Specificity of the Use of Metaphor by Old Kabylian Speakers (70-90) Years Old in Their Everyday Social Interactions
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DEMOCRATIC AND POPULAR REPUBLIC OF ALGERIA MINISTRY OF HIGHER EDUCATION AND SCIENTIFIC RESEARCH UNIVERSITY OF ORAN 2 – MOHAMED BEN AHMED FACULTY OF FOREIGN LANGUAGES DOCTORATE THESIS Spécialité: langue Anglaise Option: Socio-Linguistique Intitulée: SPECIFICITY OF THE USE OF METAPHOR BY OLD KABYLIAN SPEAKERS (70-90) YEARS OLD IN THEIR EVERYDAY SOCIAL INTERACTIONS Submitted by: Supervised by: Mrs. HAMANE SORAYA Pr. BOUHADIBA FAROUK Board of examiners Pr. YACINE Rachida Université d’Oran2 Présidente du Jury Pr. BOUHADIBA Farouk Université d’Oran2 Rapporteur Pr. ABDELHAY Bakhta Université de Mostaganem Examinatrice Pr. DENDANE Zoubir Université de Tlemcen Examinateur Dr. NEDDAR Belabes Université de Mostaganem Examinateur Dr. BENHATTAB Abdelkader Université d’Oran2 Examinateur Academic Year: 2016-2017 Acknowledgements First and foremost, I would like to give my deepest gratitude to my supervisor Professor Farouk Bouhadiba, for his kindness, understanding, patience as well as his excellent guidance and advice. Thanks also go to my family and friends for continued support and encouragement. MrsSORAYA HAMANE Dedications To the memory of my father, to my mother, to my husband, to my two angels Zineb and Ramzi, to my sister and brothers, to my best friend Nafissa. MrsSORAYA HAMANE Abstract The aim of this study, is to show how metaphors reflect cognitive and cultural human experiences encoded by language as a means of recording human experience. It also explores the extent to which culture models and frames this cognition and how it influences metaphor to a high degree. Thus, this research may contribute to see and recognise how the members of the Kabylian culture structure or map their experiences of the world and expound them into their native language. Metaphors are not just playing with words or even a free play of ideas. They should be in harmony with the social and historical settings with the beliefs and personal constructs of the society or micro society of the time. In this research work, we try to demonstrate that metaphors not only make the Kabylian (i.e., a Berber minority in Algeria) thoughts vivid and interesting, but they actually structure their perception and understanding of the world in and around them. Keywords: metaphor, culture, cognition, old kabylian speakers, speech interaction. Résumé L’objectif de cette étude est de mettre en évidence une réflexion sur les métaphores à partir d’expériences cognitives et culturelles telles exprimées et encodée dans la langue comme outil d’enregistrement de l’expérience humaine. Il s’agit également de voir comment la culture modélise, contrôle et limite cette cognition et à quel point la culture influence-t-elle la métaphore. Cette étude nous permet de mieux connaitre et de comprendre la façon dont les personnes (issues de la culture Kabyle) règlementent et planifient leurs expériences de la vie et l’enregistrent dans leur langue maternelle. Les métaphores ne se limitent pas à jouer avec des mots ou même à jouer librement avec des idées. Elles doivent être compatibles avec le contexte social et historique et avec les composantes humaines de la société ou d’une communauté donnée. Dans cette thèse, notre but est d’expliquer