptually metaphorized, in the proverb, via the striking comparison between 'a human being' and 'a donkey'. 2.1.2. Popular Extracted Verses Due to their desert-nomadic background, Tobruk community speakers traditionally show a strong tendency towards popular verse (or poetry), which is conceived as the cultural, social and cognitive record of their Bedouin heritage. Thus, they heavily rely, in their everyday conversational interactions, on the effective communicative values (or functions) realized by such a highly metaphorical genre. In normal cases, speakers of this community deliberately choose verse to express ideas, events, or experiences, metaphorically, and hence, to convey a particular ideological, rhetorical, or persuasive point. The communicative motives underlying such a choice lie on the fact that poetic (or versed) metaphors help these speakers, through conceptual mappings and image- mappings, to talk about difficult, emotionally intense or uncommon experiences, and thus, according to CCTM, to think about them. To that end, CCTM tries to identify the conceptual metaphors and the ideological, pragmatic stances underlying the following popular extracted verses. 4. كید النساء كیدین ومن كیدهن چیت هارب... إیتحزمن بالحنش حي وایتخللن بالعگارب. (keed anisaa? keedeen wamin keedhin ʒeet haarib? itahazzamin bilhanaʃ Hay wetakhlaln bilҁagaarib.) 78

Metaphor in Libyan Dialect. Linguistic Reading: Women's cunning is double from which I was forced into running away They strap the living snake to their waists and wear an anklet of scorpions around the ankles. Conceptual Interpretation: The metaphor is conceptualized in terms of conceptual overlapping between the source domain(harmful, dangerous insects) and the target domain (cunning and deception of women). Linguistically, metaphor is realized here via the comparison between women's unlimited cunning (or evil), and a horrifying monster that cannot be defeated. As a result, this unbearable scene of horror may justify the poet's surrender and escape, due to the imbalance of capabilities and power. In the second part of the extract, the evil and danger caused by women are shown to have much more harmful effects than those of snakes and scorpions; these dangerous insects are used by women as pieces of ornaments or decorations living snakes and scorpions are metaphorized as their belts and anklets, respectively. The linguistic metaphor distinguished here consists of words or linguistic expressions that come from the terminology of the more concrete conceptual domain, but the conceptual metaphor underlying such a system of related metaphorical expressions that appear on the linguistic surface is accomplished via the conceptual mapping that is motivated by image schemas concerning cunning, astuteness, danger, evil, and other related elements of embodied human experience. The conceptual metaphor depicted above employs typically more abstract concepts (cunning, deception, astuteness, danger, etc., of women) as target and more concrete or physical concepts (harmful, dangerous, insidious, deadly insects) as their source. This metaphorical overlapping tend to be invoked by the poet's attempt to make a case for a negative point of view against women. Such a point of view is cognitively based on the image schema formed from the poet's bitter, unhappy, and dangerous experience of women in reality. The metaphorical process conducted here goes, with regard to the principle of unidirectionality, from the more concrete to the more abstract, and not the other way around. Accordingly, the abstract concepts of 'cunning', 'deception', 'astuteness', 'danger', 'evil' of women are understood in terms of prototype concrete experiential events of harmful, dangerous, insidious, deadly insects; snakes and scorpions. 5. نفسي عزیزة عشت وآحل فیها... رومتها ما بت علي چافیها. (nafsi ҁazeeza ҁiʃit waahil feehaa rawamthaa maa bat ҁalay ʒaafeehaa.) Linguistic Reading: Myself is noble, I lived suffering from its extreme noble character though I adapted it, it never harmonized with its discourteous partner. 79

