Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Folksongs in Cultural Linguistics

  • Chapter
  • First Online:
Nature, Metaphor, Culture

Part of the book series: Cultural Linguistics ((CL))

  • 393 Accesses

Abstract

This chapter introduces folksongs and their characteristics from a Cultural Linguistic perspective. They are examined in several different contexts, namely, cultural, conceptual-cognitive, discourse-pragmatic, and historical contexts in which they are embedded. The folklore discourses are deeply grounded in cultural conceptualizations and represent them in a rather cohesive form. Within folk literature folksongs are unique artifacts, which are distinguished by their display of a relatively personalized, i.e., lyrical, form of communication. This aspect is perhaps even more punctuated in Hungarian songs than in songs found in other cultures. For example, the expression of personalized emotions through nature imagery in which spatial terms often have relevant metaphorical implications is unambiguously a major characteristic of Hungarian folksongs. An important claim made in the book is that folksongs reflect the underlying schema reservedness. Understanding folksongs in a holistic way requires extensive and in-depth empirical study (in this case it is done based on a rich collection, which includes over 2500 texts), so that the typical construal patterns recognized in the texts shape the frame of the methodology. The aim of the book is to show that the characteristics of folksongs related to the metaphors and construal schemas defined in subsequent chapters are culturally rooted and form a culture-specific system.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Log in via an institution
eBook
USD 16.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book
USD 54.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info
Hardcover Book
USD 54.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

Notes

  1. 1.

    “[…] a meaning consists of both conceptual content and a particular way of construing content. The term construal refers to our manifest ability to conceive and portray the same situation in alternate ways” (Langacker 2008: 43).

  2. 2.

    References to “the folksongs” in the remainder of the book refer to this collection.

  3. 3.

    For ease, the reference numbers for the folksongs used will restart from 1 in every chapter.

  4. 4.

    The extensive study undertaken on folksongs have so far included the classification of texts (Küllős 1970, 1976, 1988; Mona 1959), the study of stylistic devices, figures of speech (Katona 1974a, b, 2002) and symbols (Bernáth 1986, 1987; Erdélyi 1961; Lükő 1942/2001, 1957). Still the general opinion is that “up to present the basic questions of text typology and the historical-comparative study of folksongs have not been answered and the stylistic analysis is still in its prime” (Katona 1998b: 359). A noteworthy recent study on the conceptual system of Csango folksongs is Szelid’s dissertation from a cognitive and cultural linguistic point of view (Szelid 2007, see Chap. 2).

  5. 5.

    Spinnery was a common place for social meeting in winter and spring where they amused themselves with playing games, gossiping, singing folksongs, etc. (Viski 1932: 148–161).

References

  • Baranyiné Kóczy, J. (2008). Orientációs metaforák a magyar népdalok természeti kezdőképeiben [Orientational metaphors in the natural imagery of Hungarian folksongs]. Magyar Nyelvőr, 132, 302–325.

    Google Scholar 

  • Baranyiné Kóczy, J. (2011a). Az erdő konceptualizációja a magyar népdalokban [The conceptualization of ‘forest’ in Hungarian folksongs]. Magyar Nyelv ,107, 318–325, 398–406.

    Google Scholar 

  • Baranyiné Kóczy, J. (2011b). Szövegtípus és deixis: a térdeixis funkciója a magyar népdalban [Text type and deixis: The function of spatial deixis in Hungarian folksongs]. Magyar Nyelvőr, 135, 36–47.

    Google Scholar 

  • Baranyiné Kóczy, J. (2011c). Az időjárás mint szemantikai összetevő a magyar népdalokban [Weather as a semantic element in Hungarian folksongs]. In P. Andrea. (Ed.), Félúton 6. A hatodik Félúton konferencia (2010) kiadványa. Budapest: ELTE BTK Nyelvtudományi Doktori Iskola. http://linguistics.elte.hu/studies/fuk/fuk10/ Accessed 13 March 2016.

  • Baranyiné Kóczy, J. (2014a). The metaphorical potential of space in Hungarian folksongs. Studia Linguistica Hungarica, 29, 51–68.

    Google Scholar 

  • Baranyiné Kóczy, J. (2014b). A magyar népdal térszemantikai megközelítése [A spatial semantic approach to Hungarian folksongs]. Doctoral dissertation. Budapest: Eötvös Lóránd University.

    Google Scholar 

  • Baranyiné Kóczy, J. (2016b). Reference point constructions in the meaning construal of Hungarian folksongs. Cognitive Linguistic Studies 3(1), 113–133.

