Монгол хэлний ‘элэг’ хэмээх үгийн концептиул метафор

The metaphorical conceptualizations of the ‘liver’ in Mongolian

This paper examines the metaphorical structure of the ‘liver’ in Mongolian, within the framework of the Conceptual Metaphor Theory (CMT), formulated by Lakoff and Jonhson (1980). This study presents a case in which an abstract concept (soul) is understood in part via a conceptual metaphor grounded in the body, but shaped by a culture-specific metaphorical understanding of an internal organ (liver) inside the body. Although the human body is a potentially universal source domain for metaphors structuring abstract concepts, cultural models set up specific perspectives from which certain aspects of bodily experience or certain parts of the body are viewed as salient and meaningful in the understanding of those abstract concepts. The cultural experience and knowledge we gain while submerged in our culture inevitably shape our worldview, making our mind enculturated. The interaction between common bodily experiences and varied cultural experiences determines the extent to which conceptual metaphors are universal, widespread, or culture-specific. At the same time, the same basic embodied experiences, in which many conceptual metaphors are grounded, may be defined differently by different cultural beliefs and values (Gibbs, 1999). In the same sense in Mongolian the selection of this source domain depends on a culture-specific metaphorical understanding of an internal organ, the liver, inside the body, namely “THE LIVER AS A CONTAINER OF EMOTIONS, THE LIVER AS AN OBJECT”. Mongolian cultural models set up specific perspectives from which certain aspect of bodily experience or certain parts of the body is viewed as especially salient and meaningful in the understanding of that abstract concept. Linguistic evidence suggests that both of these conceptual metaphors exist in the core of the Mongolian cultural model for the concept of LIVER.