Dr. Ismael F. Hussain AL-Bajjari Conceptual Interpretation: The 'target domain' (poet's noble self) is understood in terms of the 'source domain' (a stubborn unrestrained genuine mare). The poetic image shown here is well stated with the metaphorical scenario: the poet suffers from a fierce internal conflict taken place between his intense passion, on the one hand, and his dignity or honor, on the other; that is, between the heart and the mind, wherein he does his best to support the heart side at the expense of the mind, but his desperate attempt is totally in vain; hence, the heart loses the battle in the metaphorical sense, due to the interference of the mind that be never tolerant with crude treatment that may affect dignity negatively. The cognitive metaphor considered here involves a tightly structured mapping from the source domain (a stubborn unrestrained mare with high moral standards) to the target domain (poet's noble honorable self). There are ontological correspondences, according to which entities in the domain of the 'poet's self' (e.g., nobility, honour, dignity, its respectable generous nature, its human transcendent values, its strong moral will, its remarkable reaction against immoral, crude, unjust treatment or behaviour, etc.) correspond systematically to entities in the domain of a 'gentle mare' (delicate gentle manners, its stubborn unrestrained honourable nature, its free will, its admirable pleasant acts, etc.). 6. گبلتوا غلاها یاغوالي لبت... چفیتوا چفت هذي طبیعة فیها. (gabaltu Glaahaa yaagawaalee labbat ʒifeetu ʒifat haadee Tabeeҁa feehaa.) Linguistic Reading: you, sweetheart, accepted my self's truthful passion, then myself eagerly responded but when you deserted that passion, myself acted similarly; this is a natural inherent habit of it. Conceptual Interpretation: The 'target domain' (noble manners of the poet's self) is understood in terms of the 'source domain' (a stubborn unrestrained genuine mare). This poetic extract is semantically and pragmatically a part of the figurative scene related to the poet's self, discussed so far. In particular, metaphor is depicted imaginatively through the artistic technique of personification reflected in the way the poet uses to give indication that he possesses two different characters, or more precisely a character with double personalities, each behaves independently from the other (cf. Lakoff & Turner 1989, for the technique of personification). One of them behaves according to the spiritual standard of emotions, and hence, stemming from the heart this one is usually subject to the circumstantial changes of the love relationship. On the contrary, the other one, although 80

Metaphor in Libyan Dialect. it seems to be playing the role of an objective commentator on the events involved, tries to behave more reasonably in accord with the poet's rational view, whereby the poet attempts to send a message of warning, or even threatening, underlying actual facts to his beloved about the potential nature of himself, as well as, about the form that their relationship might take. Cognitively, the metaphorical image conceived here is a complementary part of the metaphorical scenario initiated above. Therefore, the conceptual mappings between the (target) domain of 'noble manners of the poet's self' (like truthful passion, real love, honour, dignity, generosity etc.) and that (source) of 'genuine free mare', is maintained and extended out of the poet`s everyday conventional system of metaphorical thought (a part of his cognition, and exhibiting itself in his language and thought). This goes with the cognitive assumption of CCTM that metaphor is not a mode of language, but a mode of thought, and that metaphors project structures from source domains of schematized bodily or enculturated experience into abstract target domains. Here, the poet conceives the abstract idea of his 'noble manners' in terms of his experiences of ' high-blooded, well-mannered mares'. 2.1.3. Riddles Riddles, classified here as a type of poetic metaphor, are highly inferable type of genre used purposefully in this dialect to achieve two communicative goals: first, to invoke a sense of humour or laughing atmosphere; second, to function as an intelligence testing criterion among interlocutors. Three popular riddles are examined here with regard to the cognitive orientation of CCTM. (yakhiʃ l-gaʃ wemaa ykharbiʃ)! Linguistic Reading: Something enters into straw with no sound! 81 7. یخش الگش وما یخربش! Conceptual Interpretation: The 'target domain' (shadow) is conceptualized in terms of the 'source domain' (the experience of touching straw gently). This riddle is linguistically structured on certain metaphorical clues related to the cultural conventions spread in the Libyan society, and more generally, in the Arabic world. Cognitively interpreted, metaphor is prominent here, due to the conceptual overlapping held between two dissimilar domains. The first one, the source, is concerned with the actual experience of 'touching straw gently, or with no sound', and the second one, the target, is related to the abstract notion (or nature) of 'shadow'. In this sense, 'shadow', although seen and felt, is envisaged (and personified) metaphorically as moving in a very calm way (with no sound), exactly like the smooth action of 'touching straw' with much care.

