Connotations of animal metaphors in the Jordanian context

Конотації метафор тварин у йорданському контексті

Хаді Дж. Хамдан, доктор філософії в галузі лінгвістики, асистент професора; Ханан Аль-Маданат, доктор філософії в галузі навчальних програм і методів викладання англійської мови, асистент професора; Ваель Дж. Хамдан, викладач

Мета. У статті висвітлено конотації десяти найпоширеніших метафор про тварин у йорданському контексті, як їх сприймають йорданські арабомовні громадяни.

Методи. Дані були зібрані в три етапи. Спочатку головний дослідник опублікував на своїй сторінці у Facebook пост, у якому попросив своїх йордансько-арабомовних віртуальних друзів повідомити в коментарях про найпоширеніші метафори про тварин, які вони використовують. Дослідники зібрали 115 коментарів/відповідей з 1106 токенами метафор тварин. По-друге, отримані лексеми були використані для виявлення найпоширеніших метафор про тварин. По-третє, для того, щоб визначити набір конотацій кожної метафори тварини, дослідники розповсюдили анкету серед 137 (43 чоловіків і 94 жінок) студентів Йорданського університету, в якій респондентів попросили повідомити, коли кожен з них схильний використовувати кожну метафору тварини і з якими конотаціями. На основі отриманих відповідей було підготовлено попередній список конотацій. Нарешті, запропоновані конотації були перевірені двома йордансько-арабомовними лінгвістами з факультету англійської мови Йорданського університету. Більшість їхніх суджень збігалися з думками дослідників, а в тих випадках, коли вони збігалися, вносилися поправки, щоб об>єднати конотації разом.

Результати. Результати показують наявність десяти найпоширеніших метафор тварин у йорданському контексті - це: (1) Х - МАВПА, (2) Х - ОСЕЛ, (3) Х - КОРОВА, (4) Х - ЗМІЯ, (5) Х - СОБАКА, (6) Х - СВИНЯ, (7) Х - ВЕДМІДЬ, (8) Х - КАЧКА, (9) Х - СОВА, і (10) Х - ОЛЕНЬ. Загалом вони мають 39 конотацій. МАВПА використовується для передачі п'яти конотацій, найпоширенішою з яких є гіперактивність. Що стосується Метафора ОСЕЛ має чотири конотації, найпоширенішою з яких є дурість. КОРОВА має шість конотацій і в основному асоціюється з ожирінням, особливо коли йдеться про жінок. ЗМІЯ - отруйний і брехливий символ. Що стосується метафори СОБАКА, то вона асоціюється здебільшого з поганими манерами. СВИНЯ має три конотації, і це в основному пов'язане з брехливістю. Що стосується метафори ВЕДМІДЬ, то вона має чотири конотації, з найчастішою конотацією "жирний". КАЧКА має три конотації і асоціюється здебільшого з красивим тілом та гарною фігурою. СОВА має три конотації, і це пов'язано переважно з песимістичними настроями. Нарешті, ОЛЕНЬ має три конотації, найпоширенішою з яких є конотація краси.

Висновки. Дослідження показало, що метафори тварин є культурно навантаженими і що середовище, в якому ми живемо, формує те, як ми сприймаємо тварин і як ми їх метафорично використовуємо.

Ключові слова: арабська мова, метафори про тварин, когнітивна лінгвістика, культура, метафора, семантика.

