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Volume 8, Issue 3 (9-2025)
JSAL 2025, 8(3): 79-97 |
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Mozaffari S, Kosari A. (2025). Structural Conceptual Metaphor in Adab al‑Kabīr and Adab al‑Ṣaghīr: A Case Study of the Concept ʿAql [In Persian]. JSAL. 8(3), 79-97.
URL: http://jsal.ierf.ir/article-1-165-en.html
URL: http://jsal.ierf.ir/article-1-165-en.html
1- Associate Professor of Arabic Language and Literature, Faculty of Literature and Humanities, Kharazmi University, Tehran, Iran
2- PhD student in Arabic Language and Literature, Faculty of Literature and Humanities, Kharazmi University, Tehran, Iran ,afsane.kosari@khu.ac.ir
2- PhD student in Arabic Language and Literature, Faculty of Literature and Humanities, Kharazmi University, Tehran, Iran ,
Abstract: (2942 Views)
The theory of conceptual metaphor stands among the foundational achievements of contemporary cognitive linguistics, positing that human beings comprehend abstract notions through embodied experience and concrete conceptual domains. Based on Lakoff and Johnson (1980), metaphor is not a literary ornament but a cognitive mechanism that organizes human thought and perception, constructing conceptual structure via mappings between source and target domains. Drawing on this theoretical framework and employing a descriptive‑analytical approach, the present study investigates the representation of the concept ʿAql in Ibn al‑Muqaffaʿ’s Adab al‑Kabīr and Adab al‑Ṣaghīr. The data consist of selected Arabic passages which, after translation and analysis, were classified within the tripartite model of structural, ontological, and orientational metaphors. The analysis reveals that Ibn al‑Muqaffaʿ predominantly employs structural metaphors to represent ʿAql, constructing an inherently positive and action‑oriented conception of reason. Metaphors such as “reason as capital,” “reason as guiding light,” “reason as restraint on speech,” and “reason as innate disposition” indicate that in his intellectual framework, ʿAql is perceived as an intrinsic, directive force that regulates human moral life. Moreover, the predominance of structural metaphors over other types reflects the author’s inclination to explicate the relationship between reason and ethical action within an experiential and didactic framework. The dominant mapping trajectory flows from mental to mental domains, whereby Ibn al‑Muqaffaʿ utilizes sensory imagery to render abstract notions such as wisdom, insight, and rationality more tangible. Consequently, his metaphorical system reflects the linguistic and cultural interconnection among intellect, ethics, and adab in the intellectual milieu of the second Islamic century. The study of conceptual metaphors in Ibn al‑Muqaffaʿ’s works thus elucidates both his cognitive and value systems and traces the development of rational discourse in the classical Arabic didactic prose tradition.
Keywords: Cognitive Semantics, Conceptual Metaphor, Ibn al‑Muqaffaʿ, The Concept ʿAql, Adab al‑Kabīr, Adab al‑Ṣaghīr
Type of Study: Research |
Subject:
Linguistic research
Received: 2024/11/30 | Accepted: 2025/05/15 | Published: 2025/09/1
Received: 2024/11/30 | Accepted: 2025/05/15 | Published: 2025/09/1
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