Journal of Research and Innovation in Language

Available online at: http://ojs.journal.unilak.ac.id/index.php/reila

Vol. 2, No. 2 August 2020, pp. 46-59

A Study of Hot and Cold Metaphors in Iraqi Arabic

Khalid Wahaab Jabber 1 & Hayder Tuama Jasim Al-Saedi 2
1,2 Department of English, University of Misan, Iraq
[email protected]

ARTICLE HISTORY ABSTRACT

Received : 2020-06-13 The present study is an attempt to explore the ways of an Iraqi Arabic speaker
Revised : 2020-08-09 conceptualises his/her understanding of various abstract domains of emotions or
Accepted : 2020-08-09 feeling and attitudes through his/her experiences of concrete domains of Cold and
Hot metaphors. Lakoff & Johnson’s (1980) Conceptual Metaphor Theory is
adopted to analyse the collected data. Idiomatic expressions and proverbs are
KEYWORDS chosen specifically from the southern dialect where they are widely used in daily
interaction. The data analysis classified the results according to their abstract and
Hot and cold
concrete domains of the sampled data. The findings of this study showed different
Metaphor
conceptualisations of the Hot and Cold metaphor in Iraqi Arabic. The study
Conceptual Metaphor Theory
concluded that these metaphors are used to conceive more of the abstract concepts
Dialect language
of emotions, feelings, and attitudes. Cold domain is used to conceptualise the bad
habits of people, and it is also used to conceptualise some good habits, on the
other hand. Whereas Hot domain is used to conceptualise the more intensive of
emotions and attitudes. The study concluded that the sharp emotions, feelings and
attitudes that are understood from the conceptualisation of Hot and Cold
conceptual metaphors, are experienced from the more concrete domains of hard
things.

1. Introduction economics, to religion, philosophy or science.

Metaphor, according to Rasse et al. (2020), is a
A speaker sometimes intends to use an expression fundamental part of people’s imagination and language.
figuratively when he/she feels that the literal use of
language will not produce the intending effect. The In the perspective of cognitive linguistics, metaphor
figurative use of an expression, according to Croft & is the understanding of one conceptual domain in terms
Cruse (2004, p. 193) is attention-grabbing more than of another conceptual domain, as we understand life in
literal use. It might be the conveyance of new concepts terms of journeys and arguments in term of war
or might conjure up a complex image that cannot be (Landau, 2017, p. 62; Massey & Ehrensberger-Dow,
attained by any other way (Wisnita, 2019). The main 2017, p. 174). Lakoff (2006, p. 186) defines metaphor
kind of figurative usage is metaphor. as a cross domain mapping in the conceptual system.
Whereas metaphorical expressions refer to a linguistic
The English work ‘metaphor’ derives from the expression, such as word, phrase, or sentence, that is
Greek word ‘metaphora’, in which ‘meta’ means ‘to the surface realisation of such a cross mapping.
cross’ , and ‘phor’ is to ‘carry.’ The whole word means
to transfer from one thing to another (Gao, 2016, p. Moreover, in conceptual metaphor theory, the
2630). Metaphor is a device that is omnipresent in conceptual meaning construction is a matter of
everyday language (Derin et al., 2019). Lakoff & metaphors rising from correlation of experience
Johnson (2003) indicated that it is not possible for us to (Kövecses, 2015, p. 1). According to Polova (2020, p.
live without metaphor because the ordinary conceptual 407), a metaphor is an important means of preserving
system of humans is metaphorically structured (Zibin, and transferring, stereotypes, associations, and
2016, p. 1). According to Ferrando (2017, p. 164) the standards and cultural achievements through
pervasiveness of metaphor, nowadays, is widely generations.
accepted as a necessary cognitive mechanism in our Thus, metaphor and culture are connected together.
conceptualisation of target domain. Metaphorical The main point of metaphors is that we understand the
models, according to this view, provide coherence to world with it and not just speak with them (Lakoff &
many spheres of human culture, from law, politics, and Johnson, 1980). The shared understanding, as a large

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 Journal of Research and Innovation in Language
Available online at: http://ojs.journal.unilak.ac.id/index.php/reila
Vol. 2, No. 2 August 2020, pp. 46-59

