Algunos aspectos de zoosemia: la dimensión conceptual de procedencia/posición social en el trabajo

ISSN 1132-0265 Philologia Hispalensis 24 (2010) 167-189 Selected aSpectS of zooSemy: the conceptual dimenSion origin/social status at work Robert Kiełtyka University of Rzeszów (Poland) Resumen: En el presente artículo se habla del problema de la zoosemia — término que alude al proceso por el que metafóricamente se relaciona la conducta de los seres humanos con el comportamieto o la fisionomía de ciertos animales, proceso por el cual el nombre de dichos animales se extrapola para designar el carácter o el comportamiento de las personas. Basándose en los planteamientos de la linguística cognitiva se ha propuesto que en la lengua inglesa la zoosemia actúa en siete campos semánticos, a saber: profesión/función social, comportamiento/carácter, procedencia/posición social, moralidad, sexualidad, rasgos insultantes, apariencia/rasgos físicos. El presente trabajo se limita a estudiar el campo semántico de procedencia/posición social. El material lingüístico analizado abarca lexemas procedentes no sólo de diferentes momentos históricos de la evolución de la lengua inglesa sino también de entidades lingüísticas procedentes de varios idiomas indoeuropeos (español, italiano, francés, polaco, ruso, eslovaco, aleman) y así mismo de lenguas no indoeuropeas (chino, húngaro). En la última parte del artículo se presentan las observaciones y las conclusiones derivadas de dicho análisis. Palabras clave: zoosemia, metáfora conceptual, campo conceptual, procedencia/posición social, lengua inglesa, animales domesticados. Abstract: The present paper discusses the problem of zoosemy, understood as one of the mechanisms of semantic change whereby animal names are employed to designate human characteristics. In accordance with the main tenets of cognitive linguistics, it is postulated that the workings of zoosemy in English may be accounted for by reference to seven conceptual dimensions/spheres, i.e. profession/social function, behaviour/character, origin/social status, physical characteristics/appearance, morality, sexuality, contempt/opprobrium of which one, i.e. the conceptual dimension origin/social status, is investigated here in detail. The lexical material in focus comprises lexemes used not only in various periods of historical development of English, but also lexical units selected from other languages both Indo-European (Spanish, Italian, French, Polish, Russian, Slovak, German) and non-Indo-European (Chinese, Hungarian). The final part 168 Robert Kiełtyka ISSN 1132-0265 Philologia Hispalensis 24 (2010) 167-189 of the article presents observations and conclusions drawn from the analysis of the relevant lexical material. Keywords: zoosemy, conceptual metaphor, conceptual sphere, origin/social status, English, domesticated animals. 1. IntRoductIon In this paper, employing the broadly understood mechanisms of cognitive linguistics which treat semantic change as a cognitively conditioned process, we pursue the problem of what has been referred to in relevant literature as a historically universal connection between the conceptual categories human being and domesticated animals (see, among others, MacWhinney (1989), Kleparski (1997: 238), Hsieh (2000, 2003), Baider and Gesuato (2003), Kiełtyka (2008)). Thus, the aim of the present article is to provide a historical account of selected aspects of English zoosemy; that is, the process of semantic change whereby animal names are employed to designate human characteristics. Our analysis of zoosemic metaphorisation is carried out in terms of the conceptual metaphor theory (henceforth: cmt) (see, among others, Lakoff and Johnson (1980), Lakoff and Turner (1989)). We believe that cmt is a sound methodological framework which is capable of accounting for semantic change in a panchronic perspective. The theoretical approach we have chosen makes it clear that metaphors are central to the way we think about the world. They provide an essential link between our immediate experience and abstract thought and, what is more, they may not merely elucidate a point but often, without them, understanding the intangible would be impossible (see Lukeš (2005)). As argued by MacWhinney (1989), the metaphorical extensions associated with the category human being point to a certain isomorphism that is established between the world of animal characteristics and the world of human characteristics. We hope to be able to show that the linguistic material analysed in the present paper allows us to formulate some observations and generalisations concerning the problem of animal metaphors and the issue of isomorphism between various subcategories of the conceptual categories human being and domesticated animals. 