Introduction

Ever since the beginning of the universe, human beings and animals co-existed and shared this one planet called earth. Accordingly, humans came into contact with animals and used them as (1) pets, e.g., cats and dogs, (2) guards, e.g., certain types of dogs like German Shephard, (3) entertainers in circuses, e.g., monkeys, dolphins, and bears, (4) laboratory experiment subjects, e.g., mice and rabbits, and (5) a source of food, among others. This coexistence led people to refer to and address each other in communications using animal names and/ or traits for different goals and intentions whether complimentarily or non-complimentarily (Leach, 1964). In the words of Kovecses (2002: 124), “much of human behavior seems to be metaphorically understood in terms of animal behavior”. Eventually, this has led to the rise of the conceptual metaphors `HUMANS ARE ANIMALS' and `HUMAN BEHAVIOR IS ANIMAL BEHAVIOR'. The use of animal-based conceptual metaphors is universal and thus understanding them is essential for human beings to realize who they are and what kind of a world they live in (Kovecses, 2002). However, particular animals may be perceived differently by different people. Thus, many such metaphors and their related linguistic expressions or realizations may vary from one culture to another. For instance, while an `owl' in English symbolizes wisdom, it symbolizes pessimism in Arabic and is generally regarded as a sign of bad omen. In this context, it is in the interest of translators, teachers and learners of second and foreign languages if studies are conducted to explore the connotations and metaphorical uses of animals in different languages and cultures. This is believed to contribute to fostering communication and avoiding subsequent misunderstandings or communication breakdowns. In light of this, the purpose of this paper is to promote understanding of animal metaphors in the Arab culture, particularly in the Jordanian context, by answering the following research questions:

RQ 1: What are the ten most commonly used animal metaphors in the Jordanian context among university students?

RQ 2: What are the connotations of each usage?

For a learner of a certain language to effectively communicate with native speakers of that language, he/she does not just need to master the formal and grammatical rules of that language, but to also develop competence of the speaking norms and conventions of language use that are used and accepted in it. An obstacle that learners of another language often experience is the transfer of norms of their native language because of not being fully acquainted with the rules of the language they are learning. The communication is more likely to proceed smoothly when the norms of both L1 and L2 are similar, but if there are differences, serious communication breakdowns may result. Consequently, and in an attempt to foster communication and minimize communication breakdowns, several studies examined, for example, the realizations of speech acts to see whether they are universal or language-specific (e.g. Rabab'ah & Al-Hawamdeh, 2020; Hamdan & Mahadin, 2021; Hamdan & Sayyed, 2022). Other studies focused on the communicative and pragmatic functions of discourse markers and idiomatic expressions (Jarrah, Alghazo & Al Salem, 2019; Hamdan & Abu Rumman, 2020; Hamdan, 2021; Hamdan, 2022; Hamdan & Hammouri, 2022, among others). One area that still awaits more research is metaphors, especially animal metaphors. Consequently, the study reported here aims to fill this gap by examining animal metaphors in JA.

In light of the aforementioned, studying animal metaphors and unveiling their cognitive basis is now due. In fact, a comprehensive review of metaphor development literature indicates that there is ample evidence suggesting that young children develop early conceptual associations and produce what is likely to be referred to as metaphorical expressions. For instance, Gentner (1988: 516) reported about “a two-year old boy who said that a crescent moon was bent like a banana”. While examining Hamdan and Hamdan's (2020) paper and the data upon which it was based, we found similar evidence of early production of metaphors in Jordanian Arabic-speaking children. For instance, on one occasion, a child named Juje while interacting with his uncle, called him `he-goat' to express his anger. This was produced at the age of 2;2,10. On another occasion, while talking to his grandma, Juje told her that he wanted to eat her. When she asked for the reason, he responded, “I can do what I want because I am a lion”. This was produced at the age 1;2,11. It seems that Juje's use of `he-goat' as a swear word implies his knowledge that this animal connotes lack of understanding. In the same vein, it seems that his use of lion implies his understanding that the king of the jungle is strong and brave.

In addition to having a cognitive basis, metaphors are also culturally motivated. Such metaphors reflect, in a sense, the attitudes and beliefs held by a particular community towards certain animal species, which consequently could lead them to vary across cultures, times and spaces (Rodriguez, 2009: 94). “This cultural dimension of animal metaphors makes them suitable vehicles for the transmission and perpetuation of social beliefs for the benefit of a particular speech community” (ibid: 94).

Before proceeding with the presentation and for the readers' convenience, an overview of Conceptual Metaphor Theory is due.

animal metaphor jordanian arabic

Conceptual Metaphor Theory

`I use it to show endearment as when I tell my female friend: I love you monkey'.