part of definition of culture, can often be metaphorical conceptualisation as being cold. This kind of fear
understood when the focus of understanding is on some conceptualisation can be seen in the expressions as ‘He
intangible entities, such as our inner life, time, had cold feet to go inside.’ Emotional experience is
emotions, mental process, moral values, abstract associated with the real change in the body temperature.
qualities, and social and political institutions. The This means that conceptual metaphor of fear is seen to
metaphors we use in these cases to understand these be cold natural and experiential motivated.
intangible may become crucially important in the way
Temperature in Iraqi community is come into
we actually experience the intangibles entities in a
contact with community habits, beliefs, desires, and
culture. Moreover, metaphors may be an inherent part
even emotions and attitudes. Because the Iraqi weather
of cultures (Kövecses, 2005, p. 2).
is so harsh, this characteristic had a clear impact on the
In Metaphor We Live By (1980: 282), Lakoff & members of Iraqi community, one towards the others.
Johnson mentioned that there are three kinds of Consequently, we find people describe their daily
conceptual metaphors: structural metaphors, experiences in light of temperature whether it is warm
ontological metaphors and orientational metaphor. or cold. The sharp emotions, desires and difficult
They treated them as having equal and independent attitudes are always conceptualised from the point of
status. According to Lakoff & Johnson (1980) view of hot concepts, whereas they conceptualise bad
ontological metaphor refers to the device that treats the emotions and attitudes in terms of cold concept and
abstract and vague experiences. Such experiences are: verse versa. By the same token, this pair of concrete
events, feelings, actions, ideas, status and other domains is used to conceptualise the negative and
intangible concepts as physical entity and material to positive abstract concepts using the idiomatic and
make it easy to understand. Ontological metaphors are proverbial metaphorical expressions. Metaphors are
understanding the people experiences in terms of significant features of proverbs, which is why they have
entities and substances which means that they can refer varied meaning. Proverbs, in fact, have been seen to be
to them, quantify them, categorise them, and reason descriptions of a particular situation that can be applied
about them in ways otherwise impossible (Akuno et al., to a wide range of situations (Ehineni, 2018, p. 131).
2018, p. 42). Cold and Hot are one of the ontological
In this study, the researchers try to explore the way
metaphor as source domains by which we conceptualise
of Iraqi Arabic speaker to conceive his/her
many of our feelings or emotions, ideas, attitudes and
understanding of the abstract domains of emotions and
events. Further, hot (heat) and cold are two basic
attitudes…etc. that are realised from his/her
human expressions. People feel warm and cold as a
experiences of the more concrete domains of Hot and
result of temperature of the air that surrounded them.
Cold metaphors. In this study, the work is presented
The temperature domain is used metaphorically to
largely on the Lakoffian perspective of conceptual
express our attitude towards people and things, for
metaphor (Lakoff & Johnson, 1980 and Lakoff, 1993).
example, a warm welcome and a cold reception. The
source domain of heat (hot) is especially common in 1.1 Conceptual Metaphor Theory
the metaphorical conceptualisation of desires and
emotions, such as hate, love, rage… etc. A person can Kövecses (2018, p. 124) mentioned that conceptual
be described, for example, as ‘burning with love’ or metaphor theory is a burgeoning field that dominates
‘smoldering with anger’ (Kövecses, 2010, p. 20). the study of metaphor. Its dominance is in large
because of that conceptual metaphor theory made
To be specific, one of the metaphors that has contact with a variety of disciplines and approaches in
experiential basis in the functioning of the human body the study of human behaviour and human mind. The
is ANGER IS HEAT metaphor. Metaphorical basic notion of Conceptual Metaphor Theory, which is
expressions that are instances of the ANGER IS HEAT a framework that was firstly proposed by George
metaphor can describe the heat of a hot fluid or that of Lakoff & Mark Johnson (1980), is that metaphor is not
fire in Iraqi Arabic like in English. Therefore, we have a stylistic feature of language but that thought itself is
such words and phrases for anger as ‘boil with angry,’ fundamentally metaphorical in nature. According to
‘make one’s blood boil,’ ‘be seething’…etc. The this view and to cross domain mapping, a conceptual
ANGER IS HEAT is manifested from the experience structure is organised (Evans & Green, 2006, p. 286;
that the angry person feels ‘hot.’ The experience of Kövecses, 2016, p. 31). In the same manner, Geeraerts
body heat is correlated with the experience of anger. & Cuyckens (2007, p. 190) suggested that mapping is
This correlation serves the basis of the ANGER IS the most fundamental idea of Conceptual Metaphor
HEAT metaphor. Coldness is another emotional Theory. The term ‘Mapping’ borrowed from
experience (Kövecses, 2010, p. 81; Kövecses et al., mathematics which refers to systematic metaphorical
2018, p. 4; Forceville, 2019). Coldness provides an correspondences between the closely related ideas
experiential basis for the widespread of fear (Landau et al., 2018; Roodt, 2019, p. 4).

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Vol. 2, No. 2 August 2020, pp. 46-59

