Zoomorphic metaphor in the dialect nominations of plants as a fragment of the Galician language picture of the world

The article studies the cognitive-onomasiological mechanism of motivation of zoomorphic metaphorical nominations of plants in the Galician language. The aim of the article is to analyze the motivation of the folk plants names and to reveal the mechanism of metaphorical rethinking of the conceptual sphere “animals”, as well as to describe the conceptual connection in the motivational bases of phytonyms created on the basis of synthesizing models. The material of the study was the folk plants names in the Galician language. The reason for including a phytonym in the sample for analysis was the presence of a zoonymic component in its structure. In the process of analysis, phytonyms related to the scientific nomenclature of plant nominations were excluded. The subject of the study is the motivational connection of the phytonym’s onomasiological structure and semantics with a fragment of knowledge about the signified. Motivation is considered as a linguo-cognitive operation, the result of which is the formation of an onomasiological structure of knowledge in projection onto the structure of knowledge about the signified. Motivation based on figurative rethinking is characterized by the choice of a motivator from the associative component of the knowledge structure, formed by integrating knowledge with another conceptual sphere. The study shows that in the folk plants names, the motivational features of which are selected from the conceptual sphere “animal”, in the selection process, special attention is focused on the external similarity of parts of the plant and parts of the animal’s body. Size can aalso be a motivational feature. The Galician language is also characterized by an association based on the warning about the dangerous plants’ properties, as well as the places where plants grow through the habitat of animals. It was revealed that, in most zoomorphic metaphors, the motivational features of the nomination are sensory perception - 71%. Zoomorphic metaphors based on rational experience are less frequent in the Galician language (only 10%). Metaphorical models created on the basis of the synthesis of two metaphors are 27%, the most productive of which are the combination of phytomorphic and zoomorphic metaphorical models, also the combination of naturmorphic and zoomorphic, artifact and zoomorphic; two zoomorphic metaphors were found. The author declares no conflicts of interests.

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