Before we conclude this subsection, it is worth noting that while more than half of the comments focused on hyperactivity as a dominant descriptor of a monkey, 28 percent highlighted ugliness and 11 percent fitness. The last two connotations, hairiness and endearment, were insignificant as each had the weight of two percent, and thus may be ignored.

Table 3 Number and Percentage of Each Connotation and Related Tokens of X IS A DONKEY

The results of the study at hand yield support to Al Ghoweri et al. (2021) suggestion that stupidity is the most common connotation for X IS A DONKEY. Further, while only five percent of participants in Al-Ghoweri et al. (2021) reported a positive connotation for donkey, 25 percent of the responses in our study suggested a positive trait for this animal with regard to labor and work.

Below is an overview of each connotation along with illustrative examples.

Stupidity

Around two thirds of the responses indicated that describing a person as a donkey mostly denotes stupidity and lack of intelligence.

`Most of donkey's connotations are negative and are usually used to refer to someone who lacks intelligence or who is slow in comprehension. For instance, when someone asks, say, X to do something and X does not do it as required, the speaker will impatiently say: Are you a donkey? You don't understand? I have already told you how to do it'.

It is interesting to note here, that while in Arabic, donkey symbolizes stupidity and thus a stupid person may be described as a donkey-brain, in English, the term bird-brain rather than donkey-brain is used. According to Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English, a bird-brain “is someone who is silly or stupid”.

Tirelessness

While most of donkey's connotations are negative, it is uncommon to hear people use donkey for a positive trait, particularly being able to do hard work without complaining or stopping. This usage is often associated with talking about work and it is in a sense close in meaning to workaholic though not identical. When a person wants to commend someone for his hard-work in front of others or recommend someone to others, he/she may describe him/her as `tireless worker' as in:

`Most of its connotations are negative, but a positive connotation that can be cited to recommend someone for a manager when describing him as a working-donkey, to mean he works hard tirelessly.

While in Arabic, the word donkey is used in work context to mean hard-worker, in English, the term `workhorse' is used. According to Cambridge Dictionary, a workhorse is “someone who works very hard or who works very long hours”.

Ugliness particularly in voice

The third most common connotation for donkey is to denote ugliness in voice. Unlike monkeys that denote just physical appearance ugliness, a donkey's sound, also known as bray, is considered ugly in the Arab and Islamic culture. In the holy book of Qur'an, God Almighty says:

`And be moderate in your walk, and lower your voice. Surely, the ugliest of voices is the voice of the donkeys'.

Thus, when a person is described as donkey, it could be either physical appearance ugliness or voice ugliness or both as in:

`If someone's voice is too loud or his way of talking is disgusting, we can compare him to a donkey. This connotation is present in Quran'.

`Describing a human as a donkey denotes ugliness'.

While the animals that symbolize ugliness in Arabic are mainly `monkeys' and `donkeys', in English, a frog, particularly a `toad' is used to denote ugliness or unattractiveness when it comes to men, and fish, particularly a `trout' is used to denote ugliness when it comes to women. According to Cambridge dictionary, a toad is “an extremely unpleasant man, especially one who is not very physically attractive”. As for trout, it is defined in Cambridge Dictionary as “an old person, especially a woman, who is unpleasant or not attractive”.

Endearment

Walking in the streets at university or in hallways where students gather and mingle, it is not uncommon to see best friends addressing each other by using the word `donkey' when they greet each other, for instance. While this may seem offensive at first, it is not so when it is used between best friends as the use of a word like donkey shows that they are intimate enough to tolerate a term that can be insulting if it is said to strangers.

`When I see my friend and address him saying `hey donkey, what's up?' Here it is used jokingly to show intimacy.'

Table 4 Number and Percentage of Each Connotation and Related Tokens of X IS A COW

X IS A COW

Analysis of the data shows that this animal metaphor has six connotations. It is important to note here that the list comprises the connotations of “jij bagara `cow' and jj 9o:r `bull' (male cow). For the readers' convenience, table 4 presents the numbers and percentages for each connotation.