In addition, Lakoff & Johnson (1980) observed that domain. Lakoff & Johnson (1980), Lakoff (1993, p.
metaphorical language is related to what is called the 41), as well as Croft & Cruse (2004, p. 196) adopted a
Metaphor System, by other means they noticed that the mnemonic strategy for naming the mappings in
conceptual domain cannot be chosen randomly to conceptual metaphor. This strategy has a form of
describe the relationships between the domains. From TARGET-DOMAIN IS SOURCE-DOMAIN, or
this pattern, Lakoff & Johnson hypothesises a alternatively TARGET- DOMAIN AS SOURCE-
conventional link at the conceptual level between the DOMAIN.
two domains. For example, LOVE IS JOURNEY is a
Additionally, to distinguish between concrete
conceptual metaphor where love is conceptually related
domain and abstract domain, Lakoff & Turner (1989, p.
to the domain of journey. In this view, love, the target
94) and Clausner & Croft (1999, p. 14) give a clear idea
domain, is conventionally structured in term of journey,
about these two concepts. They state that concrete
the source domain. This operation, according to Lakoff
domains are mental representations, also they are
and Johnson, is called Conceptual Metaphor (Evans &
representations of embodied experiences. These
Green, 2006, p. 294-295). Hence, asymmetrical
embodied experiences can be represented as images.
directionality of conceptual metaphors is a feature most
Abstract domain, on the other hand, cannot be
strongly emphasised by Lakoff and Johnson. ‘Warm,’
represented as images and they do not have the kind of
for example, is meaningful to refer to a person but
experiential of grounding (Kövecses, 2017; Roodt,
meaningless to refer to a cup of tea as affectionate
2019; p. 3).
(Geeraerts & Cuyckens, 2007, p. 191).
Just as important as a metaphorical interaction
Furthermore, source domains, according to Lakoff
between anger and heat or fire for Arabic language as
and Johnson, are image schemas serve for the
with English, in the mapping, the abstract domain of
metaphorical mapping. Image schemas are knowledge
anger is conceptualised through the concrete domain of
structures emerge from pre-conceptual embodied
fire or hot. In Anger is hot or fire metaphor, the
experiences. Because knowledge structures of image
conceptualisation process depends on a set of mappings
schemas derived from the level of bodily experience,
or systematic correspondences that exist between anger
they are meaningful at the conceptual level. For
and fire.
example, counterforce image schema arises from the
experience being unable to proceed because the attempt 1.2 Hot and Cold Metaphors in Iraqi Arabic
to move forward is being resisted by some opposing
forces (Evans & Green, 2006, p. 300-301; Kövecses, Iraqi Arabic speakers are always used figurative
2017, p. 7). Therefore, an image schema of ‘Hot’ and language and thought to express their daily social and
‘Cold’ metaphors appears when one visualises or cultural experiences. Because of the social and cultural
experiences the source domains of hot and cold in other relationships that correlate the entities of Iraqi
abstract concepts, such as emotions, attitudes and community and the community is organised as trips and
events…etc. (Littlemore & Taylor, 2014, p. 11). big families, idiomatic and proverbial expressions play
an essential role in determining the way an Iraqi
Moreover, to understand the conceptual system and speaker deals with others. Accordingly, idiomatic
the corresponding between source and target domains, expressions and proverbs, as an ancient folklore, not so
Lakoff (2006, p. 190) proposed a metaphorical scenario long ago, are experienced from ancestors to the children
as a system. He suggested that a metaphor includes in conceptualizing social and cultural abstract concepts
understanding one domain of experience (for example, of emotions and attitudes...etc. by many of Iraqi
love) in terms of a very different domain of experiences speakers in terms of concretes domains of Hot and
(for example, journeys). In more technical way, the Cold. Hot and Cold are two conceptualised metaphors
metaphor can be understood as mapping from a source that are commonly used to conceptualise a wide range
domain (journey) to a target domain (love). In of abstract domains negatively and positively.
conceptual metaphor LOVE IS JOURNEY, there is
what Croft & Cruse (2004, p. 196) and Kövecses 2. Method
(2015: 2-3) called ‘ontological corresponding’ between
In this study, the researchers try to explore the way
source and target domain, the entities of domain of a
speakers in Iraqi community conceptualise the abstract
love (the lovers, the common goals, difficulties, the
domains of emotions and attitudes…etc. that are
love relationship, etc.), correspond systematically to the
realised from their experiences of the more concrete
entities of the domain of a journey (the travellers, the
concepts of Hot and Cold metaphors. This study
vehicle, destinations, etc.). There is another sort of
adopted the Conceptual Metaphor Theory (Lakoff &
mapping of domains, Lakoff called it ‘epistemic’.
Johnson, 1980; Lakoff, 1993) to analyse the collected
Epistemic mappings correspond between elements in
data.
one domain and relations between elements in other

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 Journal of Research and Innovation in Language
Available online at: http://ojs.journal.unilak.ac.id/index.php/reila
Vol. 2, No. 2 August 2020, pp. 46-59