Dr. Ismael F. Hussain AL-Bajjari This riddle, with regard to its communicative values, can also be used to denote metaphorically a suspicious, usually hidden, action that might be performed by someone with an intention to achieve some private goals. (?iʒmeeli baarik wanhaʃiʃla)! 8. إجمیلي بارك وانحششله! Linguistic Reading: While my little camel is sitting, I am cutting grass to it to eat. Conceptual Interpretation: The 'source domain' (the scene of the little sitting camel waiting for ready-made food) is mapped into the 'target domain' (laziness, carelessness and dependency of a babied mollycoddled person). Here, the metaphorical interpretation of the traditional 'muddy oven' is symbolically presented through a conventional image related to the desert life. In this context, the primitive oven (i.e. the answer for the riddle), standing figuratively for the 'laziness' or 'carelessness' (the target domain) of a spoiled babied person who usually depends on others in all aspects of life, is conceptualized as a little pampered camel (the source domain) - usually conceived by Arab-Bedouin communities as a token of originality, livelihood, purity, goodness, etc., and so is the traditional oven. The conceptual images of the little powerless camel and the inanimate muddy oven which are both in need of some help to get up ( in the case of the former) and to keep the fire flaming for baking matters to go on (in the case of the latter) - this help is often given by feeding them some dry grass, is mapped metaphorically onto those of the laziness, carelessness and dependency of a babied mollycoddled person. Such image-mapping allows us to map metaphorically our evaluation or knowledge of the source domain onto the target..9 ساق سملاق لا یرتكز ولا ینساق! yansaaq!) (saaq simlaaq laa yartikiz wa laa Linguistic Reading: A smooth tender stick that can never stand up, nor be marched off! Conceptual Interpretation: Metaphor is fulfilled here through the conceptual overlapping between the 'source domain'(a smooth solid stick or bar) and the 'target domain' (the smooth solid body of the snake). In this riddle, metaphor is based on the conceptualization of the target domain (smoothness, solidness, cylindrical sinuous body of the snake) in terms of the source domain (smoothness, solidness, cylindrical sinuous body of a stick or a bar). In other words, the metaphor revealed here functions to map one conventional mental image onto another. In this sense, the image of the smooth, solid, cylindrical, sinuous body of a 82

Metaphor in Libyan Dialect. 'stick' or a 'bar' is mapped onto the image of the smooth, solid, cylindrical, sinuous body of the 'snake'. The holding or the looking of the body of the 'snake' is imagined as the holding or the looking of the 'stick' or a 'bar'. Metaphoric image-mappings work in just the same way as all other metaphoric mappings: by mapping the conventional mental images of one domain onto the conventional mental images of another. 2.2. Novel Metaphor After being applied, so far, on poetic metaphor (an extension of speakers' novel, everyday, conventional system of metaphorical thought), the theorizing principles of CCTM are to be considered here to cover the second part of the selected data; namely, novel metaphor, or everyday conventional metaphor; jokes, routine conversational expressions, and epithets of names. Similarly, nine examples of novel metaphors are to be discussed below, three for each type. 2.2.1. Jokes By nature, Libyans are fond of jokes and funny situations; most of them are enjoyed with the capability of narrating jokes. Therefore, jokes form a considerable part of their daily novel metaphors. Her are three examples of conceptual metaphorically-based jokes: گرن الطریگ إنطحته. (waahid gaaҁid ҁala garn altareeg?intahatta). 83 10. واحد گاعد على Linguistic Reading: Someone sitting on the horn of the road, it butts him. Conceptual Interpretation: Metaphor is conceptually highlighted here through the stretching of the 'source domain' (concrete experience: touching, sitting on, bunting by, the horn of an animal) into the 'target domain' (abstract idea: the choice of an inappropriate place to sit in, talk to others, watch others` behaviour, etc., that may lead to the act of reproaching by others). In this joke based on personification technique, there are two different, but interrelated, interpretations that can be distinguished metaphorically in respect of their communicative social functions. At the surface level, this utterance is conceptualized as being just a joke; and hence, it is performed, through metaphorical overlapping and, to invoke funny interaction, or to establish emphatic communion with laughing acts of speech. At the deep level, it carries, with reference to the metaphorical scenario involved, certain speech acts, at least two; warning and advising. As for these two informative acts, the utterance presents- due to the metaphorical mapping between the target and the source domains, a warning message in company with wise advice for people, especially the

