LOVE Conceptual Metaphors in Persian Poetic and Ordinary Language (A Comparative Approach)

The main purpose of this paper is the study and comparison of LOVE conceptual metaphors in Persian poetic and ordinary language. To achieve this goal, we try to find similarities and differences of LOVE conceptual metaphors in these two variants. The main question is which similarities and differences exist in the conceptualization of LOVE concept in these two variants of Persian Language? Moreover, if there is any structural similarity, which factors cause distinctions and differences between poetic and conventional metaphors in Persian language? To answer these questions, the related metaphorical expressions exhibiting the LOVE metaphors were extracted in both Persian ordinary language and poems of the 80th decade. The analysis of metaphorical expressions according to Kövecses (2010) demonstrated that metaphorical structures and fundamental mappings are similar in both variants; however, the use of four poetic mechanisms, including composing, extending, elaborating and questioning, is more prevalent in the conceptualization of poetic LOVE metaphors. The findings of the paper show that the use of these mechanism, as well as metaphorical images and personification, distinguishes poetic conceptualization of LOVE from its ordinary counterparts.