Volume 26
Graduate Working Papers

LANGUAGE, CULTURE, AND COGNITION: THE ROLE OF METAPHOR IN QUECHUA

Kathryn Conger
University of Colorado Boulder

Published 2022-08-30

Keywords

  • Southern Conchucos Quechua,
  • Cuzco Quechua,
  • conceptual metaphor,
  • metaphor and culture

How to Cite

Conger, K. (2022). LANGUAGE, CULTURE, AND COGNITION: THE ROLE OF METAPHOR IN QUECHUA. Colorado Research in Linguistics, 26. Retrieved from https://journals.colorado.edu/index.php/cril/article/view/1581

Abstract

Lakoff and Johnson (1980) state that conceptual metaphors are motivated by basic cognitive processes. As such, many propose that conceptual source domains may be language independent, shared by speakers of different languages due to the shared human experience. While compelling, the proposal of universal metaphors presupposes that all languages value metaphoric language. This may be true for language within the Indo-European language family, upon which most work has focused. However, Quechua challenges this presupposition as the cultural value place on the concrete is reflected in the language. This work presents the findings of a Southern Conchucos Quechua metaphor study, discussing evidence for and against the existence of proposed universal metaphors as well as what it means to be “metaphoric” when that which appears metaphoric to a speaker of an Indo-European language may be built upon a concrete belief in a mythical world.