Dr. Ismael F. Hussain AL-Bajjari young, to avoid sitting, standing, talking on public roads where they may bother passers-by; and thus, they would be socially criticized or blamed by the others. In short, metaphor conceptualized here summarizes the Islamic principles about the ideal use of roads; it presents a moral lesson, through such a funny joke, to people not to use roads badly; warning them that if they do so, they will definitely bring shame upon themselves. 11. واحد یبني في مستقبله إنگصت علیه بلكه. (waahid yabnee fee mustaqbala? ingisat ҁaleeh blika). Linguistic Reading: While someone is building his future, a brick gets down on him. Conceptual Interpretation: Metaphor maps from the 'source domain' of (the experience of random building and the expected unhappy consequences) to the 'target domain' of (the idea of being too much ambitious, or fully busy-mined about one`s future), and leads to the conceptualization of the metaphorical scenario depicted here. According to this schematic mapping, this metaphorically based joke, in addition to its funny sense, produces another moral social lesson, addressing those people who are fully busy-mined about their future, or in hurry looking for shortest ways, or even be illegitimate ones sometimes, to reach the desirable future, or who are too much ambitious about future with no well-planned steps or with no spiritual, divine, religious considerations related to their destiny or fate. The metaphoric imagemappings embodied here point out that such people with such complex ideologies are almost unhappy, pessimistic and unsatisfied; often have fears of future, and usually face unexpected problems exactly as the unqualified builder normally does when he forcefully imposes himself in the building process. The essence of the lesson given is that life in general, and future in particular, is totally controlled by Allah; and thus, determined by one's destiny or fate, viz. the divine principles on which the whole life is based..12 واحد یگطع في الطریگ بمگص. bimgas). (waahid yagtaҁ fee ltareeg Linguistic Reading: Someone is cutting the road with a pair of scissors. Conceptual Interpretation: Underlying such linguistic manifestation, conceptual metaphor based on 'pun' is comprehended here, due to the metaphorical mapping across the conceptual domains: the 'source' (the reality experience of cutting a piece of paper or cloth with a pair of scissors) and the 'target' (the abstract notions of one`s stupidity, fatuity, foolishness, madness, etc.). In Tobruk community, this is a well-known joke based on the technique of 'pun'. The amusing use of such technique exemplified in the 84

Metaphor in Libyan Dialect. word 'yagtaҁ' (cut), gives a chance to the interpreter to stretch metaphorically 'the idea of cutting soft materials with a pair of scissors' (source domain) to 'the idea of being a blunderer or dunderhead in trying to do great works or achievements using very simple devices with less thinking, effort and time. It is this use of the word 'yagtaҁ' in two different domains that gives the sense of humour and laughing to the utterance. 2.2.2. Everyday Conversational Expressions These daily used expressions are oriented here as part of the Libyan conventional conceptual system of metaphor that is mostly unconscious, automatic, and is used with no noticeable effort, just like the linguistic system and the rest of the conceptual system (cf. Lakoff 1993, 2001a). Consider these three conceptually metaphorical examples realized in the following expressions: (Saagҁa ҁaleek). 13 عه علیك. Linguistic Reading: It is as cold as ice for you. Conceptual Interpretation: The metaphor is portrayed here in terms of conceptual overlapping between the 'source domain' (one`s physical disability to be in an extremely cold place, or to deal with it) and the 'target domain' (one`s intellectual, social, financial, educational, etc., incapability to have, achieve, or deal with matters higher than his/her own real status or circumstances). This conversational expression, overused nowadays by Libyan young speakers, seems to be meaningless or clumsy in meaning with no communicative value, unless it is conceptualized in the context of its underlying metaphorical motivation. The sense of metaphor is cognitively motivated here via the conceptual image-mapping between the source domain (the disability, or even impossibility, to be in a freezing environment) and the target domain (the disability to deal with issues higher than one`s level, be scientific, economical, social, etc.). The resultant communicative value from such mapping refers to the fact that one has to be very careful about his/her ability limits, and to choose what suits these limits, and not to go beyond them; otherwise, he/she would be subject to be addressed by others with such an expression as an implicature of reproaching, or even be irony sometimes. (?imnawwir) (ҁaleek nuur) 14. إ منو ر. (علیك نور) Linguistic Reading: You are lighting up. (brightness upon you) Conceptual Interpretation: Metaphor here allows us to understand the abstract subject matter (events of thanking, respecting, complimenting, greeting others for their help, favour, or true friendship) in terms of a 85 صگ.

