Cover not available

In:Proverbs within Cognitive Linguistics: State of the art
Edited by Sadia Belkhir
[Cognitive Linguistic Studies in Cultural Contexts 16] 2024
► pp. 65–85

Get fulltext from our e-platform
JBE logo with link
PDF logo with download linkDownload Book PDF
EPUB logo with download linkDownload Book EPUB
authorization required

Chapter 3
Contradiction in proverbs

The role of stereotypical metaphors

 | Cadi Ayyad University, Morocco
Published online: 30 May 2024
DOI logo with link
https://doi.org/10.1075/clscc.16.03lem
Abstract
Contradiction in proverbs has been noted over centuries. As a culture-specific phenomenon, contradiction is an important research topic for Conceptual Metaphor Theory. It must be asked why given proverbs contradict. The likely answer is that they express opposite meanings. Granted the metaphoricity of proverbs’ meanings, contradictory proverbs must be assumed to be motivated via opposite metaphors. This hypothesis is workable, but with the proviso that the metaphorical conceptualisations concerned are not standard conceptual metaphors but rather stereotypical metaphors – a kind of metaphors that emerge from stereotypes, that is, stereotypical thoughts that speakers within a speech community attach to concepts.
Article outline
  • 1.Introduction
  • 2.Truth, wisdom, and contradiction in proverbs: A brief overview
  • 3.Presenting the framework of stereotypical metaphor
    • 3.1Conceptual metaphor/stereotypical metaphor
    • 3.2Ambiguous metaphorical expressions: A case in point
  • 4.How stereotypical metaphors account for contradiction in proverbs
  • 5.Conclusion
  • References
References (46)
References
Anscombre, J. C. (2001). Dénomination, sens et référence dans une théorie des stéréotypes nominaux [Denomination, meaning and reference within a theory of nominal stereotypes]. Cahiers de Praxématique, 36, 43–72. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
(2012). Le problème de l’antonymie dans le champ parémique [The problem of antonymy in the paremic field]. In J. C. Anscombre, A. Rodríguez Somolinos, & S. Gómez-Jordana Ferary (Eds.), Voix et marqueurs du discours: Des connecteurs à l’argument d’autorité [Voices and discourse markers: From connectors to the argument from authority] (pp. 121–140). Lyon: ENS Editions. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
(2016). Sur la détermination du sens des proverbes [On determining the meaning of proverbs]. Etudes et Travaux d’Eur’ORBEM, 1, 39–53.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
(2020). La théorie des stéréotypes: Référence, représentation du monde et morphologie lexicale [Theory of stereotypes: Reference, representation of the world and lexical morphology]. In E. Hilgert, S. Palma, G. Kleiber, P. Frath, & R. Daval (Eds.), Lexique et référence [Lexicon and reference] (pp. 13–32). Reims: Editions et Presses Universitaires de Reims.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Coulson, S. (2001). Semantic leaps. Frame-shifting and conceptual blending in meaning construction. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Croft, W., & Wood, E. (2000). Construal operations in linguistics and artificial intelligence. In L. Albertazzi (Ed.), Meaning and cognition. A multidisciplinary approach (pp. 51–78). Amsterdam & Philadelphia: John Benjamins. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Fauconnier, G. (1985[1994]). Mental spaces. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Fauconnier, G., & Turner, M. (2002). The way we think: Conceptual blending and the mind’s hidden complexities. New York: Basic Books.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Fradin, B. (1984). Anaphorisation et stéréotypes nominaux. Lingua, 64(4), 325–369. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Furnham, A. (1987). The proverbial truth: Contextually reconciling and the truthfulness of antonymous Proverbs. Journal of Language and Social Psychology, 1, 49–55. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Gibbs, R., & Beitel, D. (1995). What proverb understanding reveals about how people think. Psychological Bulletin, 1, 133–154. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Glucksberg, S., & Keysar, B. (1990). Understanding metaphorical comparisons: Beyond similarity. Psychological Review, 97, 3–18. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Grady, J., Oakley, T., & Coulson, S. (1999). Blending and metaphor. In R. W. Gibbs, & G. Steen (Eds.), Metaphor in cognitive linguistics (pp. 101–124). Amsterdam & Philadelphia: John Benjamins. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Grice, H. M. (1967). The logic of conversation. William James Lectures. Cambridge, MA: Harvard UniversityGoogle Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Kleiber, G. (1994). Nominales. Essais de sémantique référentielle [Nominals. Essays on referential semantics]. Paris: Armand Colin.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
(2000). Sur le sens des proverbes [On the semantics of proverbs]. Langages, 139, 39–58. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Kövecses, Z. (2010). Metaphor: A practical introduction. Second edition. Oxford & New York: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
