Research on the Forms and Functions of Ontological Metaphors in the First Book of Masnavi

According to cognitive linguists, with the help of conceptual metaphors which are very common in people's everyday language, mental concepts become objective and tangible. In this type of metaphor, the conceptual domain of the target, which is single and abstract, is expressed objectively and comprehensibly with the help of everyday experiences influenced by the culture of the source domain. There are three types of conceptual metaphors: ontological, structural, and directional. The ontological metaphor also has three parts: the metaphor of ‘entity’, the metaphor of ‘container’, and the metaphor of ‘personification’. By examining Moulavi's Masnavi from an ontological perspective, it was found that Moulavi has demonstrated the abstract and fundamental concepts of heart, love, reason, poverty, existence, non-existence, etc. sometimes in the form of matter and object, sometimes in the form of container and place, and sometimes through personification to make these concepts both objective and comprehensible. Keywords: Cognitive Linguistics; Conceptual Metaphor; Ontological Metaphor; Molana; Masnavi Manavi.IntroductionAs the realm of mystical literature is the nature of human beings and is to do with internal feelings and perceptions, the internality of these perceptions on the one hand, and their personal nature on the other hand, lead to ambiguity and thus make language and its usual facilities look insufficient in dealing with the transmission these inner states. Therefore, in order to make up for this insufficiency and to provide and develop the necessary language facilities, this type of literature leans towards the metaphorical pole of language which has a wider potential to reflect these inner states and experiences (Fotouhi & Alinejad, 2009, p. 13). In their study, Lakoff and Johnson (2017) challenged the early conceptualizations and stated that metaphor is not only in language but also prevalent in our daily thoughts and actions. The characteristic of this type of metaphor is to make abstract concepts objective and comprehensible. The mental concepts of the target domain become objective and comprehensible with the help of experiences in the source domain. In this study, the two research questions are: 1) How do mental concepts which are abstract and unstructured become tangible and objective? 2) What is a conceptual metaphor? To answer the mentioned questions, one should be familiar with the structure of conceptual metaphors. Materials and MethodsThe present descriptive-analytical study has been conducted through a library research methodology. First, the works of the theorists of conceptual metaphor, Lakoff and Johnson (1980), and other followers of this theory such as Zoltán Kövecses (1990) were analyzed and studied. Then, the works of Iranian researchers in the field of linguistics such as Golfam (2002), Rasakh Mohand (2013), Afrashi (2015), and Safavi (2003) and several other related articles were investigated and the important concepts relating to the theoretical framework of the study were identified. Research Findings Based on this, ontological metaphors, as one form of conceptual metaphor, were identified and analyzed in the first book of Masnavi. Each of these types of ontological metaphors helps to make vast parts of mental experiences and concepts objective and understandable (Likaf & Johnson, 2017). In this section, the verses of the first book of the Masnavi that can be matched with each of these three types of ontological metaphors are examined. In the following, first the poems that contain material and object metaphors are discussed, then the container metaphors, and finally the characterizing metaphors of Masnavi’s poems have been examined. For example, the Ontological metaphor of Jan/soul is found in Masnavi and analyzed in this article as follows:“Jan (soul) is a noun that expresses a subjective and intangible concept, and it is "the human soul and an allusion to the merciful soul and the manifestation of truth” (Sajadi, 2008). Molana shows this as a subjective and non-objective concept in the form of a physical phenomenon that can be grasped. The king gathered the sages from the left and the right and said: The lives of both are in your hands (1/43). Discussion of Results and ConclusionsThe most important feature of the conceptual metaphor is to make the abstract concepts objective and comprehensible. The ontological metaphor is one of the types of conceptual metaphors that has three types: entity, container, and personification. In this study, the first book of Masnavi was examined from the point of view of ontological metaphors and it was found that sometimes concepts such as life, heart, poverty, science, and existence are assumed to be objects. Sometimes some of these abstract concepts and other concepts such as religion, love, solitude, thought, etc., are perceived as a container or a place where something is placed, or a good state as a substance penetrates, or a field where a plant or tree grows in or divine light originates from, etc. Sometimes abstract concepts are given characters with animism. A large part of these concepts in the first book of Masnavi is sometimes conceived of as a body, a container, or a place that has both inside and outside aspects.