Dr. Ismael F. Hussain AL-Bajjari concrete subject matter (brightness of the light of the sun, moon, or a lamp). Regarding the panoramic image of metaphor in this expression, there are at least the following metaphorical cross-domain correspondences: 'the sun, moon, or lamp' is mapped to 'people who produce help, favour, or true friendship', 'the light of the sun, moon, or lamp' to 'the help, favour, support, or true friendship produced', 'the darkness revealed with the light' to 'the difficulties, problems, or unhappiness lightened, or totally disappeared, with the given help, favour, etc.', 'the physical existence of light' to 'the emotional existence of relief and happiness' and so on so forth. These mosaic metaphorical crossdomain correspondences indicate that metaphor presented here is contextually based and deeply rooted in Libyan dialect users` cognition. Furthermore, they make it quite possible for us to reach the conceptual metaphor underlying such a conversational expression. (lagaag) (huwa lagaag) Linguistic Reading: A flatterer. (He is a flatterer) 15. لگاگ. (هو لگاگ) Conceptual Interpretation: Metaphor is conceptualized here, as a result of the mapping between the 'source domain' (an act, or behaviour attributed to the dog; particularly, licking) and the 'target domain' (bad or condemned behaviour of a flatterer and the like). In respect to the culture of Arab speech-community, in general, and to that of the Libyan one, in particular, this expression is socially oriented as an utterance of impoliteness, degradation, or insulting, and the reason behind its bad orientation is basically concerned with the metaphorical overlapping of some characteristics, manners, or behaviour between two different conceptual domains; the source and the target. In this regard, the target domain (the flatterer`s acts, speech, and behaviour) is metaphorically understood in terms of the source domain (the dog`s licking). Though they are different, these two domains show one common feature available for both, the flatterer and the dog; that is the tongue which is used by both in order to reach the desirable goals. Thus, the flatterer, mostly by his tongue (speech), uses flattery to gain some personal interests (mostly illegal, or illegitimate ones) behaving exactly like the dog that often uses its tongue, or barking with a special tone sometimes, whenever it needs food, water, protection, shelter, etc. 2.2.3. Epithets of Names Epithets of names are heavily used by Tobruk community interlocutors with usually specific communicatively intentional functions. They are deeply rooted in the cultural-cognitive background of these interlocutors. The metaphorical language of these epithets is interpreted 86

Metaphor in Libyan Dialect. as just surface manifestations of their real underlying conceptual metaphors. Consider the conceptual metaphors depicted in these three epithets: (khanfuusat alkaʃik) Linguistic Reading: The Kishk beetle. 87 16. خنفوسة الكشك. Conceptual Interpretation: Metaphor is conceptually realized here though the image-schema structure mapping from the 'source domain' (the shape, colour, behaviour, or acts of the Kishk beetle) to the 'target domain' (one`s slowness in thinking or motion, curiosity, and contrasting-coloured appearance). In this widely used epithet, the image-schema structure mapping across the two conceptual domains covers metaphorically three phases of comparison; a case that evokes a richer scenario of metaphor. First, the slowness, in terms of thinking, speech, or movement, and the limit of one`s general capabilities or performance, are metaphorically compared with the slow actions or behaviour of the Kishk (a very popular morning meal consisting of a mixture of dried yogurt and milled wheat) beetle that usually moves in a very slow way within the limited void space available inside the sack of Kishk. Second, curiosity of a person (a busybody) who is too interested in things that do not involve him/her, or being always busy-minded with others` private affairs, is compared with that of the Kishk beetle reflected in its comprehensive detailed attempts to look for food everywhere within the small