Personification of Abstract Concepts in Quran Language: A Cognitive Approach

The distinction between traditional theories and cognitive semantics theory in the study of personification of objects and phenomena is that in the former this process is a linguistic one though in the latter, it is a conceptual process and a kind of ontological metaphor. Furthermore, in Cognitive semantics, the cognitive mechanism of personification and the relevant conceptual mappings are accounted for both extensively and in great detail. Considering the second approach to personification-that is, cognitive metaphor theory, this paper tries to have a linguistic analysis of abstract/non-human concept's personification in the Holy Qura’n. The main research question is which non-human concepts of Quran are expressed with meaning components of HUMAN. Moreover, how a unique model can be found to explain the conceptual relations of Human/non-human in the language of Quran. The research data include all Quranic expressions of the Holy Quran in which, according to the principles of Lakoff-Johnson's cognitive theory(1980), some non-human phenomena are conceptualized as human. The research findings show that to express some of its abstract religious concepts, Qura’n language has used concrete concept of HUMAN or PERSON. Moreover, in all NON-HUMAN AS HUMAN conceptualizations, the data confirm the principles of Cognitive Metaphor Theory.