The Role(s) of Metaphor in Olfactory Language: A Corpus-Led Semantic Analysis
Lead Research Organisation:
University of Glasgow
Department Name: School of Critical Studies
Abstract
Direct olfactory vocabulary is severely limited in the English lexicon, so speakers must use words from other areas of the language to accurately describe their sensory experiences (such as rich, green, sweet, loud, mature, etc). This PhD will investigate how English speakers communicate these experiences, with a particular focus on the use of metaphor. At heart, it addresses what the lexical and semantic structure is in English of the domain of olfactive experience. This is understudied from a semantic perspective, and a thorough analysis as proposed here would contribute to a more comprehensive understanding of how the senses are expressed in language and how speakers seek to communicate sensory experiences, which cannot be directly shared and must be mediated by language. This breaks down into three linked sub-questions:
Which semantic domains are the major sources of sensory metaphors relating to smell, and in what contexts are they used? Speakers' choice of metaphorical domain allows us to understand their cultural priorities, and the context in which those metaphors are used reveals speakers' attitudes towards those domains.
What patterns are visible in how these metaphors are used in discourse? I will investigate how context changes the choice of metaphor a speaker might make- for example, is there a difference in metaphor use between everyday conversation and more 'professional' uses, like commercial advertisement? By understanding these patterns, we can build a picture of how people communicate their sensory experiences through physical and temporal distance according to the reasons and motivations behind their communication.
Have these patterns changed over time, and how are the sensory metaphors we use today different compared to those used in the past? Investigating this question will allow us to understand how speakers' priorities have changed as they reach for different analogies, and how attitudes towards various semantic domains have changed over time.
Which semantic domains are the major sources of sensory metaphors relating to smell, and in what contexts are they used? Speakers' choice of metaphorical domain allows us to understand their cultural priorities, and the context in which those metaphors are used reveals speakers' attitudes towards those domains.
What patterns are visible in how these metaphors are used in discourse? I will investigate how context changes the choice of metaphor a speaker might make- for example, is there a difference in metaphor use between everyday conversation and more 'professional' uses, like commercial advertisement? By understanding these patterns, we can build a picture of how people communicate their sensory experiences through physical and temporal distance according to the reasons and motivations behind their communication.
Have these patterns changed over time, and how are the sensory metaphors we use today different compared to those used in the past? Investigating this question will allow us to understand how speakers' priorities have changed as they reach for different analogies, and how attitudes towards various semantic domains have changed over time.