Some idiomatic and proverbial metaphorical In Iraqi Arabic situation, psychologically, the lexical
expressions are gathered from the Iraqi community item ‘Saqa’ /sqh/ is related to a person who has a
specifically the southern community dialect where such characteristic of being an idiot, absent or marked
idiomatic and proverbial metaphorical expressions are deficiency of intelligence. Iraq Arabic speaker always
largely used. uses an idiomatic expression ‘Colder than Saqa’s back’
/ābrd mn ṭyz ālsqh/ to conceptualise his understanding
For data analysis procedures, firstly, the data are
of the abstract domain of idiocy by linking it to the
translated into English and then an Arab phonetic
more concrete domain of cold through a set of
transcription are adopted in order to be cleared to the
metaphorical mapping that correspond the entities of
Arabic readers. Secondly, the research data are
‘Saqa back’ /ṭyz ālsqh/ of cooling in relation to entities
classified into conceptual metaphors according to their
of an idiot person.
metaphorical corresponding. Thirdly, the researchers
begin their analysis with explaining the traditional, Another idiomatic expression that it used to refer to
cultural and lexical dimensions of the data and then the idiot person is ‘Colder than ice’ /ābrd mn āṯʾlʾǧ/.
investigating how the speakers use these proverbs and Because ‘ice’ is an indication to low temperature of
idiomatic expressions to understand more of abstract cold where the entity of ‘ice’ being inflexible thing
concepts in their daily interaction by showing the set of corresponds to the emotional entities of idiot person
relations between metaphorical expressions and who does not have vitality or he/she is abnormal person
conceptual metaphors. Fourthly, a figure is drawn after (Kövecses, 2000; Kövecses, 2005; Kövecses, 2010).
each point of conceptual metaphors to illustrate to
The abstract domain of idiocy of a person is
components of metaphorical mapping: source concept,
conceptualised onto mapping of the concrete domain of
target concept, mapping and mapping scope.
inflexibility of ice. In the same way, he/she
3. Findings conceptualises his/her experience of concrete domain of
cold by using the proverb ‘Colder than winter’s nights’
This part deals with analysis of expressions and /ābrd mn lyāāly ālštʾ/, where ‘winter’s nights’ /lyāāly
proverbs depending on Lakoff & Johnson (1980) and ālštʾ/ have a feature of low temperature on which a
Lakoff (1993) perspectives on Conceptual Metaphor person has a little movement and physically be less
Theory. Twenty-five conceptual metaphors are vitality. Therefore, an Iraqi speaker understands the
arranged as points to be analysed one by one. target concept domain of idiocy from his experience of
3.1 Idiocy and Neglegence are Cold low temperatures of winter’s night.

When someone is idiot, people describe him by Furthermore, there is another proverb that is used to
saying this idiomatic expression ‘Colder than Saqa express that someone is idiot or neglected, ‘Colder than
back’ /ābrd mn ṭyz ālsqh/. Literally, ‘Saqa’ /sqh/ is a the bottom of “Alhab”’ /ābrd mn ǧʿb ālḥb/ ‘Alhab,’ a
lexical item refers to the bottom of a traditional thing, a folklore thing or object, is used by most of Iraqi’s
water container, which was using to transfer and buy a families to cool and purify water, it is made by pottery
cool water in popular neighbourhoods. Thus, the which has a property to make water cold. Bottom is the
coldest part of the ‘Saqa’ /sqh/ is the bottom where colder place of ‘Alhab’ /ālḥb/.
water is settled in. The water in it is stagnate and cold. Consequently,
an Iraqi speaker experiences his attitude towards a
neglected person, who is not proficient in his work,
from that colder place. Thus, a target domain of
negligence is conceptualised onto mapping of more
concrete domain of colder bottom of ‘Alhab’ /ālḥb/.
3.2 Resolving is Cold
When someone is exposed to a problem or he/she
faces a trouble and this problem is almost done, others
would describe this case as ‘cooled down’. The Iraqi
speaker expresses this situation in which a trouble is
solved as ‘The issue is cooled’ / brdt ālqḍyh/.

Figure 3.1 Image Schema of the Proverb “Colder than

Saqa Back.”

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Vol. 2, No. 2 August 2020, pp. 46-59

Lover’s heart characterises with heat that denote the

case of beloved belonging to his/her lover. The
emotions of love in the lover’s heart correspond to a set
of entities of a person who has vitality of doing things
(Kövecses, 2000; Kövecses, 2005; Kövecses, 2010). A
lover is always eager to see his beloved and do
anything he/she wants, because of this, a lover is
always having a vital to be expressed as high
enthusiasm and energy. Therefore, a target domain of
vitality is conceptualised onto mapping of a set of
corresponding structures of more concrete domain of
heat found in lover’s heart.
3.4 Composure is Cold
The Iraqi Arabic idiomatic expression ‘His blood is
Figure 3.2 Image Schema of the Proverb “Problem is cold’ /dmh bard/ is used to express that someone is very
Cooled.” quiet.

The concept of a problem is related psychologically

to decrease the emotional anger and bad thinking, and
physiologically to the decrease of blood pressure as a
reaction to a problem occurred. Hence, the
physiological entities of cold domain correspond
systematically to the psychological and physiological
issues to a person who exposed to a problem
(Kövecses, 2000; Kövecses, 2005; Kövecses, 2010). He
then, conceptualises the abstract domain of solving a
problem in term, of more concrete domain of cold
which has a feature of decrease of temperature.
3.3 Vitality is Hot
Figure 3.4 Image Schema of the Proverb “Blood is
When someone is eager to achieve his duties, others Cold.”
describe him by using the idiomatic expression ‘Hotter
The lexical item ‘cold’ traditionally linked with an
than the lover’s heart’ / āḥr mn klb ālʿāšk/. The phrase
Iraqi culture to refer to a person who is so patient or
‘lover’s heart’ /klb ālʿāšk/ refers to a person who has a
quiet. Physiologically, a person’s blood, when he/she
high enthusiasm and energy.
is quiet or patient, becomes very stable and he feels
comfortable. The structure of blood when the person
was quiet corresponds to the characteristic of
composure (Kövecses, 2000; Kövecses, 2005;
Kövecses, 2010). Therefore, a speaker conceptualises
his feeling of abstract concept of composure onto
mapping of the concrete domain of blood.
3.5 Opportunity is Hot
When someone takes the advantage of opportunities
or achieves something in an appropriate time, this case
is described by expressing the idiomatic expression ‘As
the iron is hot’ /mādāmt ālḥdydh ḥārh/. The noun
phrase ‘iron is hot’ /ālḥdydh ḥārh/ is concerned with
the fact that when the metals especially iron become
Figure 3.3 Image Schema of the Proverb “Hotter than hot, it is easy to change its shape.
the Lover’s Heart.”