que les métaphores observées et analysées ne permettent pas seulement la renaissance des idées kabyles mais aussi l’organisation de leur perception et leur conception du monde qui les entoure. Mots clés: métaphore, culture, cognition, interlocuteurs kabyles d’âge avancé, interaction verbale. اﻟﻤﻠﺨﺺ: اﻟﮭﺪف ﻣﻦ ھﺬ إه اﻟﺪراﺳﺔ ھﻮ ﻧﻌﻜﺎساﺑﺮاز اﻻﺳﺘﻌﺎرات ﻋﻠﻰ اﻟﺨﺒﺮات اﻻﻧﺴﺎﻧﯿﺔ اﻟﻤﻌﺮﻓﯿﺔ و اﻟﺜﻘﺎﻓﯿﺔ اﻟﻤﻌﺒﺮ ﻋﻨﮭﺎ ﻋﻦ طﺮﯾﻖ اﻟﻠﻐﺔ ﻛﺄداة ﻟﺘﺴﺠﯿﻞ اﻟﺨﺒﺮات اﻻﻧﺴﺎﻧﯿﺔ. و إﻟﻰ أي ﻣﺪى اﻟﺜﻘﺎﻓﺔ ﺗﺼﻮغ و ﺗﻘﯿﺪ ھﺬ ،ه اﻟﻤﻌﺮﻓﺔ إﺿﺎﻓﺔ إﻟﻰ ﺗﺄﺛﺮ اﻻﺳﺘﻌﺎرة ﺑﺎﻟﺜﻘﺎﻓﺔ إﻟﻰ ﺣﺪ ﻛﺒﯿﺮ. ھﺬا اﻟﺒﺤﺚ ﻗﺪ ﯾﺴﻤﺢ ﻟﻨﺎ ﺑﺈﻟﻘﺎء ﻧﻈﺮة و اﻟﺘﻌﺮف ﻋﻠﻰ اﻟﻜﯿﻔﯿﺔ اﻟﺘﻲ ﯾﻨﻈﻢ و ﯾﺨﻄﻂ ﺑﮭﺎ اﻷﻓﺮاد ذو ﺛﻘﺎﻓﺔ ﻗﺒﺎﺋﻠﯿﺔ ﺧﺒﺮاﺗﮭﻢ اﻟﺤﯿﺎﺗﯿﺔ و ﯾﺴﺠﻠﻮﻧﮭﺎ ﻋﺒﺮ ﻟﻐﺘﮭﻢ اﻷﺻﻠﯿﺔ. اﻻﺳﺘﻌﺎرات ﻟﯿﺴﺖ ﻓﻘﻂ ﻟﻌﺐ ﺑﺎﻟﻜﻠﻤﺎت أو ﺣﺘﻰ ﻟﻌﺐ ﺣﺮ ﻟﻸﻓﻜﺎر ﺑﻞ ﯾﺠﺐ ان ﺗﻜﻮن ﻣﺘﻨﺎﺳﻘﺔ ﻣﻊ اﻟﺨﻠﻔﯿﺔ اﻻﺟﺘﻤﺎﻋﯿﺔ و اﻟﺘﺎرﯾﺨﯿﺔ و ﻣﻊ اﻟﻤﻌﺘﻘﺪات و اﻟﺘﺮﻛﯿﺒﺎت اﻹﻧﺴﺎﻧﯿﺔ ﻟﻠﻤﺠﺘﻤﻊ أو ﻟﻤﺠﺘﻤﻊ ﺧﺎص. ﻓﻲ ھﺬه اﻷطﺮوﺣﺔ ﻧﮭﺪف ﻟﺘﻮﺿﯿﺢ أن اﻻﺳﺘﻌﺎرات ﻻ ﺗﻘﻮم ﻓﻘﻂ ﺑﺈﺣﯿﺎء أﻓﻜﺎر اﻟﻘﺒﺎﺋﻠﯿﯿﻦ (اﻟﻄﺎﺋﻔﺔ اﻟﺒﺮﺑﺮﯾﺔ اﻟﻘﻠﯿﻠﺔ ﻓﻲ اﻟﺠﺰاﺋﺮ) ﺑﻞ ﺗﻘﻮم ﺑﺘﻨﻈﯿﻢ و إﻧﺸﺎء ﺗﺼﻮراﺗﮭﻢ و ﻣﻔﺎھﯿﻤﮭﻢ ﻟﻠﻌﺎﻟﻢ ﻟﻠﻌﺎﻟﻢ اﻟﻤﺤﯿﻂ ﺑﮭﻢ. اﻟﻜﻠﻤﺎت اﻟﻤﻔﺘﺎﺣﯿﺔ: اﻻﺳﺘﻌﺎرة، اﻟﺜﻘﺎﻓﺔ، اﻟﻤﻌﺮﻓﺔ، اﻟﻤﺘﺤﺪﺛﻮن اﻟﻘﺒﺎﺋﻠﯿﻮن ﻛﺒﺎر اﻟﺴﻦ، اﻟﺘﻔﺎﻋﻞ اﻟﻠﻔﻈﻲ. General Introduction General Introduction “Man, is confronting reality, faces a kaleidoscope of phenomena ranging from the natural to the man-made, to the imaginary, to the totally abstract. Comprehension of such a broad inventory of reality and non-reality requires language, the tool that permits man to take verbal stock of objective and subjective experiences alike. In man’s ongoing endeavor to conceptualize and verbalize a world that can never be fully known, language is the vital intermediary. Language provides a repertoire of coping mechanisms, of which metaphor is one of the most powerful and useful” (Malloti quoted in Basson, 2006: 38). Language not only assists us in sharing information, establishing mere relations, or simply employed for aesthetic purposes, it also conceptualises as well as verbalises our entire reality of life. It fulfils an emotive function, and helps us understand new things in the light of the known. Language is part and parcel (integral part) of culture, i.e., language is a medium for everyday social contacts, social expression and social experience. Alessandro Duranti (1997: 337) succeeds in conveying this idea in a very neat and concise way, thus he summarises the following: “By connecting people to their past, present and future, language becomes their past, present, and future. Language is not just a representation of an independently established world. Language is also that world. Not in the simplistic sense that all we have of our past is language but in the sense that our memories are inscribed in linguistic accounts, stories, anecdotes, and names just as much as they are contained in smells, sounds, and ways of holding our body”. Culture is said to be crucial in metaphor understanding. Metaphors are generally understood according to our own values which are fully grounded and coined in fact by the specific culture we live in. Culture is also taught to be the mirror of life as held up to us (society). In other words, different cultures lead us to different conceptual systems with different world perceptions of reality. In this research paper, we will investigate, demonstrate, argue and prove that the most part of everyday Kabyle utterances are metaphoric and culture- specific, i.e., as