    Google Scholar 

  • Baranyiné Kóczy, J. (2017a). Cultural conceptualizations of river in Hungarian folksongs. In F. Sharifian (Ed.), Advances in Cultural Linguistics (pp. 223–245). Berlin, New York: Springer-Verlag.

    Google Scholar 

  • Baranyiné Kóczy, J. (in press). Cross-cultural variation of metaphors in Hungarian and Slovakian folksongs. In J. Stolarek & J. Wiliński (Eds.), Cross-cultural perspectives in literature and language (1st ed.). San Diego, California: Æ Academic Publishing.

    Google Scholar 

  • Balázs Kovács, S. (2004). Protestáns etika – paraszti erkölcs [Protestant ethics—peasant morality]. In T. Faragó (Ed.), Magyarország társadalomtörténete a 18–19. században 2 (pp. 183–194). Budapest: Dico Kiadó – Új Mandátum Kiadó.

    Google Scholar 

  • Barsalou, L. W. (1999). Perceptual symbol system. Behavioral and Brain Sciences, 22, 577–660.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bell, P. D. (1985). Peasants in socialist transition: Life in a collectivized Hungarian Village. California: University of California Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bernáth, B. (1986). A szerelem titkos nyelvén [On the secret language of love]. Budapest: Gondolat Kiadó.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bernáth, B. (1987). A szerelem képes nyelvéről. A fakivágásról és a szerelemfákról [On the figurative language of love: Cutting trees and love-trees]. In M. Hoppál & E. Szepes (Eds.), Erósz a folklórban. Erotikus jelképek a néphagyományban (pp. 40–63). Budapest: Szépirodalmi Kiadó.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bernstein, J. H. (2010). Folk concepts. In H. J. Birx (Ed.), 21st century anthropology: A reference handbook (pp. 848–855). Thousand Oaks, California: Sage Publications.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bódán, Z. (2008). Erkölcs, szerelem, szexualitás: a megesett lány a régi falusi társadalomban [Morality, love, sexuality: The expecting girl in the village society]. In B. Bakó, & E. Z. Tóth (Eds.), Határtalan nők. Kizártak és befogadottak a női társadalomban (pp. 316–337). Budapest: Nyitott Könyvműhely.

    Google Scholar 

  • Borofsky, R. (1994). On the knowledge and knowing of cultural activities. In R. Borofsky (Ed.), Assessing cultural anthropology (pp. 331–334). New York: McGraw-Hill.

    Google Scholar 

  • Borsi, F. (2003). Mi vagyunk a rózsák. Az érzékiség képi ábrázolása a magyar népdalokban [‘We are the roses.’ The visual representation of eroticism in Hungarian folksongs]. Dunaszerdahely: Gyurcsó István Alapítvány Könyvek 27.

    Google Scholar 

  • Erdélyi, Z. (1961). Adatok a népköltészet szimbolikájához [Data to the symbolics of folk poetry]. Ethnographia 72, 173–199, 405–429, 583–598.

    Google Scholar 

  • Erdélyi, Z. (2013). Hegyet hágék, lőtőt lépék: Archaikus népi imádságok [I climbed a mountain, I stepped into a valley: Archaic folk prayers]. Budapest: Kalligram Kiadó.

    Google Scholar 

  • Fauconnier, G. (1985). Mental spaces: Aspects of meaning construction in natural language. Cambridge, Massachusetts: MIT Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Fauconnier, G. (1997). Mappings in thought and language. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Frank, R. M. (2011). A future agenda for research on language and culture. In F. Sharifian (Ed.), The Routledge handbook of language and culture (pp. 493–512). London, New York: Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gibbs, R. W. (2005). Embodiment and cognitive science. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Illyés, E. (1931). A magyar református földmívelő nép lelki élete [The spiritual life of the Hungarian Calvinistic agricultural people]. Szeged: Hírlapkiadó R. T.

    Google Scholar 

  • Jávor, K. (2000). Magyar paraszti erkölcs és magatartás [Hungarian peasant morality and behavior]. In Magyar Néprajz VIII., ed. Paládi-Kovács Attila, 601–692. Budapest: Akadémiai Kiadó.

    Google Scholar 

  • Johnson, M. (1987). The body in the mind. The bodily basis of meaning, imagination and reason. Chicago: The University of Chicago Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kabdebó, T. (Ed.). (1976). Hundred Hungarian poems. Menchester: Albion Editions.

    Google Scholar 

  • Katona, I. (1974a). A népdalszöveg-változatok statisztikai vizsgálata [Stylistic analysis of variants of folksongs]. In V. Voigt (Ed.), A szájhagyományozás törvényszerűségei (pp. 111–113). Budapest: Akadémiai Kiadó.