2. tHe concePtuAl dImensIon oRIgIn/socIAl stAtus In focus Kiełtyka (2006) noticed that the workings of English zoosemy may be accounted for by reference to seven conceptual dimensions/spheres, i.e. profession/social function, behaviour/character, origin/social status, physical characteristics/appearance, morality, sexuality, contempt/opprobrium of which one, i.e. the conceptual dimension origin/social status will be investigated here in detail. selected aspects of zoosemy: origin/social status 169 ISSN 1132-0265 Philologia Hispalensis 24 (2010) 167-189 As will be pointed out, the conceptual domain origin/social status is closely related to the conceptual category human being. More importantly, it seems that the conceptual domain origin/social status may be simultaneously regarded as one of the conceptual dimensions by means of which the conceptual category domesticated animals is also related to the conceptual category human being. Thus, the purpose of this paper will be to discuss those aspects of the semantics of domesticated animals which are to be held responsible for mappings leading to the zoosemic shift domesticated animal > a human being characterised in terms of origin/social status. Below we shall propose an in-depth analysis of zoosemic development of four lexical items, namely jade, cur, mongrel and tyke. The major etymological sources (see odee, edme) inform us that jade is of unknown origin but often assumed to be a doublet of yaud (Mod.Icel. jalda ‘mare’). In its literal sense the word designates ‘a sorry, ill-conditioned, wearied, or worn-out horse of inferior breed’ or ‘a vicious, worthless, ill-tempered horse’. This lexical item functioned productively in English from the 14th century to the 19th century. The original sense of this lexical category is accountable for in terms of an entrenchment1 relation to the attributive path of domain2 of species […] for which the attributive element (equine) is brought to the fore, attended by the actuation of the values (female) and (old) presupposed for the attributive paths of domain of sex […] and domain of age […] respectively. Additionally, the semantic periphery of this lexical category suggests positing an entrenchment link to such cds as, domain of physical characteristics and appearance […], domain of behaviour […], domain of utility […], domain of origin […] and domain of abuse […] for which the following attributive values are activated: (bony), (ill-tempered)^(vicious), (worthless)^(worn-out), (inferior) and (contemptible) respectively. This 1 The notion of entrenchment should be understood here in the way it is defined and applied by Kleparski (1997) and Kiełtyka (2008). Namely, a lexical category may be said to be entrenched in the attributive path of a given conceptual domain (CD) or set of conceptual domains (CDs) if its semantic pole is related to certain locations within the attributive path of a given CD or set of CDs. 2 In the view of many linguists, semantic structures may be characterised relative to cognitive domains, which are —after Kleparski (1997) and Kiełtyka (2008)— understood as conceptual domains which, in turn, are viewed as sets of attributive values specified for different locations within the attributive paths of CDs. According to Taylor (1989), a lexical category gets its meaning by the process of highlighting (or foregrounding) a particular location within the attributive path of a CD or a number of different CDs. 170 Robert Kiełtyka ISSN 1132-0265 Philologia Hispalensis 24 (2010) 167-189 sense-thread of jade3 is attested by the following selected quotations from the oed:4 c1386 Be blithe though thou ryde vp-on a Iade, What thogh thyn hors be bothe foule and lene. 1530 Iade a dull horse, galier. 1600 You are much deceived..that thinke mine asse to be dead: for the hungrie iade knowing his masters necessity hath wrought this sleight. 1709 False steps but help them to renew the race, As, after stumbling, Jades will mend their pace. 1819 He palmed upon the owners a sorry jade of an ass. In the middle of the 16th century we witness the rise of a new sense-thread attached to the word, namely —via zoosemic extension— jade came to be applied as a term of reprobation to a woman meaning ‘a low or shrewish woman’5 (‘reprehensible girl or woman’ (see odee)) or ‘a flirtatious girl like hussy or minx’ (see Wright (1898-1905: 342) and BdPf) (16th>19th centuries). On the other hand, Johnson (1755) defined jade as […] a sorry woman. A word of contempt noting sometimes age, but generally vice and […] a young woman: in irony and slight contempt.6 As argued by Mills (1993: 128), towards the end of the 19th century the early sense of tiredness and that of the sexual excesses of a slut were fused into the verb to jade; used mostly in the past tense