Based on current results produced in modern cognitive linguistics this study examines linguistic evidence derived from the experiential field ,labor4 in German and Swedish in order to formulate a theory which more closely describes the relationship between semantic and conceptual structure in lexical concepts. The author maintains that semantic information can be seen as the content of the culture which it reflects and that semantic content is represented in culture specific modes. On the basis of frequency lists a chronologically organized cultural lexicon is presented for each language and culture area. The aim of the cultural lexicon is to point out central fields of concern in the two examined language communities at different times. The second part of the investigation deals with the conceptual structure in two culturally relevant types, labor and unemployment, of the cultural lexicon. In accordance with modern relativist views it is argued that linguistic form must be seen as a result of cultural embodiment and that modes of representation in the human mind must also show traces of this embodiment. It is shown that conceptual (and semantic) structures not only reinforce views of the world, but also play a central role in compatibility restrictions on the performance level. The author suggests that semantic and conceptual structures in lexical concepts are distributed in a metaphorical profile specific to each lexical concept and held together on its various levels by so called protosemes and concernes.

Metaphor is the most widely recognized and discussed type of trope. It has attracted the attention of analysts from various disciplines, e.g. philosophy, psychology, cognitive science, and literature. Research from these fields has shown that metaphors are ubiquitous and indispensable in our lives. It is not only literary discourse that is abundant with metaphors, but metaphors are also common in scientific discourse and even in our everyday language. Moreover, research from cognitive linguistics has shown that our thinking is metaphorical to a certain extent. Thus, if metaphors are so ubiquitous in our lives, how do we recognize them? In this paper selected metaphors from The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock by T.S. Eliot have been analyzed. These are metaphors from literary discourse; hence, the analysis was partly influenced by the genre and the specific, poetic context. The focus is on linguistic metaphors that can be identified in this poetic text, not on underlying conceptual metaphors. The aim of this paper has been to see how the metaphors in the poem are constructed and how the metaphorical part of the strings they occur in interacts with a seemingly literal part. According to the results of the analysis, the metaphorical constructions in the poem show a variety of modes of interaction among their constituents. Typically the metaphorical part of the poetic construction evokes a complex and directly perceptible phenomenon which serves as the basis for the understanding of the poetic persona’s feelings. Also the metaphors that describe the setting of the poem seem to be projections of the protagonist’s mood. Thus, the affective aspect of the metaphors is essential in the poem since it connects the metaphors to a network of meanings related to a prominent theme of the poem, namely the speaker’s paralysis and insecurity of himself, adding to the expressive complexity of the poem’s structure.

This study examines the relationship between the metaphor in the title and the content of T.T. Cloete’s Volume of Poetry titled Met die aarde praat. It will be demonstrated that the volume title as global metaphor is an integral part of the textual element of the text, that it also fulfills a hermeneutical function in respect to the text in that it offers clues and insights into reading and understanding of the poems or volume contents. In light of the aforementioned metaphor theory is investigated on three levels: on a cognitive or conceptual level, on a linguistic/textual level and on a communicative level. The titles and mottos of the eight sections frame the sections as well as refer to themes and provide clues to reading and understanding the individual poems or volume contents. Section titles are framed by the volume title and often interact with the volume title as global metaphor and together. / Afrikaans and Theory of Literature

This study examines the relationship between the metaphor in the title and the content of T.T. Cloete’s Volume of Poetry titled Met die aarde praat. It will be demonstrated that the volume title as global metaphor is an integral part of the textual element of the text, that it also fulfills a hermeneutical function in respect to the text in that it offers clues and insights into reading and understanding of the poems or volume contents. In light of the aforementioned metaphor theory is investigated on three levels: on a cognitive or conceptual level, on a linguistic/textual level and on a communicative level. The titles and mottos of the eight sections frame the sections as well as refer to themes and provide clues to reading and understanding the individual poems or volume contents. Section titles are framed by the volume title and often interact with the volume title as global metaphor and together. / Afrikaans and Theory of Literature