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Vol. 2, No. 2 August 2020, pp. 46-59

3.7 Cheating is Cold

When someone is deceiving the others, speakers
describe this behavior by experiencing the proverb
‘Buys ice from us and sells cold water on us’ / yštry mn
ʿdnh ṯlǧ wybyʿlnnh māy bard/.

Figure 3.5 Image Schema of the Proverb “Iron is Hot.”

The entities of hot iron being able to change its
shape correspond to the characteristics of a person who
is able to exploit the chances. Therefore, the best
chance to change the shape of the iron material is when
it becomes so hot. Henceforth, a speaker conceptualises
his/her understanding of abstract domain of exploiting Figure 3.7 Image Schema of the Proverb “Buy Ice and
the opportunities by linking it to the more concrete Sell Cold Water.”
domain of hitting hot iron. In this proverb, a cheating behaviour is described by
buying something different from the actual thing the
seller wants to sell. The two unrelated materials ‘ice’
3.6Waiting is Hot
and ‘cold water’ show the speaker’s experiences of the
When someone is waiting another for long time, bad habit of cheating. ‘Ice’ for speakers is precious
speakers describe this waiting situation by experiencing material whereas ‘cold water’ is cheaper than that. This
the idiomatic expression ‘Hotter than cinder’ /āḥr mn contradiction of exchanging materials by the speaker
ālǧmr/. Because waiting is an innate emotion mostly lead to conceptualise his understanding of the abstract
interrelated with the psychological mechanism domain of cheating through a set of corresponding
(Kövecses, 2000; Kövecses, 2005; Kövecses, 2010). mapping of concrete domain of buying ice and selling
cold water.
3.8 Health is Cold and Hot
Health, in Iraqi community, is also related
traditionally to the culture of people and their
experiences with body health. When someone has an
accident or problem and others want him not to be
affected, they express their thought by using the
proverb ‘Warm your head and cool your legs’ /dfy rāsk
wbrd rǧlyk/.

Figure 3.6 Image Schema of the Proverb “Hotter than

Cinder.”
For this reason, most of Iraqi speakers understand
the concept of waiting by comparing it with lexical
item ‘cinder’ /ālǧmr/. The lexical item ‘cinder’ /ālǧmr/
has a property of high degree of heat. Therefore, the
speaker’s psychological mechanism of waiting
corresponds systematically with the high degree of
heat. Thus, the concrete domain ‘hot’ is used
metaphorically to express the abstract psychological Figure 3.8 Image Schema of the Proverb “Warm Your
emotions of ‘waiting.’ Head and Cool Your Legs.”

51
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Vol. 2, No. 2 August 2020, pp. 46-59

According to speaker’s experiences, two unrelated

things that a human being should be done to be in good
health; the first is ‘warm head’ and another is ‘cold
legs.’ Thus, a speaker reveres the two concepts as an
indication to someone, who had an accident, to keep his
health and be alive. Hence, a speaker conceptualises his
understanding of a body to be healthy in terms of
mapping of more concrete domains of warming a head
and cooling legs.
3.9 Satisfaction is Cold
The expression ‘Cold water pours on the heart’
/māy bārd ynzl ʿlklb/ is used metaphorically to refer to
someone who is satisfied about someone or doing Figure 3.10 Image Schema of the Proverb “Ate It
something. Cooled and be Cooled.”

The lexical item ‘cold’ /bard/, in Iraqi culture,

comes into contact with a habit of a person who has the
ability to deceive and betray others. The image schema
of ‘cold’ emerges from the bodily pre-experience of
property of doing something intending to treason
others. In this proverb, a speaker conceptualises his
abstract domain of feeling treason onto a set of
mapping of concrete domain of eating something
cooled.Sometimes, this proverb is used to express that
person achieves something without being tired or
discomfort. The phrase ‘ate it’ refers that a person who
gets something without doing an effort or trouble
because the lexical item ‘cooled’ /mbrdh/ refers to a
food after cooking where a person tries to be make it to
be suitable for eating. The experience of cooled eating
Figure 3.9 Image Schema of the Proverb “Cold Water corresponds to the entities of gaining something
Pours on the Heart.” without efforts. In this situation, a speaker
conceptualises his understanding of gaining something
Water, in Iraqi community, is a fluid used always to without effort onto a set of corresponding of eating
express pure emotions and real attitudes. When something cooled.
someone is satisfied, a speaker expresses
metaphorically that a water is pours on the heart, 3.11 Underestimating Grace is Cold
because heart is the container of satisfaction. The The proverb ‘The taste in the hot and the blessing in
structures of water being cold, pure and soft correspond the cold’ /ālḏh bālḥār wālbrkh bālbārd/ is used to
the feature of an abstract notion of satisfaction. In this express the case of someone who has great fortune.
case, a speaker conceptualises his/her feeling of
satisfaction in terms of a set of mapping onto a concrete
domain of a cold water which pours on the heart.
3.10 Treason Someone and Gaining Something
are Cold
The proverb ‘Ate it cooled and be cooled’ / āklh
bārdh mbrdh/ is used metaphorically to express that
someone is exposed to treason in a way that another
follows smart tricks to do that.