Below is an overview of each connotation along with illustrative examples.

Obesity

When it comes to being overweight, particularly, `fat' the most common animal to refer to, especially when the referent is a female is a cow. It seems this creature is perceived as always eating which causes it to gain weight and be fat. It is a very obscene word in this context and it is insulting as in:

`Cow is usually said to a female referent only to mean overweight. When saying you are becoming a cow, this means you are adding weight and this word is very negative'.

Aggression

The second most common connotation for X IS A COW is being aggressive in terms of attitude; someone who gets enraged easily, breaks things and acts violently. While it applies to both a cow and a bull, being aggressive is more associated with a bull according to the data of the study. Below is an illustrative example:

`A bull is used also to refer to someone who is quick or short tempered or someone who lets things get down on his nerves. For instance, we can say Oh God how difficult it is to rear a bull as our son, getting enraged easily for silly reasons'.

While in Arabic, reference to a bull is made to refer to someone who is irritable, in English, a reference is made to rat, particularly `ratty'. According to Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English, ratty is used in British English to mean “becoming annoyed quickly or easily.”

1. Obstinacy

The third most common connotation has to do with being obstinate, sticking to one's guns without making any changes in opinion or taking words of advice by others into account as in:

2. Stupidity and clumsiness

A person who accidently breaks things while walking is also described as a bull. In fact, this usage is also common in English as in `a bull in China shop' which means a very clumsy person. Below is an illustrative example:

3. Heavy built

The fifth most common connotation has to do with having large broad wide shoulders and a strong big body. This is different from being obese because here the reference is not overweight of fat, but is instead strong and big. Below is an illustrative example:

4. Laziness

Here, cow is used to refer to someone who does literally nothing other than sleeping or sitting at home. It is usually used in this context to criticize the act of laziness. Below is an illustrative example:

X IS A SNAKE

Analysis of the data shows that when humans are likened to a snake, this means they are toxic, poisonous and deceitful in the sense that they are double faced, untrustworthy and poisonous. This connotation has occurred 137 times in the data.

`Snake is used to describe females who do malicious things stealthily so as not to be noticed such as pretending to be so kind in front of others when this person is actually backbiting them and criticizing them.'

In order to know the animal metaphor that is used to describe a male who possesses those same qualities, the researchers resorted to introspection in collecting answers. The principle author wrote on his Facebook account a question in which he asked his virtual friends to report to him the animal metaphor that they use to mean toxic, poisonous and deceitful when a male is involved not a female. The researcher received 46 comments each making a reference to only one animal name, thus, one animal metaphor. The findings revealed that A HUMAN IS A SCORPION is the most commonly used animal metaphor to mean that a male is toxic, poisonous and poisonous. Table 5 shows the number and percentage of tokens associated with animal metaphors that described a male as toxic, poisonous and deceitful.

Table 5 Number and Percentage of Tokens Associated with Animal Metaphors that Refer to a Toxic, Poisonous and Deceitful Male

X IS A DOG

Analysis of the data revealed that X IS A DOG has six connotations, namely: (1) ill mannered, (2) bootlicker, (3) contemptable, (2) a nickname for endearment, (5) materialistic, and (6) mercurial, changeable in an unpredictable manner. These are in line with those identified in Al-Ghoweri et al. (2021) who reported that a dog connotes humiliation, curse, dirt and bad manners. While bad manners and curse are regarded as two separate connotations of dog in Al-Ghoweri et al. (2021), curse was not regarded as a connotation here since when you call someone contemptible, or bootlicker or ill-mannered or materialistic or mercurial, you are actually cursing him/her as well.

Table 6 below shows the numbers and percentages for each connotation.

Below is an overview of each connotation along with illustrative examples.

Ill-mannered

When someone misbehaves, disrespects others and acts rudely, he/she is described as a dog in the Jordanian context. It is as if his/her parents did not know how to breed and raise him/her which resulted in him/her growing impolite, wild and inconsiderate of others. below is an illustrative example.

