Metaphor and Metonymy Shaping Grammar:The role of animal terms in expressive morphology and syntax

The present article focuses on two emotionally charged English constructions whose meanings are shaped by animal folk models,i. e. critter constructions. The analysis of such expressive constructions requires a rich apparatus of conceptual tools,including — besides the notion of animal folk model — metaphorical mapping,and metonymic and possibly other types of pragmatic inference.Animal folk models,as reflected in the lexico-grammar of languages,tend to be conservative( exhibit"cultural lag"),i. e.,they are neither immediately influenced by new scientific insights nor by cultural developments. The animal metaphors used to conceptualize human behavior are thus often based on outdated biological models.A consequence of this kind of conceptual"fossilization"is that metaphorical coding — in particular in terms of animal metaphors — does not necessarily reflect the thinking of the individual language user. The analysis of critter constructions challenges the somewhat simplistic idea widely held in cognitive metaphor theory that human thinking is largely determined by metaphor. Metaphors are often just ways of talking,rather than ways of thinking.