Figure 3.11 Image Schema of the Proverb “The Taste

is in the Hot and the Blessing is in the Cold.”

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When a person does not know how to deal with his

fortune, others describe this behaviour by telling him
that the blessing in cold food as far as the taste is in the
hot food and this behaviour regarded as neglecting the
blessing.
Therefore, to keep your possessions you have to
keep it from loss. Thus, a speaker is advised not to
throw cold food because he could make it hot. The
entities of cold food correspond systematically to the
thought of preserving the blessing. A speaker, then,
conceptualises his/her understanding of abstract domain
of underestimating the fortune or grace by linking it to Figure 3.13 Image Schema of the Proverb “Hot When
the more concrete of warming food even it was cold. You Want Hot, Cold When You Want Cold.”
3.12 Calmness is Cold This proverb is used to express a person who has the
The idiomatic expression ‘Hit a cold to him’ /ṭklh ability to change facts and consecrates them to serve
bard/ is used to express the reaction of someone who is himself. The lexical item ‘hot’ /ḥār/ belongs to himself
nervous. being positive fact whereas the lexical item ‘cold’ is
negative fact is used against others. Thus, a speaker
conceptualises his/her feeling towards a person who
changes facts onto mapping of concrete domains of hot
and cold to be changed according to the person’s
opinion.
3.14 Hesitation is Hot
The proverb ‘hot in hot’ /ḥār bḥār/ is used to express
that someone not to be hesitated to do something. The
vitality of doing something comes from the idea of
achieving something when it is ready, it may be come
from the food because human beings prefer to eat when
it is hot or shape things from iron metal when it is hot.

Figure 3.12 Image Schema of the Proverb “Hit a

Cold.”
The image schema of cold drink arises from a
speaker’s experiences of the physiological thought that
a cold drink make a nervous man relax. As a
consequence, the expression ‘Hit a cold to him’ /ṭklh
bard/, in Iraqi culture, has features of calming others.
The structure of concrete domain of ‘cold drink’
corresponds systematically to the entities of making
someone relax. Hence, in conceptual metaphor Figure 3.14 Image Schema of the Proverb “Hot in
CALMNESS IS COLD, a speaker conceptualises Hot.”
his/her feelings of calming as a target domain through a
This proverb enhances people to do things without
set of mapping of concrete domain of lit someone a
hesitation and thinking. Thus, an image schema of hot
cold drink.
domain arises from speaker’s experience of being
3.13 Changing Facts is Cold and Hot applicable to achieve something when it is ready. The
entities of hot things when it is hot correspond to
When a person behaves according to his/her willing entities of a person’s behaviour towards the attitudes he
not his mind, others describe him/her using this proverb exposed to. For this reason, a target domain of a
‘when he wants it hot, it is hot and when he wants it speaker’s hesitation or not is conceptualised through a
cold, it is cold’ /mn yrdh ḥārh ḥārh wmn yrydh bārdh set of mapping of concrete domain of a hot thing is
bārdh/. being hot.

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 Journal of Research and Innovation in Language
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3.15 Sacrifice is Hot

When someone is eager to help others, this
humanity characteristic, that an Iraqi speaker is
characterised with, is expressed by metaphorical
expression ‘burned his blood on them’ /ḥārk dmh
ʿlyhm/. The entities of domain ‘burn’ /yḥrk/ such as
(damage, disappearance, heat…etc.) correspond
systematically to the entities of domain sacrifice, such
as (lose time, being tired, embarrassment…etc.).

