A study of conceptual metaphors of animals in Palestinian folklore based on lycoff and Johnson theory

Conceptual metaphor is a window into human beings and abstract concepts, so that it is easy for the audience to understand those intangible concepts, therefore the role of metaphor in individual and social life is undeniable. Proverbs are a mirror of the thoughts, culture and ideas of the users of that language. Animals are tangible items who have a great impact and role in human life, and the names of animals are widely used in Palestinian proverbs. The present study, with a descriptive-analytical approach, analyzes the forms of animals in Palestinian folk proverbs, relying on cognitive semantics, especially conceptual metaphor, to examine the abstract concepts in Palestinian folk proverbs. According to the analyzes and studies carried out on the book "Al-Jami 'Fi Al-Amthal Al-Amiya Al-Palestineh wa Yaleh Al-Kanayat Al-Amiya" by Ismail Al-Yusuf, nearly two thousand proverbs have been studied and recorded. The result of this research indicates that in all the proverbs that have the names of animals, 107 maps were found in it, among which the conceptual metaphor of "lowliness" was the most frequent, followed by the conceptual metaphor of "lowliness and ingratitude", the conceptual metaphor. "Weakness, humiliation and fear" were the most common animals have used the above concepts to warn the audience.