GENDER-MARKED CONCEPTUAL METAPHOR WOMAN IS A BIRD (USING EXAMPLES FROM BULGARIAN AND CROATIAN LANGUAGES)

Abstract

The subject of the paper is the gender marked conceptual metaphor WOMAN IS A BIRD in two closely related languages − Bulgarian and Croatian languages. The corpus of analyzed ornithonyms, which are metaphorically used for a female referent, was collected from general monolingual and phraseological dictionaries, as well as online and slang dictionaries. Some meanings were illustrated by examples from the online corpora hrWac and Bulgarian web 2012 through the use of the Sketch engine tool. Even though domestic and wild birds are evenly represented in the analyzed corpus, the domestic birds are semantically and metaphorically more productive. The contrastive analysis established that the majority of metaphors are based on anthropomorphism, and that pejorative terms, which serve to semantically derogate women, dominate over terms with positive connotations. We have found pejorative connotations and hints of sexism even in the case of terms of endearment, which are supposed to express a special intimacy and congeniality. Interlingual differences, in the sense of the existence of more specific meanings, are realized within the framework of age and sexual connotation. The interlingual and intralingual variations (Kövecses, 2005, 2015) are the result of the dependency of metaphorical meaning on context and participants in the communication process.Tema rada je rodno obilježena konceptualna metafora ŽENA JE PTICA u dvama bliskosrodnim jezicima – bugarskom i hrvatskom jeziku. Korpus analiziranih ornitonima, koji se u prenesenom značenju rabe za referenta ženskog spola, prikupljen je iz jednojezičnih općih i frazeoloških rječnika te online rječnika i rječnika žargona. Pojedina su značenja oprimjerena iz mrežnih korpusa hrWac i Bulgarian web 2012, pomoću alata Sketch engine. Iako su u analiziranom korpusu podjednako zastupljene domaće i divlje ptice, domaće su semantički i metaforički produktivnije. Kontrastivnom je analizom utvrđeno da je većina metafora utemeljena na antropomorfizmu te da pejorativnost u funkciji semantičke derogacije žena dominira nad pozitivno obilježenim značenjima. Čak i u slučaju odmilica, koje bi trebale izraziti osobit odnos bliskosti ili simpatičnosti, zabilježili smo pejorativnost i naznake seksizma. Međujezične razlike u smislu postojanja specifičnijih značenja realiziraju se u okviru kategorije dobi i seksualne konotacije. Međujezične i unutarjezične varijacije (Kövecses, 2005, 2015) rezultat su ovisnosti metaforičkog značenja o kontekstu i sudionicima u komunikaciji.The subject of the paper is the gender marked conceptual metaphor WOMAN IS A BIRD in two closely related languages − Bulgarian and Croatian languages. The corpus of analyzed ornithonyms, which are metaphorically used for a female referent, was collected from general monolingual and phraseological dictionaries, as well as online and slang dictionaries. Some meanings were illustrated by examples from the online corpora hrWac and Bulgarian web 2012 through the use of the Sketch engine tool. Even though domestic and wild birds are evenly represented in the analyzed corpus, the domestic birds are semantically and metaphorically more productive. The contrastive analysis established that the majority of metaphors are based on anthropomorphism, and that pejorative terms, which serve to semantically derogate women, dominate over terms with positive connotations. We have found pejorative connotations and hints of sexism even in the case of terms of endearment, which are supposed to express a special intimacy and congeniality. Interlingual differences, in the sense of the existence of more specific meanings, are realized within the framework of age and sexual connotation. The interlingual and intralingual variations (Kövecses, 2005, 2015) are the result of the dependency of metaphorical meaning on context and participants in the communication process.The subject of the paper is the gender marked conceptual metaphor WOMAN IS A BIRD in two closely related languages − Bulgarian and Croatian languages. The corpus of analyzed ornithonyms, which are metaphorically used for a female referent, was collected from general monolingual and phraseological dictionaries, as well as online and slang dictionaries. Some meanings were illustrated by examples from the online corpora hrWac and Bulgarian web 2012 through the use of the Sketch engine tool. Even though domestic and wild birds are evenly represented in the analyzed corpus, the domestic birds are semantically and metaphorically more productive. The contrastive analysis established that the majority of metaphors are based on anthropomorphism, and that pejorative terms, which serve to semantically derogate women, dominate over terms with positive connotations. We have found pejorative connotations and hints of sexism even in the case of terms of endearment, which are supposed to express a special intimacy and congeniality. Interlingual differences, in the sense of the existence of more specific meanings, are realized within the framework of age and sexual connotation. The interlingual and intralingual variations (Kövecses, 2005, 2015) are the result of the dependency of metaphorical meaning on context and participants in the communication process.The subject of the paper is the gender marked conceptual metaphor WOMAN IS A BIRD in two closely related languages − Bulgarian and Croatian languages. The corpus of analyzed ornithonyms, which are metaphorically used for a female referent, was collected from general monolingual and phraseological dictionaries, as well as online and slang dictionaries. Some meanings were illustrated by examples from the online corpora hrWac and Bulgarian web 2012 through the use of the Sketch engine tool. Even though domestic and wild birds are evenly represented in the analyzed corpus, the domestic birds are semantically and metaphorically more productive. The contrastive analysis established that the majority of metaphors are based on anthropomorphism, and that pejorative terms, which serve to semantically derogate women, dominate over terms with positive connotations. We have found pejorative connotations and hints of sexism even in the case of terms of endearment, which are supposed to express a special intimacy and congeniality. Interlingual differences, in the sense of the existence of more specific meanings, are realized within the framework of age and sexual connotation. The interlingual and intralingual variations (Kövecses, 2005, 2015) are the result of the dependency of metaphorical meaning on context and participants in the communication process.The subject of the paper is the gender marked conceptual metaphor WOMAN IS A BIRD in two closely related languages − Bulgarian and Croatian languages. The corpus of analyzed ornithonyms, which are metaphorically used for a female referent, was collected from general monolingual and phraseological dictionaries, as well as online and slang dictionaries. Some meanings were illustrated by examples from the online corpora hrWac and Bulgarian web 2012 through the use of the Sketch engine tool. Even though domestic and wild birds are evenly represented in the analyzed corpus, the domestic birds are semantically and metaphorically more productive. The contrastive analysis established that the majority of metaphors are based on anthropomorphism, and that pejorative terms, which serve to semantically derogate women, dominate over terms with positive connotations. We have found pejorative connotations and hints of sexism even in the case of terms of endearment, which are supposed to express a special intimacy and congeniality. Interlingual differences, in the sense of the existence of more specific meanings, are realized within the framework of age and sexual connotation. The interlingual and intralingual variations (Kövecses, 2005, 2015) are the result of the dependency of metaphorical meaning on context and participants in the communication process