Figure 3.16 Image Schema of the Proverb “Hot

Pepper” and “Hot Eye.”
Another expression that is used to express anger is
‘His eye is hotter than embers’ /ʿynh āḥr mn ālǧmr/.
According to the biological case of human body, anger
appears in a person’s eye as unconscious feeling.
Hence, most of Iraqi speakers refers to the anger as
‘hotter than embers’ /āḥr mn ālǧmr/, because embers
have a high quality of heat, a speaker conceptualises
his/her understanding of it from being linked to the
more concrete knowledge of the properties of hot
domain that appeared in his eyes.
Figure 3.15 Image Schema of the Proverb “Burned His
Blood” 2.17 Luck is Hot
Thus, the knowledge of image schema of source Luck is expressed by the traditional saying ‘If your
domain appears when someone’s bodily experiences of market was hot, boil dogs and sell’ / āḏā ǧān swkk ḥār
hot metaphor being harmful for himself to help others. āslk ǧlāb wbtʿ/. Dogs, for Iraqi people, are prevented
Under those circumstances, conceptual metaphor of from eating, so when you are lucky you can sell even
SACRIFICE IS HOT is understood as the target dogs.
domain of sacrifice onto mapping of the more concrete
domain of burning blood to help others.
3.16 Anger is Hot
When someone feels angry, Iraqi Arabic speakers
describe him/her by an expression ‘This is hot pepper’ /
hḏā flfl ḥār/. One of the pepper qualities is spicy, but
we use hot literally to mean spicy figuratively.
Traditionally, there is a relation between a hot in pepper
and anger, because anger causes increase in a human
heat and blood.
Therefore, a person who becomes anger, an Iraqi Figure 3.17 Image Schema of the Proverb “If the
people describes his/her blood being hot as in the Market is Hot, Boil Dogs and Sell.”
expression ‘His blood is hot’ /dmh ḥār/. There is a
relation between the domain ‘pepper’ /flfl/ being an Increasing order on goods in the markets is
entity of high degree of heat and a target domain of expressed by the sellers as hot. The expression ‘Market
anger which has a property of feeling nervous. In the is hot’ /swkk ḥār/ has features of increasing of buying
same way, the relation between the domain ‘blood’ goods which identical to the characteristic of a lucky
which it has a property of high pressure. Therefore, person who has an ability to be a successful seller even
Iraqi speaker conceptualises his/her feeling of anger buying cooked dogs. This expression is used to
through his/her knowledge and experience of concrete conceptualize the abstract feeling of a person who is
domains of ‘pepper’ /flfl/ and ‘blood’ being hot through lucky in obtaining what he wants to do by liking it to
a set of corresponding mapping mentioned above. concrete domain of buying goods even cooking dogs
for buying.

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 Journal of Research and Innovation in Language
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Vol. 2, No. 2 August 2020, pp. 46-59

3.18 Death is Hot The two expressions serve a relation of two

contradictory emotions, the expression ‘what is hottest
When a person becomes old, he/she loves to live for in me’ /āḥr mā ʿndy/ has an emotion of sacrifice, love,
a long time. Iraqi Arabic speakers utilise the proverb fulfillment whereas the feeling of ‘coldest in him’
‘The soul is precious and the grave is hot’ /ālrwḥ ʿzyzh /āābrd mā ʿndh/ expression is ungratefulness, careless.
wālkbr ḥār/ to express that the life of someone is near Therefore, the image schema appeared from the
ended. speaker’s emotions experiences of hot being positive
behavior towards another person even if he showed
negative emotions. Thus, a speaker, by uttering this
proverb, conceptualises his/her comprehension the
abstract domain of bad feeling as carelessness by
linking it to concrete domain of ungratefulness
emotions and cold.
3.20 The Cuckold Man is Cold
A person who has no emotion of sexual prowess on
his wife or daughter, others describe him/her by saying
the idiomatic expression ‘Colder than pig blood’ /ābrd
mn dm ālẖnzyr/.

Figure 3.18 Image Schema of the Proverb “The Grave

is Hot.”
Traditional thought for grave, as a container, is a hot
place, dark, dismal and soil pressure. These experiences
knowledge of grave, as an image schema, are
corresponded to the features of the idea of a person,
when the live in near ended, loves to be alive and afraid
of sick…etc. Thus, a speaker conceptualises the
abstract domain of survival feeling and the fear of death
in term of concrete domain of the entities of a grave
being hot, dark…etc. Figure 3.20 Image Schema of the Proverb “Colder than
3.19 Carelessness is Cold Pig Blood.”
Traditionally, pig is characterised as cuckold
The Iraqi Arabic proverb ‘What is hottest in me, is
because this animal has an ability to mass mating even
coldest in him’ /āḥr mā ʿndy āābrd mā ʿndh/ is used to
with its mother. The knowledge of source domain is
express an event when someone cares of another
emerged from pre-conceptual embodied experiences of
person’s feeling, but he/she gets faced nothing from
pig animal which hasn’t sexual prowess towards his
him.
family group. Thus, the emotions entities in pig is
related consciously to the entities of a person who
disaffected of others who having sexual relationship
with his daughter or wife. As a result, an Iraqi speaker
understands his emotions of the target domain of
cuckold through conceptualizing the concrete domain
of pig blood being colder than it.
3.21 Good Morals is Hot
This proverb ‘Clearer than tear and hotter than
candle’ /āṣfʾ mn āldmʿh wāḥr mn ālšmʿh/ is described
to someone who is characterised by loving others and
has good manners. Physically, a human eyes’ tears are
very clear. ‘Candle’/ālšmʿh/, on the other hand, when it
Figure 3.19 Image Schema of the Proverb “Hottest in burns, emits from it an extreme heat that burns human
Me, Coldest in Him.” fingers.

