Culture-specific Conceptualisation

Abstract

It is clear that not all cultural and linguistic systems view the world in exactly the same way. Individual conceptual systems must also be responsible for cross-language variation in metaphor. In the following discussion, we shall look at a number of major issues on the relevance of culture in metaphor creation before looking at culture-specific networking. We shall examine how linguists have tried to set up definitions of cultural models, the types of misunderstanding which may occur between different cultural metaphors, the interaction between language and cultural environment and claims about the underestimated role of cultural sources in so-called universal models. Finally, in order to highlight cultural contrasts, we shall also explore the fascinating world of colour conceptualisation. These different issues demonstrate the powerful role of culturally-defined metaphoric language in contrast to the kinds of universal trends discussed in the previous chapter.