The opening statement of Dilin Liu's Metaphor, Culture and Worldview states that "any close scrutiny of human communication, ancient or contemporary, formal or informal, will reveal the popularity of metaphor (Liu, 2002, p. 1)."Metaphor had been and is still used by people across the globe, regardless of culture, ethnicity, status, and region, to express their thoughts in a more creative manner. Metaphors provide a manner for individuals to translate their thoughts into vivid images that people can relate to and understand. This offers a richer juxtaposition of two things pointing at the same thought target.
Metaphor is "an icon which represents the representative character of a representamen[sign] by representing the a parallelism in something else (Pierce as qtd in Factor, 1996, p. 229)." This is a rhetorical figurative speech components that try to explain something using an analogy of another thing, which can be directly or indirectly related to the referred object or subject. It is the association of an object to experience, language or thought, understanding of some situation, and idea. In essence, metaphor tries to borrow a characteristic of another to represent and explain another. However, metaphor can be subject to different interpretations aside from the generally-accepted representation.
Now for purposes of explaining metaphor, I have chosen to explore the Arabic language with focus on metaphors used within the subject of foods. To understand metaphors of the Arabic language, it is necessary to indulge oneself into the culture of the region. The relationship between metaphor and culture can be traced to the idea of cognitive linguistics wherein the mind is deeply involved in the language (Yu, 2008). As such, experience is an important part in the parallel conceptual metaphors. This is what I noted above wherein the understanding of metaphor is anchored on the person's experience, which results to different interpretations, especially when culture and ethnicity become the primary factors.
First, Ant Hammouris an Arabic metaphor which can be translated as “You are a fish”, but this metaphor means that the person being referred or represented in a rich one and maintains good relations with other people. If one does not understand the Arabic culture, it would difficult to note the positive interpretation of the metaphor, rather one may feel that the metaphor refers to him or her as smelly as the fish. However, if we look at the culture of the region, we will find the meaning “you are rich and have good relations” more relevant and suitable. Hammour or the grouper is a fish commonly eaten in the Middle East, especially in the Persian Gulf region. Most hotels and restaurants have already given up hammour as part of their menu because of fear that hammour may go extinct. Currently, the fish is only served by some restaurants at a hefty price. In this sense, the metaphor Ant Hammourspeaks truth because only those who have good money can order hammour dishes in most restaurants due to the price tag.
Basically, in the understanding of the metaphor, one must go back to its origin. For non-Arabic speakers, to conclude an interpretation of the metaphor would do more damage than good. As such, without a clear understanding of the origin of the metaphor may render the interpretation erroneous and out of the context. In this sense, it is very important for the person to know more of the object, idea, or thought being used to represent another. For example, for the metaphor Ant Hammour, one must know first what grouper means to Arabians, otherwise, the interpretation may not be of the generally-accepted representation.
However, there are also general Arabic metaphors that can also be attached or related to other regional or national metaphors. For instance, Ant Assilmeans representation of a subject using the imagery of “honey”. Now, the most relevant character of honey is its being “sweet” so the metaphor means that the person is sweet, caring, and such other related adjectives. For Arabic metaphors that try to use the characteristic of an object to represent the referred idea, interpretation is easier and more focused. One does not need to grasp the culture of the region to understand the meaning of the metaphor. Rather, one just needs to associate the Arabic language with his or her own language to find the real meaning behind the metaphor. This is the same with the metaphor Anti kika, which means cake. Cake is a favorite of those who love sweets, thus the metaphor represents a person who is sweet and caring.
Take the example of Hayati Salada. This Arabic metaphor is translated as “my life is a salad”. Life is directly related to salad. This means that for one to understand the metaphor, it is necessary to examine the characteristics and ideas behind a salad. As such, when one looks at a salad, it is a mix-up of various fruits. [This is a general description of salad that is common to any culture or race.] Thus, it is easy to say that the metaphor refers to a life that is mixed-up or a mess. What one needs to look at is the most common description of the object used to represent the thought, for this instance, the salad. When one understands the idea behind salad, one can easily interpret the metaphor.
To understand metaphors like these, one should look at the most common character of the object or representative. One does not need to deepen the definition or characterization of representation object. Rather, one should only look for what is commonly seen. One should ask “What is the first word one can relate to this object?” By knowing the first thing that comes to the mind of the person when he or she sees the object can easily show the general characteristic of the object, which is the direct representation of the metaphor.
Moreover, it is important for one to understanding conceptual metaphors. For instance, akal wa sharab almada. This metaphor can be translated as “he drinks and eats the subject”. Now, for us to understand the metaphor, it is necessary to understand the verbs or the actions here. Eating and drinking are two activities that can be easily accomplished. One does not need to exert effort to eat and drink, rather one just needs to enjoy the experience. This is the case with the metaphor. This means that the person is learning, digesting, or understanding the subject with ease, that the person is enjoying the subject too much. In this sense, the widely accepted idea is that learning is a process like eating, digestion, and growing. As a process, the metaphor notes it is an easy one, without hassle.
And of course, one should also look at the whole concept behind the metaphor. For instance, hatat a'liha hwya bharat is translated as "you put more spices on this idea". The representative here is the word “spices”. Spices are additional ingredients of the dish, but they are not particularly necessary to add flavor to the dish. The metaphor means that one is trying to add more ingredients or plating to an idea or a story, but these are not necessary. Simply, the metaphor speaks of exaggeration. In this sense, metaphor interpretation should look at the idea of the entire concept and not just on the character of the representative.
References:
Colapietro, V. & Olshewsky, T. (1996). Peirce's Doctrine of Signs: Theory, Applications, and Connections. Walter de Gruyter.
Liu, D. (2002). Metaphor, Culture and Worldview. University Press of America.
Ziemke, T., et.al. (2008). Body, Language and Mind: Sociocultutal Situatedness. Walter de Gruyter.