this came to mean ‘to wear out with hard work or surfeit’. The account of the semantics of the 16th century sense-thread of jade involves positing an entrenchment relation to the attributive path of domain of species […] for which the attributive value (human) is highlighted. This is coupled with the activation of the attributive element (female) specified 3 Throughout this article, following Kiełtyka (2008), we adopt the following notational convention: a continuous temporal presence of a given sense-thread is marked with a bidirectional arrow. However, if the evidence we quote has time gaps —referred to as temporal hiatus by Geeraerts (1997: 24-25) and Kleparski (1997: 250)— of more than 150 years we mark the gap with a unidirectional arrow as shown above. Additionally, it must be stressed that Geeraerts (1997: 24-25) develops the notion of semantic polygenesis, in which the same marginal meaning occurs at several points in time that are separated by a considerable period. In this respect Kleparski (1997:251) claims that the discontinuous presence of that meaning is not due to accidental gaps in the available textual sources, but that the meaning in question must have come into being independently at two points in history. It seems that the temporal hiatus in the evidence we quote —in the majority of cases— does not involve semantic polygenesis, but is rather due to accidental gaps in the available textual sources. 4 The earliest known printed use of a word, as recorded by the oed, provides an index of the date at which the term entered the language. 5 See also AtWs, BdPf, lcRH and mdWPo. 6 Consider the following quotation: You see now and then some handsome young jades among them: the sluts have very often white teeth and black eyes (Johnson (1755)). selected aspects of zoosemy: origin/social status 171 ISSN 1132-0265 Philologia Hispalensis 24 (2010) 167-189 for domain of sex […], and further attended by the actuation of the values (adult/young), (of low orders), (shrewish)/(flirtatious), (worthless) and (contemptible) which are presupposed for the attributive paths of the following cds: domain of age […], domain of origin/social status […],domain of character and behaviour […],7 domain of utility and domain of abuse […] respectively. The following selected oed quotations testify to this sense-thread of jade: 1560 Such a jade she is, and so curst a quean, She would out-scold the devil’s dame I ween. 1668 [Mrs] Pierce says she [Miss Davis] is a most homely jade as ever she saw. 1711 You see now and then some handsome young Jades among them [the Gipsies]. 1812 A lying, prying, jilting, thievish jade. 1883 A procession of scamps and jades, who marched through Paris wearing in mockery vestments robbed from the churches. Interestingly, at the end of the 16th and at the outset of the 17th centuries the word8 was, in a similar fashion (see the evidence given below), metaphorically applied to a man as a term of reprobation (1596>1608) (see also Wright (1898-1905: 342)).9 According to Palmatier (1995: 215), a jaded person is like a worthless nag: hardened, calloused, lacking in spirit and oblivious to pleasure or pain. Thus, apart from the entrenchment relation to the attributive paths of the cds specified in the foregoing, the semantics of this sense-thread involves the shift in the highlighting of the relevant value (female) > (male) specified for the attributive path of domain of sex […]. This E.Mod.E. sense-thread of jade emerges from the following oed examples: 1596 What, this Gentleman will out-talke vs all. luc. Sir giue him head, I know hee’l proue a jade. 1608 A iolly Prater, but a jade to doe. 7 It appears that —by the process of animal metaphor— jade may also be viewed as embodying the conceptual dimension behaviour/character. 8 As the quotations from WtnIdu illustrate, this lexical item is also used as a verb in the sense ‘to make a jade of (a horse); wear out by overwork or abuse’, e.g. (WtnIdu) ‘When a horse approaches the goal, he does not, unless he is jaded, slacken his pace’; ‘to tire by severe or tedious tasks’, e.g. ‘Constant repetition of often trivial material jades one’s palate’. Mills (1989: 128) explains that the verb to jade is a fusion of the early sense of tiredness and that of the sexual excesses of a slut. In Shakespearian times the verb was used in the sense ‘to make ridiculous or expose to scorn’, e.g. ‘Do not now fool myself, to let imagination jade me’. As an intransitive verb it means ‘to become weary; lose heart, e.g. ‘When I feel my Muse beginning to jade, I retire to the solitary fireside of my study’. 9 According to Partridge (2002: 610) in the 20th century Aus. English jade acquired the sense ‘a long prison-sentence’. 