native speakers, we would like to give the opportunity to any foreign speaker to try to come in contact with Kabyle language, discover its rich heritage, and know how 2 General Introduction much metaphors structure the totality of our life (past, present and future). Our research paper has two main goals. First, it aims at showing that some Kabyle metaphors may exist in some other languages, and thus are somehow semantically equivalent, i.e., universally applicable since the physical features of human beings are predominantly the same across linguistic and cultural models, while many other conceptual metaphors in Kabyle remain unique in their use (culture-specific). Zoltán Kövecses (2005: 2-5) has generated numerous cross-cultural studies of conceptual metaphors where he stated that while some source domains in metaphors are universal among various cultures, others exist only in particular cultures. For instance, the concept of ‘Life’ is metaphorically conceptualised as ‘A Journey’ in English culture, whereas speakers of Kabyle commonly view the concept of ‘Life’ through the perception of ‘A Day’. Thus, the particular mappings (linguistic utterances/expressions) the Kabyle native speakers use to talk about life are based on a deeper connection between the two concepts of ‘life’ and ‘day’. Kövecses (2015: 13) postulates the following: “even such potentially universal metaphors may display variation in their specific details because people do not use their cognitive capacities in the same way from culture to culture … Finally, many conceptual metaphors are unique to particular (sub) cultures or sets of cultures because of differences in such factors as social-cultural context, history, or human concern that characterize these cultures.” Second, this paper also intends to demonstrate that culture and metaphor are both engaged in mutual interaction (tied to each other), i.e., they both operate together that they can easily lead us to a good understanding of the world around us. Metaphor is pervasive in our everyday life, i.e., metaphors play a central role in defining the old Kabylians everyday realities. Our aim is to show clearly that our category of informants (70-90 years old) are not using metaphors just for shaping their views of what the world is like, but metaphors are setting up expectations for the future, i.e., metaphors are rooted in the beliefs, practices and intentions of language. Jacobus A. Naudé in the same line of thought expresses: “when people speak, they are not merely uttering sounds with structure and meaning. They intend something, and that intension is entrenched in their whole material (the things people do…), habitual (how they do things or get them done…) and mental being 3 General Introduction (about their reasons for doing these things in the way they do…)” (Naudé quoted in Basson, 2006: 37). Metaphor is in us as much as we are in it: metaphor dwells in the language of every kind. Metaphor is deeply ingrained in our work, private life, thoughts processes, actions, daily conversations, speeches, discourses, etc. As Carter (2012:138) writes: “…such metaphors are often so deeply impregnated in language and culture that they are not noticed as such.” That is to say, the everyday use of such linguistic metaphors is so evident, frequent and unnoticed, that we even do not realise it in many natural/usual circumstances.