Abstract

RAMIREZ ALVAREZ, MAIKEL  and  RAMIREZ DIAZ, ANA MARÍA. Exploring the Venezuelan Metaphorical Expression: "El papá de los helados. Cuad. linguist. hisp. [online]. 2016, n.28, pp.127-145. ISSN 0121-053X.  https://doi.org/10.19053/0121053X.4912.

The main objective of this paper is to explain the causes behind a metaphorical expression of Venezuelan daily speech: "el papá de los helados" [the father of ice cream]. This research is theoretically supported by the work of Cuenca and Hilferty (1999), Johnson (2006), Díaz (2006), Lakoff and Johnson (2009) and Kövecses (2010). Regarding the methodological design, this is a desk-based, descriptive, interpretative study. The results are the following: (a) the system image of the conceptual metaphor "EL PODER ES ARRIBA" [the power is up] is projected over the system image of "helado" [ice cream] because of its verticality and upwards accumulation. (b) The image of ice cream is used here because sweetness is a metaphor for the sublime. (c) The dominance of the father figure is employed because he is the head of the household, a symbolic authority. (d) In the system image: "el papá de los helados", the biggest ice cream is projected over a man who stands out in a particular aspect. To conclude, the metaphorical expression "el papá de los helados" is motivated by a complex combination of primary metaphors, system images and everyday metaphors that emerge from the concrete experiences of the individuals, in order to name a man with power upon the others in a given aspect of daily life

Keywords : Conceptual metaphor; motivation; system image.

        · abstract in Spanish | French | Portuguese     · text in Spanish     · Spanish ( pdf )