172 Robert Kiełtyka ISSN 1132-0265 Philologia Hispalensis 24 (2010) 167-189 Therefore, as our discussion of the semantics of jade shows, at the beginning of the E.Mod.E. period the analysed lexical category started to function as a zoosem related to the conceptual zones origin/social status (16th>19th centuries) and behaviour/character (16th>19th centuries). Etymologically, the word cur corresponds to Mid.E. curre, Mod.Sw. and Mod. Norw. dialectal kurre/korre ‘a dog’. The noun kurre/korre is generally associated with the onomatopoeic O.N. verb kurra ‘to murmur, grumble’, Mod.Sw. kurra ‘to grumble, rumble, snarl’, Mod.Dan. kurre ‘to coo’. Thus, the primary sense appears to have been ‘growling or snarling beast’ but no corresponding verb appears in English, so that Mid.E. kurre was probably introduced from some continental source.10 Therefore, cur entered the English lexicon in the first half of the 13th century and started to be applied without any trace of depreciation, especially to ‘a watch-dog or shepherd’s dog’ (1225>1884). Notice that in Mod.E. this lexical category is always used as depreciative or contemptuous appellation denoting ‘a worthless, low-bred, or snappish dog’. In terms of the mechanisms adopted here, the primary sense of cur, apart from the activation of such conceptually central elements as (canine), (epicene), (young/adult) presupposed for the attributive paths of domain of species […], domain of sex […] and domain of age […] respectively, is explicable by means of an entrenchment link to the attributive paths of such peripheral cds as domain of origin […], with the value (low-bred) brought to the fore, domain of character and behaviour […] for which the attributive element (snappish) is activated, as well as domain of functions […], domain of utility […] and domain of abuse […] for which the following set of values gains prominence: (watch-dog) ^ (shepherd’s dog), (worthless), (depreciative)^(contemptuous). The following oed quotations testify to this Mid.E. sense-thread of cur: a1225 Þes dogge of helle.. þe fule kur dogge. 1884 cur, a good, sharp watchdog. The word does not refer, in the least, to low breeding. By the process of animal metaphorisation, at the end of the 16th century cur was first applied as a term of contempt with reference to ‘a surly, ill-bred, low or cowardly fellow’11 (1590>1870).12 As pointed out by Palmatier (1995: 106), figuratively, a cur is a contemptible or cowardly person — i.e., one who is as 10 The combination kur-dogge must have entered English lexicon considerably earlier than kurre/cur. 11 See also AtWs, eWPo, IRcd and WnWd. 12 According to Partridge (2002: 1273), the context turn cur was —in the 19th>20th centuries— used in the sense ‘to turn informer or King’s (or Queen’s) evidence’. Likewise, turn dog in Aus. English was employed in the sense ‘to inform to the police’ (19th>20th centuries). See Mod. Pol. piesek ‘dim. dog’ which designates ‘an informer’. selected aspects of zoosemy: origin/social status 173 ISSN 1132-0265 Philologia Hispalensis 24 (2010) 167-189 brave as a barking dog (seen in the proverb Barking dogs seldom bite). On the other hand, Rawson (1989: 112) concludes that today the cur is a mongrel and the word is never intended as a compliment when applied to a human being.13 The account of this sense involves the highlighting of such conceptually central elements as (human), (epicene) and (young/adult) specified for the attributive paths of domain of species […], domain of sex […] and domain of age […], attended by the actuation of the peripheral values (low)^(illbred), (surly)^(cowardly) and (contemptible) presupposed for the attributive paths of the following cds: domain of origin and social status […], domain of character and behaviour […] and domain of abuse […]. This sense-thread of cur emerges from the following oed quotations: 1590 Out dog, out cur, thou driu’st me past the bounds of maidens patience. 1870 That I may drive away These curs, brought hither by an evil fate. Therefore, it emerges from our discussion of cur that at the beginning of the E.Mod.E. period (16th century>Mod.E.) the analysed lexical category started to function as a term related to the conceptual zones origin/social status, behaviour/character and contempt/opprobrium. The lexical category mongrel is formed from the I.E. root meng-/mang-/ mong- ‘to mix’ (cf. meng/mong ‘to mingle’ which corresponds to Pro.Ger. *man- gjan, O.E. mēngan, O.N. menga, Mod.Du. mengen, Mod.G. mengen, Mod.Sw. mänga), and the suffix -rel. In English, the word was first recorded at the close of the 15th century, in the sense ‘the offspring of two different breeds of dog’ (1486>1882). In Mod.E. mongrel designates primarily ‘a dog of no definable breed, resulting from various crossings’.14 In terms of the mechanisms adopted here, the primary sense of mongrel —apart from the highlighting of such conceptually central elements as (canine), (epicene), (young/adult) presupposed for the attributive paths of domain of species […], domain of sex […] and domain of age […] respectively— is explicable in terms of an entrenchment link to the attributive path of the conceptually peripheral domain of origin […] for which the value (offspring of two different breeds of dog) gains prominence. The following oed quotations illustrate the historically primary sense-thread of mongrel (15th>19th centuries): 13 Consider the following example: 1594-95 Out, dog! Out, cur! Thou drivest me past the bound of maiden’s patience (William Shakespeare, A midsummer night’s dream). 