    Google Scholar 

  • Katona, I. (1974b). Előmunkálatok a magyar népköltészet stilisztikájához [Preliminary work to the stylistics of Hungarian folk poetry]. In S. Imre et al. (Eds.), Jelentéstan és stilisztika. Nyelvtudományi értekezések (Vol. 83, pp. 242–245). Budapest: Akadémiai Kiadó.

    Google Scholar 

  • Katona, I. (1998a). A folklór és a folklorisztika általános problémái [General problems of folklore and ethnography]. In V. Voigt (Ed.), A magyar folklór (pp. 15–37). Budapest: Osiris Kiadó.

    Google Scholar 

  • Katona, I. (1998b). Líra [Lyrics]. In V. Voigt (Ed.), A magyar folklór (pp. 356–399). Budapest: Osiris Kiadó.

    Google Scholar 

  • Katona, I. (2002). Szépen szóló madárka. Népdalaink szöveges üzenete. [The nicely singing bird: The text message of our folksongs]. Budapest: Masszi Kiadó.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kövecses, Z. (2000). Metaphor and emotion: Language, culture, and body in human feeling. New York, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kövecses, Z. (2005). Metaphor in culture: Universality and variation. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Kövecses, Z. (2015). Where metaphors come from: Reconsidering context in metaphor. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Küllős, I. (1970). Kísérlet a magyar népköltészet szerelmi dalainak tipologizálására [Experiment of the typology of love songs in Hungarian folk poetry]. Népi Kultúra – Népi Társadalom, 4, 127–146.

    Google Scholar 

  • Küllős, I. (1976). Csángó népdalok kvantitatív stilisztikai elemzése [Quantitative-stylistic analysis of Csango folksongs]. Ethnographia, 87, 510–520.

    Google Scholar 

  • Küllős, I. (1988). A magyar népdalkutatás története [The history of the research of folksongs]. In L. Vargyas (Ed.), Magyar néprajz V. Népköltészet (pp. 414–426). Budapest: Akadémiai Kiadó.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lakoff, G. (1987). Women, fire, and dangerous things. What categories reveal about the mind. Chicago, London: The University of Chicago Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lakoff, G., & Johnson, M. (1980). Metaphors we live by. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lammel, A., & Nagy, I. (Eds.). (1985). Parasztbiblia: Magyar népi biblikus történetek [Peasant bible: Hungarian folk biblical stories]. Budapest: Gondolat Kiadó.

    Google Scholar 

  • Langacker, R. W. (2008). Cognitive grammar: A basic introduction. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lükő, G. (1957). A magyar népdalszövegek régi stílusa [The old style of the texts of Hungarian folksongs]. Néprajzi Értesítő 39: 5–48.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lutz, C. (1987). Goals, events and understanding in Ifaluk emotion theory. In N. Quinn & D. Holland (Eds.), Cultural models in language and thought (pp. 181–238). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lükő, G. (1942/2001). A magyar lélek formái [The shapes of the Hungarian soul]. Budapest: Táton.

    Google Scholar 

  • Mandler, J. M. (1984). Stories, scripts and scenes: Aspects of schema theory. Hillsdale, New Jersey: Erlbaum.

    Google Scholar 

  • Mona, I. (1959). Népdalszöveg rendszerezés és népdalszöveg tipológia [Systematization and typology of the texts of folksongs]. Ethnographia, 70, 563–578.

    Google Scholar 

  • Nagy, O. (1989). A törvény szorításában [Under the pressure of the law]. Budapest: Gondolat Könyvkiadó.

    Google Scholar 

  • Nagy Abonyi, Á. (2000). A Tisza és a Tisza vize a népszokásokban és a folklórban Zentán és környékén [The Tisza River and its water in the folk customs and folklore in Zenta and its vicinity]. Bácsország Vajdasági Honismereti Szemle. http://www.zetna.org/zek/konyvek/48/b5.html. Accessed 16 March 2016.

  • Nishida, H. (1999). A cognitive approach to intercultural communication based on schema theory. International Journal of Intercultural Relations, 23(5), 753–777.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ortutay, G. (1975). A magyar népdal [The Hungarian folksong]. In G. Ortutay & I. Katona (Eds.), Magyar népdalok I–II. (pp. 7–69). Budapest: Szépirodalmi Kiadó.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ortutay, G., & Katona, I. (Eds.). (1975). Magyar népdalok I-II. [Hungarian folksongs I–II]. Budapest: Szépirodalmi Kiadó.

