АБЫЛАЙ ХАН атындағы ҚазХҚжӘТУ ХАБАРШЫСЫ «ФИЛОЛОГИЯ ҒЫЛЫМДАРЫ» сериясы
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argument, or opinion as an outcome of the mental activity. Any similarities and
differences in English and Turkish idioms‘ conceptual representations can ground
possible deviations from idioms‘ meanings in the answers of respondents.
The idiom ‗To keep your eyes on the ball‘ (If you keep your eye on the ball, you
stay alert and pay close attention to what is happening) has a concept of SEEING IS
KNOWING and VISION IS CONTROL. It implies that if someone controls the
situation it will bring to success (which is not always the case); and vice versa, if
somebody loses control, i.e. fails to keep the eyes on the ball, it will lead to a failure.
So, an ability of seeing plays a crucial role in being successful. The idiom ‗Blink of
an eye‘ (If something happens in the blink of an eye, it happens so fast it is almost
impossible to notice it) also refers to the above metaphor and metonymy
(metaphtonymy): closing the eyes indicates a loss of control but the
action happens so
quickly that control is still underway and has never been lost.
LEG, FOOT, and HEEL are parts of the body responsible for walking; they are
based on the metonymy LEG/ FOOT FOR ABILITY TO WALK. They are also
related to metaphor WALKING FORWARD IS PROGRESS, a reverse action
(inability to move) is understood as failing to achieve success. The idiom ‗To pull
someone‘s leg‘ (If you pull someone's leg, you tease them, but not maliciously)
indirectly relates to the above mentioned metaphor: if somebody pulls your leg you
will not be able to walk, and it will definitely hinder your progress. But the
implication for this idiom is that pulling somebody‘s leg is perceived as a minor
disturbance and a slight annoyance which occurs among friends for fun. More
importance that metaphor has for the idiom ‗It cost an arm and a leg‘ (If something
costs an arm and a leg, it is very expensive indeed): legs and feet are means for
walking for success, and arms and hands are instruments for achieving (grabbing) it.
Their capacity of catching and holding a thing is a good weapon for people who seek
to succeed in life and perceive the world as a battle for fighting. So, an arm and a leg
are very valuable means for moving ahead and achieving success, and if for a person
something costs an arm and a leg, then it must be a big loss and a failure for him/ her.
Idioms ‗To give me a hand‘ (If someone gives you a hand, they help you) and ‗To
play into someone‘s hands‘ (If you play into someone's hands, you do what they were
expecting you to do and take advantage of this) relate to the same concept of hands as
a means of taking and giving, and thus are motivated by the metaphtonymies of
HOLDING IS CONTROLLING and CONTROL IS PHYSICAL GRASP. Kцvecses
(2010) suggests the following conceptual metaphors for Hand: HAND STANDS
FOR CONTROL, HAND STANDS FOR THE ACTIVITY, and HAND STANDS
FOR THE PERSON.
The idiom ‗To put your foot in your mouth‘ (If you put your foot in your mouth,
you say something stupid or embarrassing) is more related to the image-schema of
‗mouth‘ as a CONTAINER rather than ‗foot‘ as a means of movement. When a
container is closed by another object (a foot – in this case), then the way is blocked and
none can be taken out of it, or can be taken easily. If the way for words articulation is not
free, the mouth, a container produces defect utterances, i.e. stupid things. The mouth is a
ИЗВЕСТИЯ КазУМОиМЯ имени АБЫЛАЙ ХАНА серия «ФИЛОЛОГИЧЕСКИЕ НАУКИ»
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CONTAINER OF CONTENT, and the tongue, a means of speaking, is CONTENT. The
idiom ‗To hold your tongue‘ (If you hold your tongue, you keep silent even though you
want to speak) reflects the situation when content, the tongue, is held tight, thus it is not
able to speak. Another idiom with ‗the tongue‘ component - ‗On the tip of your tongue‘
(If a word is on the tip of your tongue, you know the word, but you just can't quite
remember it at the moment) reveals a situation when the tongue is not kept and can
physically move under the definite condition.
The HEART is typically associated with emotional spheres, and metonymically
motivated as HEART FOR FEELINGS. It also has an image-schema of a
CONTAINER FOR CONTENT; the content is a range of emotions people usually
have towards each other. The idioms ‗Wear your heart on your sleeve‘ (Someone
who wears their heart on their sleeve shows their emotions and feelings publicly) and
‗Eat your heart out‘ (If someone tells you to eat your heart out, they are saying they
are better than you at something) refer to the above mentioned concepts: if the heart
is worn on the sleeve, it is exposed to the outer world and feelings are not hidden; and
if other people are better than you at something, you would better eat your heart not
to display bad emotions concerning that fact. In the idiom ‗Butterflies in your
stomach‘ (The nervous feeling before something important or stressful is known as
butterflies in your stomach) the stomach is a CONTAINER OF CONTENT,
butterflies in the stomach is not typical content: by flying in the air they bring
instability into the container and break the solidity of the container. The idiom refers
to image-schemas of SECURITY/ STABILITY IS SOLID GROUND,
INSECURITY/ INSTABILITY IS AIR. Instability and insecurity lead to the feeling
of nervousness and concern which will last until butterflies stay in the stomach.
In the idiom ‗Pay through the nose‘ (If you pay through the nose for something,
you pay a very high price for it) the nose is connected to the image-schema, or the
source-content, of PATH through which the air passes; it is related to notions of
STATE OF BEING ON THE PATH FOR THE STATE OF BEING IN
MOVEMENT and to MOVEMENT ALONG THE PATH TOWARDS
DESTINATION. If the passage through the path is difficult, the movement is
hindered, and the destination is not reached. Also, the nose is related to the source-
concept of LIFE: the movement of the
air along the path, i.e. the nose,
implies staying
alive as far as the air is a must condition of life. So, if the path is blocked, i.e. you pay
through the nose, then, it may cost you difficulties, or even death.
The idiom ‗All ears‘ (If someone says they're all ears, they are very interested in
hearing about something) also refers to the notions of conceptual metaphors STATE
OF BEING ON THE PATH FOR THE STATE OF BEING IN MOVEMENT and to
MOVEMENT ALONG THE PATH TOWARDS DESTINATION. The sound goes
in and out along the path, the ears as a means, to reach the destination, and when the
path is free, the movement is easy and fast.
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