14 Notice that in the 17th>19th centuries, as the oed examples confirm, mongrel started to be employed in the sense ‘an animal or plant resulting from the crossing of different breeds or kinds’: 1677 canis..lyciscus, a mongrel, engendered of a Wolf and a Bitch. > 1879 This crossing itself is differently named according to whether it takes place between different races or different species. In the first case it produces a mongrel, in the second a hybrid. 174 Robert Kiełtyka ISSN 1132-0265 Philologia Hispalensis 24 (2010) 167-189 1486 A Grehownd, a Bastard, a mengrell, a Mastyfe. 1573 Of mastiues and mungrels. 1882 ‘What kind of dogs did you see in your travels?’ ‘Two or three very fine breeds of mongrels’. By the process of zoosemic extension, at the end of the 16th century mongrel started to be applied to people as a term of contempt or abuse (1585>1764). The account of the rise of this sense involves the activation of the conceptually central values (human), (epicene) and (young/adult) forming parts of the attributive paths of such cds as domain of species […], domain of sex […] and domain of age […], respectively, attended by the highlighting of the relevant location within the attributive path of domain of abuse […], with the element (contemptible) brought to the fore. This sense-thread of mongrel is attested by the following oed quotations (16th>18th centuries): a1585 Gleyd gangrell, auld mangrell! to the hangrell, and sa pyne. 1647 To the intent that this barking mungrel may not delude the ignorant with his pedling trash. 1764 Is that your manners, you mongrel? It must be emphasised that in this case the working of the mechanism of zoosemy was so intense that already in the first half of the 16th century —in disparaging use— mongrel started to be used in the sense ‘the offspring of parents of different nationalities or of high and low birth’ (1542>1898). To account for this sense-thread of the word —apart from the link to the already specified cds and attributive values— one may speak of the rise of an entrenchment relation to the attributive path of domain of origin and social status […] for which the attributive value (offspring of parents of different nationalities or of high and low birth) is highlighted and domain of abuse […], with the element (disparaging) activated. The following oed quotations illustrate this sense-thread of mongrel (16th>19th centuries): 1542 By the waie of reuilyng or despite, laiyng to the charge of the same Antisthenes that he was a moungreell, and had to his father a citezen of Athenes, but to his mother a woman of a barbarous or saluage countree. 1708 He’s of a right Breed both by Father and Mother, no mungril. 1870 Men..of every race, mongrels almost to a man. 1898 Neither do the Arab mongrels..bear any too good a reputation. selected aspects of zoosemy: origin/social status 175 ISSN 1132-0265 Philologia Hispalensis 24 (2010) 167-189 Moreover, from the middle of the 16th century —in transferred applications— mongrel15 was more or less contemptuously used to designate a person of mixed or undefined opinions or official position (1554>1713). Similarly to the previous two senses in the case of which the same conceptually central cds are involved, the account of this sense-thread of mongrel necessitates positing entrenchment links to the relevant locations within the attributive paths of the conceptually peripheral domain of character and behaviour […], with the conceptual element (one of mixed or undefined opinions) actuated and domain of abuse […] for which the value (contemptible) is prominent. The following oed examples from the E.Mod.E. period testify to this novel sensethread of mongrel (16th>18th centuries): 1554 A weak brother seeth you, as mungrels mingling yourselves with the Papists in their idolatry. 