    Google Scholar 

  • Palmer, G. B. (1996). Toward a theory of cultural linguistics. Austin, Texas: University of Texas Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Pócs, É. (2004). Az emberi világ: Tér és idő [The human world: Space and time]. In T. Faragó (Ed.), Magyarország társadalomtörténete a 18–19. században 2 (pp. 138–146). Budapest: Dico Kiadó – Új mandátum Kiadó.

    Google Scholar 

  • Rosch, E. (1975). Cognitive reference points. Cognitive Psychology, 7, 532–547.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rosch, E. (1978). Principles of categorization. In E. Rosch & B. B. Lloyd (Eds.), Cognition and categorization (pp. 27–48). Hillsdale, New York: Lawrence Erlbaum.

    Google Scholar 

  • Sharifian, F. (2008). Distributed, emergent cultural cognition, conceptualisation, and language. In R. M. Frank et al. (Eds.), Body, Language, and Mind (Vol. 2): Sociocultural Situatedness (pp. 109–136). Berlin, New York: Mouton de Gruyter.

    Google Scholar 

  • Sharifian, F. (2011). Cultural conceptualizations and language: theoretical framework and applications. Amsterdam, Philadelphia: John Benjamins Publishing Company.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Sharifian, F. (2013). Conceptualizations of ruh ‘spirit/soul’ and jesm ‘body’ in Persian: A Sufi perspective. In R. Caballero & J.E. Diaz Vera (Eds.), Sensuous cognition: Explorations into human sentience: Imagination, (E)motion and perception (pp. 251–264). Berlin, New York: Mouton de Gruyter.

    Google Scholar 

  • Sharifian, F. (2015). Cultural Linguistics. In F. Sharifian (Ed.), The Routledge handbook of language and culture (pp. 478–492). London, New York: Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Sharifian, F. (2017). Cultural Linguistics. Amsterdam, Philadelphia: John Benjamins Publishing Company.

    Google Scholar 

  • Suchoff, B. (Ed.). (1976). Béla Bartók essays. London: Faber & Faber.

    Google Scholar 

  • Szelid, V. (2007). Szerelem és erkölcs a moldvai déli csángó nyelvhasználatban. Kognitív szemantikai elemzés [Love and morality in the Moldavian Southern Csango dialect. Cognitive semantic analysis]. Doctoral dissertation. Budapest: Eötvös Lóránd University.

    Google Scholar 

  • Talmy, L. (1983). How language structures space. In H. L. Pick, Jr. & L. Acredolo (Eds.), Spatial orientation: Theory, research, and application (pp. 225–282). New York: Plenum Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Talmy, L. (2000). Toward a cognitive semantics. Vol. 1. Concept structuring systems. Cambridge, Massachusetts: MIT Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Tomori, V. (2004). A magyar parasztság lélektana [The psychology of the Hungarian peasantry]. In T. Faragó (Ed.), Magyarország társadalomtörténete a 18–19. században 2. (pp. 195–203). Budapest: Dico Kiadó – Új Mandátum Kiadó.

    Google Scholar 

  • Vargyas, L. (ed). (1988). Magyar néprajz V. Népköltészet [Hungarian ethnography. Vol. V: Folk poetry]. Budapest: Akadémiai Kiadó.

    Google Scholar 

  • Verhagen, A. (2007). Construal and perspectivisation. In D. Geeraerts & H. Cuyckens (Eds.), Handbook of cognitive linguistics (pp. 48–81). Oxford: Oxford University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Viski, K. (1932). Hungarian peasant customs. Budapest: Dr. George Vajna and Co.

    Google Scholar 

  • Zwicky, A. M. (1986). Linguistics and the study of folk poetry. In The real-world linguist: Linguistic applications in the 1980s, (Eds). Peter C. Bjarkman and Victor Raskin, 57–73. Norwood, New Jersey: Ablex Publishing Corporation.

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of International Studies and Communication, Széchenyi István University, Győr, Hungary

    Judit Baranyiné Kóczy

Authors
  1. Judit Baranyiné Kóczy
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Judit Baranyiné Kóczy .

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2018 Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd.

About this chapter

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this chapter

Baranyiné Kóczy, J. (2018). Folksongs in Cultural Linguistics. In: Nature, Metaphor, Culture. Cultural Linguistics. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-10-5753-3_1

Download citation

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-10-5753-3_1

  • Published:

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Singapore

  • Print ISBN: 978-981-10-5752-6

  • Online ISBN: 978-981-10-5753-3

  • eBook Packages: Social SciencesSocial Sciences (R0)

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Search

Navigation