Comparing Conceptual Metaphor of “Child” among Two Generation of Married Women in Tehran

The family has undergone many changes throughout the history, as one of the most important institutions of society. These changes are mainly due to the changes in people’s attitudes and beliefs towards this institution. In this regard, one of the domains that has undergone striking changes over the last few decades is childbearing and the willingness of families to have fewer children. In the present study, we intend to examine, in a comparative way, the conceptualization of child among two generations of married Persian-speaking women in Tehran, with an cognitive anthropological linguistics approach and show that these changes are, in fact, the result of changing beliefs and attitudes toward the concept of child among these women, which can be traced back to verbal metaphors. To achieve this goal, in this study we have used qualitative methodology and ethnographic strategy. To achieve this goal, have been used. Using a purposeful sampling, 20 married women with children were divided in two groups of 25-40 and 50-70 years old, which we have called them group A and B, respectively. Data about their attitudes toward child was collected by semi-structured interviews. Subsequently, based on conceptual metaphor theory in cognitive linguistics data were analyzed by using qualitative content analysis. The results show that the metaphors used for the child by these two groups have insightful differences