1713 mongrils in faction, poor faint-hearted traitors! Additionally, at the beginning of the 17th century, mongrel started to be employed ‘as an abusive epithet for a person’ (1605>1720).16 Interestingly, Rawson (1989: 254) points out that as a generalised epithet, mongrel was the functional equivalent of bastard. The explication of this sense involves the highlighting of the peripheral attributive value (contemptible) presupposed for the attributive path of domain of abuse […], as well as an entrenchment link to the three central cds specified above. The following oed quotations illustrate this sense-thread of mongrel: 1605 A Knaue, a Rascall,..and the Sonne and Heire of a mungrill Bitch. 1720 Perfidious mungrel slave! Furthermore, at the beginning of the 17th century, mongrel in disparaging use started to designate ‘people of mixed race or nationality’ (1606>1879). Therefore, to account for this sense-thread of the word one must posit the existence of entrenchment nodes to the peripheral attributive paths of domain of origin and social status […] for which the value (one of mixed race or nationality) gains prominence, as well as domain of abuse [...], with the element (disparaging) activated. This sense-thread of mongrel emerges from the following oed quotations (17th>19th centuries): 15 In the 17th>19th centuries mongrel also denoted ‘a cross’, e.g. 1613 Whose Religion was a mungrell of the Greekish, Egyptian, and their own. > 1864 Some cart, or dilapidated mongrel between cart and basket. 16 According to dVt and Partridge (2002: 748), in the 18th century mongrel developed the sense ‘a sponger; a hanger-on among cheats’ (1720>1890). 182 Robert Kiełtyka ISSN 1132-0265 Philologia Hispalensis 24 (2010) 167-189 sense ‘a farmer as a representative of a lower class’. The lexical category kobyła ‘an old mare of low origin’ is a metaphorical designation for ‘a contemptible female’. In a similar way, świnia ‘a pig’ which represents the animal thought of as both low and dirty is used secondarily with reference to a person having no manners, e.g. jeść jak świnia ‘eat like a pig’. Likewise, świnka ‘dim. a piglet’ is used in the morally evaluative sense ‘an obscene person’.27 As pointed out by Hsieh (2000: 88-89), in Mod.Chinese the dog is associated primarily with inferiority and low social status. The Mod.Chinese word gou 狗, whose primary sense is ‘dog’ may be secondarily employed in the extended sense ‘a bondsman, serf ’. In terms of the mechanisms adopted in this work, the secondary sense-thread of this lexical category can be understood in terms of an entrenchment relation to the attributive path of the domain of origin/social function […] for which the element (low) is highlighted. Likewise, the Mod.Chinese ji 雞‘a chicken, hen’ connotes inferiority and low social status. Secondarily, the word may be used in the sense ‘a low, unimportant person’ and ‘an unimportant thing/mere nothing’. One might also mention some occupations or human behaviours embodying the conceptual dimension profession/social function which are commonly viewed as socially contemptible and despised and are thus related to the conceptual zone origin/social status. In this connection let us consider animal names from many languages which are secondarily employed in the sense ‘a prostitute’ or ‘a thief ’: Spanish28 araña ‘a spider; a whore’, lagarta ‘a female lizard; a whore, tart’, penco ‘a hack, nag; a whore’ (Canary Islands), perra ‘a bitch; a whore’, zángana ‘a drone; a whore’ (Nicaragua), zorra ‘a vixen; whore’, Polish29 flądra ‘a flounder; whore’, piesek ‘dim. a dog; an informer’, kobyła ‘a hack; an experienced prostitute’, pszczółka ‘dim. a bee; a courtesan’, orzeł ‘an eagle’ in thieves’ slang currently applied in the sense ‘an experienced thief’; ptak ‘a bird’ — secondarily ‘a criminal’; kanar ‘aug. a canary’ and metaphorically ‘a ticket inspector’; bocian ‘a stork’ and also ‘a slow player’; jeleń ‘a deer’ and secondarily ‘an inexperienced player’; papuga ‘a parrot’ and secondarily, informally ‘a lawyer’; pająk30 ‘a spider’ metaphorically ‘a policeman with a radar’; biedronka ‘lady-bird’, ćma ‘a moth’, kuna ‘a marten’, mewka ‘a (little) sea-gull’ are all terms used in the sense ‘a prostitute’; jeleń ‘a deer’ in its extended sense functions as ‘a prostitute’s client’; Mod.Russ. заяц ‘a hare’ > ‘a passenger without a valid ticket: a stowaway/a fare 27 Interestingly, dachowiec ‘not a purebred cat’ corresponding to Mod.E. tiler, originally, ‘one that covers roofs with tiles’, and metaphorically ‘not a purebred cat that frequents the tiles of roofs’ developed no metaphorical extension. 28 See Chamizo Domínguez and Zawislawska (2006: 163). 29 See Zimnowoda (2003: 106). 