STRUCTURAL METAPHORS “HUMAN BEINGS ARE KITCHEN UTENSILS” IN VIETNAMESE FOLK SONGS AND IDIOMS

Abstract

            The article applies the theory of structural metaphor of Cognitive Linguistics to explore structural metaphors HUMAN BEINGS ARE KITCHEN UTENSILS in Vietnamese idioms and folk songs. In particular, "kitchen utensils" serve as source domains mapped to target domain "human beings" to form the structural metaphors. Some examples are human appearance, emotions, activities, and human circumstances/status are "kitchen utensils". It is clear that Vietnamese people rely on their experiences of "kitchen utensils" to conceptualize abstract categories of human.