(2020). Extended conceptual metaphor theory. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
La Fontaine, J. (1971). Fables [Fables]. Paris: Le Livre de Poche.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Lakoff, G. (1993). The contemporary theory of metaphor. In A. Ortony (Ed.), Metaphor and thought. Second edition. (pp. 202–251). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
(2002). Moral politics. How liberals and conservatives think. Second edition. Chicago, IL: The University of Chicago Press. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
(2004). Don’t think of an elephant! Know your values and frame the debate. White River Junction, VT: Chelsea Green Publishing.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
(2008). The neural theory of metaphor. In R. W. Gibbs (Ed.), The Cambridge handbook of metaphor and thought (pp. 17–38). Cambridge & New York: Cambridge University Press. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Lakoff, G., & Johnson, M. (1980). Metaphors we live by. Chicago, IL: The University of Chicago Press.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
(1999). Philosophy in the flesh: The embodied mind and its challenge to western thought. New York: Basic Books.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Lakoff, G., & Turner, M. (1989). More than cool reason: A field guide to poetic metaphor. Chicago, IL: The University of Chicago Press. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Langacker, R. W. (1987). Foundations of cognitive grammar: Theoretical prerequisites (Vol. 1). Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
(1999). Grammar and conceptualization. New York: Mouton de Gruyter. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
(2008). Cognitive grammar: A basic introduction. Oxford & New York: Oxford University Press. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Lemghari, E. (2019a). A metonymic-based account of the semiotic status of proverbs: Against the “Deproverbialization Thesis”. The Linguistics Journal, 13, 30–51.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
(2020). Les apparences sont trompeuses et L’habit ne fait pas le moine, synonymes ou antonymes ou les deux à la fois? [Appearances are deceiving and Clothes do not make the man, synonyms or antonyms, or both?]. In M. Meulleman, S. Palma, & A. Theissen (Eds.), Liber Amicorum: clins d’œil linguistiques en hommage à Emilia Hilgert [Liber Amicorum: linguistic winks in homage to Emilia Hilgert] (pp. 15–30). Reims: Editions et Presses Universitaires de Reims.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
(2021a). Constructing a broad model for proverb understanding. Metaphor and Symbol, 36(4), 265–287. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
(2021b). Metaphorical blending in complex proverbs. A case study. Metaphor and the Social World, 11(1), 72–98. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
(forthcoming). Stereotypical metaphor: a missing piece in Conceptual Metaphor Theory.
Manser, M. (2007). The facts on file dictionary of proverbs: Meanings and origins of more than 1,700 popular sayings. Second edition. New York: Infobase Publishing.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Pelletier, F. J. (1975). Non-Singular reference: Some preliminaries. Philosophia, 5(4), 451–465. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
(Ed). (1979). Mass terms: Some philosophical problems. Dordrecht: Reidel Publishing Company. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Putnam, H. (1975). Philosophical papers (Vol. 2). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Quine, W. V. (1960). Word and object. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Stefanowitsch, A. (2006). Words and their metaphors: A corpus-based approach. In A. Stefanowitsch & S. Gries (Eds.), Corpus-based approaches to metaphor and metonymy (pp. 63–105). Berlin & New York: Mouton de Gruyter. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Talmy, L. (2000). Toward a cognitive semantics (Vol. 1). Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Teigen, K. (1986). Old truths or fresh insights? A study of students’ evaluations of proverbs. British Journal of Social Psychology, 25(1), 43–49. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
White, G. M. (1987). Proverbs and cultural models: An American psychology of problem solving. In D. Holland & N. Quinn (Eds.), Cultural models in language and thought (pp. 151–172). Cambridge & New York: Cambridge University Press. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Yankah, K. (1984[1994]). Do proverbs contradict? In W. Mieder (Ed.), Wise words. Essays on the proverb (pp. 127–142). London & New York: Routledge.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Cited by (1)

Cited by one other publication

Lemghari, El Mustapha
2025. Stereotypical Metaphor: A Missing Piece in Conceptual Metaphor Theory. Studies in Logic, Grammar and Rhetoric 70:1 ► pp. 349 ff. DOI logo

This list is based on CrossRef data as of 8 december 2025. Please note that it may not be complete. Sources presented here have been supplied by the respective publishers. Any errors therein should be reported to them.

Mobile Menu Logo with link to supplementary files background Layer 1 prag Twitter_Logo_Blue