30 In contrast, Mod.Russ. паук ‘a spider’ is used in the sense ‘a greedy person’. selected aspects of zoosemy: origin/social status 183 ISSN 1132-0265 Philologia Hispalensis 24 (2010) 167-189 dodger’31, бабочка ‘a butterfly’ > ‘a prostitute’ and Mod.Slovak32 straka ‘a magpie’ > ‘a thief’, Hungarian szarka ‘a magpie’ > ‘a thief ’, éjszakai pillangó ‘a night butterfly’ > ‘a whore’. As shown by Baider and Gesuato (2003), Mod.Fr. and Mod.It. employ a number of words from the conceptual category domesticated animals which enter the metaphorical path embodying both the conceptual dimension profession/social function and the conceptual zone origin/social status. Specifically, the following animal terms have acquired the secondary sense ‘a prostitute’ in Mod.Fr.:33 vache ‘a cow’; poule ‘a hen’, being a constituent part of poule de luxe; pouliche ‘a filly’; canasson ‘an old horse’; carne or charogne ‘a carcass; a bad horse’. In Mod.It. prostitutes are referred to as scozzonata ‘a tamed, trained horse; cicca (regional) ‘a hen’; giumenta ‘a mare’; vacca ‘a cow’; frisona ‘a cow’; troia ‘(regional) a sow’; troione ‘aug. sow’; pecora ‘a sheep’; cagna ‘a bitch’; gatta ‘a cat’; zoccola ‘a female sewer rat’; pantegana ‘a big female rat’; gabbiana ‘a female sea gull’. As far as the names of wild animals are concerned, in both French and Italian one finds a substantial number of zoosemic terms which entered the metaphorical path embodying the conceptual zones profession/social function and origin/social status. For example, the following lexical categories are employed in the sense ‘a prostitute’ in Mod.Fr.: grue ‘a crane’; guenon ‘a monkey’, while lucciola ‘a firefly’; farfalla ‘a butterfly’ and lupa ‘a vixen’ are Mod.It. zoosems used to designate women of dubious morals. 5. concludIng RemARKs One of the emerging observations is that the semantics of the zoosems analysed in this article seems to have a prototypical nature in that new sense-threads are to a varying extent continuations of older ones. Simultaneously, the process of semantic change is non-linear and allows for more than one new sense development at a time. This may be visualised by means of the diagram below (based on the methodological apparatus proposed by Geeraerts (1983)), which shows the mutual correlations of the panchronicaly sketched senses of mongrel. Thus, according to the oed the lexeme has the following main senses: 31 In this paper Russian examples are, unless otherwise indicated, quoted from Ожегов and Шведова (1998) (TCPЯ), Hungarian data are taken from Kleparski (2002) and english-Hun- garian online dictionary and, the source of Spanish examples is english-spanish online dictionary (esod), while Polish data are quoted from słownik języka polskiego PWn (sJP) and słownik języka polskiego PAn (sJPP). 32 All Slovak data are taken from online english slovak dictionary available at www.learnslovak.com/english-slovak-dictionary.html 33 Additionally, Mod.Fr. poulet ‘chicken’ in metaphorical use is employed in the sense ‘police/a police officer’ and poulain ‘young horse’ is secondarily used in the extended sense ‘a disciple/a pupil of a guru’. 184 Robert Kiełtyka ISSN 1132-0265 Philologia Hispalensis 24 (2010) 167-189 (1) ‘the offspring of two different breeds of dog’ (15th>19th centuries) (2) ‘applied to persons as a term of contempt or abuse’ (16th >18th centuries) (3) ‘the offspring of parents of different nationalities’ (16th>19h centuries) (4) ‘a person of mixed or undefined opinions’ (16th>18th centuries) (5) ‘an abusive epithet for a person’ (17th>18th centuries) (6) ‘a person of mixed race or nationality’ (17th>19th centuries) (7) ‘an animal or plant resulting from the crossing of different breeds’ (17th>19th centuries) figure 1. A prototypical structure of mongrel. As can be noticed, all the sense-threads involved seem to be mutually interrelated and explicable in terms of the process of semantic extension. According to, among others, Łozowski (2000: 102), semantic changes take place by modification of some characteristics of the old sense in the new one. Specifically, many extended senses are said to form peripheries surrounded by new senses. Thus, the mechanism of semantic change is not to be regarded as a linear progression of senses, where a new meaning may arise only when the old one ceases to exist, but, quite the opposite, the process displays characteristics of a prototypical structure with blurred edges of internally dynamic categories. What is more, in the framework adopted here not only particular lexical categories are believed to display a prototypical nature, but also sets of conceptually interrelated lexemes forming conceptual categories are said to form radial structures, which resemble the structure of a prototype. Thus, the zoosems analysed in this section may be argued to form the following radial structure: selected aspects of zoosemy: origin/social status 185 ISSN 1132-0265 Philologia Hispalensis 24 (2010) 167-189 figure 2. A radial structure illustrating the relationship between the conceptual categories HUMAN BEING/DOMESTICATED ANIMAL and the conceptual dimension ORIGIN/SOCIAL STATUS. Let