limited spot available. Third, the "figure-ground" relation is employed here to denote the stark contrast in colours of one`s skin or clothes (figure) with the colours of the surrounding environment (ground). This relation is cognitively correlated with the black colour of the Kishk beetle (figure) against the white colour of Kishk (ground). At the end, these three metaphorical phases of comparison lead us to the understanding of the metaphorical scenario encoded here. (ʒahaʃ alhaseeda) Linguistic Reading: The harvest ass. 17. جحش الحصیدة. Conceptual Interpretation: The 'source domain' (the scorned undesirable state of the harvest ass because of its harmfulness) is conceptually mapped into the 'target domain' (one`s hated annoying personality because of his/her crudity or aggressive manners); and hence, allows us to understand the metaphorical sense presented here. In respect of this communicative epithet, metaphor, by means of the conceptual overlapping across different domains, pushes us to picture one`s hated annoying personality because of his/her crudity, savagery, aggressive manners, bad behaviour, etc., as being the scorned undesirable state of the harvest ass which is often beaten and kicked out of the harvesting scene by the harvesters, because of its harmful manners and

Dr. Ismael F. Hussain AL-Bajjari destroying ability. Regarding the communicative value involved here, speakers of Tobruk-speech community usually give, as a sign of hatred, such a negatively oriented epithet to ill-mannered persons whenever they do bad or harmful deeds. (HeeTat alʒabbaana) Linguistic Reading: The cemetery stone. 18. حیطة الݘبانه. Conceptual Interpretation: Metaphor is well-established here via the conceptual association between the 'source domain' (the condition of the cemetery or grave stone) and the' target domain' (the unstable, moody personality of someone). Metaphor in this epithet is most plausibly explained in terms of the conceptual association arising between the physical world of experience presented here in the 'source domain' and the more abstract characteristics or attributes included in the 'target domain'. To that end, the experience related to the condition of the cemetery (or grave) stone that has the attributes of being subject to be carried from one place to another, whenever it is needed; and hence, to be over-touched and seen by a massive number of people visiting cemeteries, is metaphorically borrowed and ascribed to the unstable, moody, disloyal, unfaithful characteristics personality of someone who is accused to initiate fake, temperamental, surface relationships with others whenever he/she gains the opportunity to do so. 3. Concluding Notes So far, CCTM, by Lakoff (1993), has been employed for treating and describing the six types of genre: proverbs, verses (poetic extracts), riddles, jokes, everyday speech, and epithets of names, investigated in the Libyan dialect spoken in Tobruk community, and the neighbouring areas. By bringing the theorization of CCTM to earth with regard to the data analysis, the paper has definitely presented extra evidence to support the metaphor cognitive hypothesis and the universality of such theory that continuously grows larger every time as more research in this field is done. Though the analytical section has discussed only a handful of examples of these six types that are highly culture-specific, I hope that they are enough to make the evidence convincing; and in turn, to make the reader more curious about the field. These selected metaphors have actually proved, by the course of analysis, that they are contextually based and deeply rooted in the Libyan dialect speakers' cognition, and that they are part of the general conceptual hierarchically organized system of metaphors in this dialect. Also, they have shown that metaphor is basically conceptual, not linguistic, in nature, viz. not a matter of language, but a matter of thought affected and structured by the conceptual system of metaphors, and that their metaphorical language is not, but a surface manifestation of conceptual metaphor based on conceptual mappings (correspondences between entities across 88