`I use the word dog to describe someone who is despicable and ill-bred. For instance, I might say: look at that dog; he passed by without even saying hello to me'.

Bootlicker

When someone is willing to do anything even if it is against his/her principles in order to please someone else, usually someone of a higher status or position, he/she is described in the Jordanian context as a dog as in:

`When we say at work that someone is the manager's dog, we mean that this person is a bootlicker, praising everything that the boss says'.

Table 6. Number and Percentage of Each Connotation and Related Tokens of X IS A DOG

Nickname for endearment

Just like other curse words mentioned above (see monkey, donkey) friends while addressing each other may sometimes use the word dog as a nickname or as a title of address just for fun and for showing intimacy and endearment, not for offending each other.

`I joke with my friend when I call him `dog'.

Contemptible

When someone is worthless or is of no value, he/she is described as a dog. Below is an illustrative example:

`It is used when someone is of no value. For instance, if we reproach and blame people for something wrong that they did and one of them is of no value, we can say leave that dog, don't even talk to him or blame him because he is worthless'.

It is interesting to note that in English, a similar connotation for dog is found, particularly when a person is described as a cur.

Materialistic

When a person is money-grubbing, doing everything possible and seeking greedily to have much of it, he/she is described as a dog, particularly as lM kalb ?ilma:l (literally money dog) `money grubber or slave of money' as in:

`We call someone who is always running after money greedily money dog'.

Mercurial

Someone who changes unexpectedly, particularly showing negative reverse changes in opinion, may be described as a dog. In fact, an adjective is derived of the word dog to refer to this attitude which is mustaklib `acting as a dog' as in:

`It is used when someone suddenly changes and becomes mean, so one may ask with dismay: Why are you acting like a dog'.

Before proceeding with the next metaphorical expression, an interesting historical and Arab culture specific digression may contribute to highlighting how the environment we live in shapes the way we view animals and how we use them in our metaphors. A good example to make this point clear can be cited from Arab history. One day, there was an eloquent, Bedouin poet called Ali ibn al-Jahm, who was told that the Caliph, al-Mutwakkil, who was well known of his power, authority and awe, likes poetry and that he who goes to his palace, praises him with a poem that pleases him shall be bestowed with honor and money. At the Caliph's palace, al-Jahm was excited to see poets reciting their poems of praise of the Caliph and returning with gifts. The poet was allowed to proceed. To the shock of the caliph and everyone in the palace, in his attempt to praise the Caliph, the poet likened the Caliph to a dog in terms of loyalty, and a he-goat in terms of facing obstacles. At first, the Caliph was enraged and the soldiers unsheathed their swords to strike off his neck, but then the Caliph realized that ibn al-Jahm is a Bedouin who spends most of his time in the desert and thus for him a dog, and a he-goat are symbols that are parts of his surroundings and thus they are not less important than sun, moon and mountains which are used by other poets living in the city when they recite their poems of praise. For instance, since he deals with dogs and livestock, he views a dog as a source of loyalty, and, thus, thinks that it is a good source domain for praising. Long story short, the Caliph ordered him a beautiful house on the banks of the Tigris near an orchard and close to the bridge where he spent around six months in order to acquaint him with city life. During that period, ibn al-Jahm enjoyed the new environment, met with other eloquent poets and tasted the pleasures of this new life. Then, one day while the Caliph was sitting in one of his nightly gatherings, he remembered `Ali bin al-Jahm, so he sent for him. When the poet finally came in, the Caliph asked him to recite some poems. The poet then recited a beautiful poem full of soft and kind words in which he talked about the beauty of the oryx eyes and how they spark and restore to him a love he did not know. Then he moved on to liken the Caliph to the sun, the stars and the sword. The Caliph was surprised and yet pleased by the change that tookplace and gave the poet the reward he deserves.

X IS A PIG

Analysis of the data shows that this animal metaphor has three connotations, namely: (1) deceit, (2) dishonor, and (3) ugliness. Table 7 below shows the numbers and percentages for each connotation.