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 Journal of Research and Innovation in Language
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Vol. 2, No. 2 August 2020, pp. 46-59

3.23 Corruption is Hot

This proverb ‘I didn’t ask you to burn it but to let it
be roasted’ /māktlk āḥrkhʾ bs ẖlyhā tstwy/ is used to
express a person who is careless and dose not be wise
to deal with attitudes, and he/she always accepts
opinions without thinking.

Figure 3.21 Image Schema of the Proverb “Clearer

than Tear and Hotter than Candle.”
In this case, a speaker knowledge appeared from
pre-conceptual experiences of a set of correspondence
mappings between the entities of tears’ clear and
candle’s heat and the emotions of a human being who
having good moral habit of behavior. Accordingly, an
Iraqi speaker conceptualises the features of tear’s clear
and candle’s heat as concrete domains to understand the Figure 3.23 Image Schema of the Proverb “Not to Burn
abstract domain of human beings’ emotions of but Roast.”
morality.
The phrase ‘to burn it’ corresponds to the fact that
3.22 Hospitality is Hot do not put in the right side whereas the phrase ‘let it be
roasted’ /ẖlyhā tstwy/ refers to the use of the wisdom to
One of the best habits that Iraqi people familiar with deal with attitudes. Therefore, there is a relation
is serving food for a guest, is called hospitality. When between the structure of entities of source domain
someone hosts a friend, the food should be hot as a sign ‘burn’ /yḥrk/ and the speaker’s understanding of the
that it is newly cooked. If a food was cold a guest has to concept of corruption. The image schema of the source
deal respectfully with this situation, he always domain of burning things arises from the speaker bodily
expresses this emotion by saying the proverb ‘The dish pre-experiences of someone who is carless in issuing
is hotter than soup’ /ālmāʿwn āḥr mn ālšwrbh/. opinions. A speaker, conceptualises his feeling of a
target domain of corruption onto a set of mapping of
concrete domain of burn things not to let it be roasted.
3.24 Useless Man is Cold
When someone is useless, he/she is described by
experiencing this proverb ‘He is not useful neither for
hot nor for cold’ /mā ynfʿ lā llḥmh wlā llbārdh/. The
phrase ‘He is not useful neither for hot’ /mā ynfʿ lā
llḥmh/ refers to a high degree of temperature of a
human body.

Figure 3.22 Image Schema of the Proverb “Hotter than

Soup.”
A speaker’s knowledge appears through his
experiences of two domains, one is ‘the dish’ /ālmāʿwn/
being warmer than a second domain ‘soup’/ālšwrbh/.
‘Soup’ /ālšwrbh/ has features of cold food less than the
container ‘the dish’ /ālmāʿwn/. To express that the food
is not delicious, a speaker conceptualises his/her
understanding of the abstract domain of emotion
towards hosts whether it is positive or negative by Figure 3.24 Image Schema of the Proverb “Useful
linking it to the more concrete domain of hot dish. Neither for Hot nor Cold.”

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 Journal of Research and Innovation in Language
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Vol. 2, No. 2 August 2020, pp. 46-59

The phrase describes the sharp situations that a man Cold domain is also used to conceptualise some
may be exposed to. Whereas ‘nor for cold’ /wlā good habits of people, such as resolve problems, a
llbārdh/ describes a normal and peaceful life. The person who enjoy composure in dealing with problems,
structure of the two domains corresponds the feel satisfying a person who has an ability to make
characteristics of a man who has no benefit in his other calming. On the other hand, the conceptual
relation with others. Thus, a speaker conceptualises his metaphor of Hot domain is used to conceptualise the
attitude of a target domain of useless man onto more intensive of emotions and attitudes, like a
mapping of the more concrete domains of hot and cold person’s vitality, exploiting opportunities, waiting
for man being useless. others, negatively changing facts, hesitation of doing
something, self-sacrifice, feeling angry and nervous,
3.25 Earning is Cold lucky, fear of death, a careless man and good morals.
When someone earns money or get something The study also concluded that the sharp emotions,
without any effort, he is described by experiencing this feelings and attitudes that are understood from the
proverb ‘On comfortable coldness’ /ʿlbārd ālmstryḥ/. conceptualisation of Hot and Cold conceptual
metaphors, are experienced from the more concrete
domains of hard things, such as iron, cinder, ice, blood,
pepper, grave, ice and pig blood.
Finally, the study showed that the bad habits that are
understood from the experiences the cold things, such
as ‘Saqa back’ /ṭyz ālsqh/, the bottom of ‘Alhab’/ ālḥb/
whereas some good habits are understood from the
experiences of cold your legs /wbrd rǧlyk /, lover’s
heart / klb ālʿāšk/, cold water /māy bard/, tear /āldmʿh/
and candle /ālšmʿh/.
Figure 3.25 Image Schema of the Proverb “On 5. Acknowledgment
Comfortable Coldness.”
The researchers would like to express their great
The image schema appears from the pre-conceptual gratitude and thanks to Mr. Falah Hussein Al-Sarri
bodily experience of cold being a physical ease or M.A. for his efforts in translation and interpretation of
relaxation to conceptualise the abstract concept of the research data.
gaining something without an effort. Hence, the
entities of comfortable cold, like ease, relaxation, References
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