us stress again that certain aspects of instinctive animal behaviour, their origin or physical characteristics are highlighted and mapped on the category human being giving rise to a number of zoosems in the case of which the relation to the conceptual dimension origin/social status is said to trigger semantic change. From the analysis of the linguistic material carried out in this paper a number of other preliminary conclusions can be derived. First, the process whereby the names of domesticated animals start to designate origin/social status is not only typical for English but may be said to be equally productive in other languages such as, for example, Polish, where kundel ‘mongrel’ is used in the extended sense ‘a contemptible human being’; burek, in its primary sense being a derogative designation for a mongrel dog, is —by the process of zoosemy— metaphorically used in the sense ‘a farmer as a representative of a lower class’; kobyła ‘an old mare of low origin’ and metaphorically ‘a contemptible female’; or Mod. Chinese, where, for example, gou 狗‘dog’ may be secondarily employed in the extended sense ‘a bondsman, serf ’. Thus, it should be stressed that the secondary sense-threads of the lexical categories mentioned here may be understood in terms of an entrenchment relation to the attributive path of the domain of origin/social function […] for which the element (low) is brought to the fore. Secondly, the analysis of the English data shows that —interestingly— it is the families equidae and canidae, and not felidae, that are the most frequently employed source of terms embodying the conceptual dimension origin/social status. The number of analysed animal terms (jade, cur, mongrel, tyke, 186 Robert Kiełtyka ISSN 1132-0265 Philologia Hispalensis 24 (2010) 167-189 thoroughbred, cocktail, cayuse, pork) that in the history of English have undergone zoosemic shift initiated by the conceptual dimension in question is considerably smaller than in the case of the conceptual dimension profession/social function. However, one feels justified in claiming that although the mechanism of zoosemy involving the conceptual dimension origin/social status is not so common, one may certainly speak about a certain degree of productivity of the said conceptual dimension in the process of animal metaphor. Thirdly, as mentioned earlier, the process of metaphorisation discernible in the analysis of the data in the present paper is bi-directional; that is, both the shift animal > human and human > animal are potentially involved. Bearing in mind the fact that the structure of the GcB is characterised by bi-di- rectionality, which involves upward and downward mapping of attributes, it needs to be emphasised that zoosems related to the conceptual dimension origin/social function might potentially represent two metaphors coherent with the structure of the GcB, that is <a human being is an animal> and < an animal is a human being >. However, it is only the latter metaphor; the process which involves the shift in the directionality of mapping from a lower to a higher level on the GcB, that becomes involved here. The zoosemic extension embodying the conceptual dimension origin/social function comprises the following cases: JaDE: <a low or shrewish woman is perceived as a jade> (16th>19th centuries) <a flirtatious girl like hussy or minx is perceived as a jade> (16th>19th centuries) <a contemptible, worthless man is perceived as a jade> (16th>17th centuries) cur: <a low, ill-bred, surly, cowardly and contemptible human being is perceived as a cur> (16th>19th centuries) MongrEl: <offspring of parents of different nationalities or of high and low birth is perceived as a mongrel> (16th>19th centuries) <one of mixed or undefined opinions is perceived as a mongrel> (16th>18th centuries) <one of mixed race or nationality is perceived as a mongrel> (17th>19th centuries) <a person of mixed origin is perceived as a mongrel> (16th>19th centuries) <a contemptible thing or person is perceived as a mongrel> (16th>19th centuries) selected aspects of zoosemy: origin/social status 187 ISSN 1132-0265 Philologia Hispalensis 24 (2010) 167-189 tYKE: <a low-bred, lazy, mean, surly and ill-mannered person is perceived as a tyke> (15th century>mod.e.) <a roman catholic is perceived as a tyke> (20th century) <a yorkshireman is perceived as a tyke> (18th>20th centuries) Additionally, it must be pointed out that the list of metaphors illustrated above includes both simple (uni-thread) cases, e.g. <a low, ill-bred, surly, cowardly and contemptible human being is perceived as a cur> and complex (multi-thread) examples, e.g. <a low or shrewish woman is perceived as a jade>, <a flirtatious girl like hussy or minx is perceived as a jade>, <a contemptible, worthless man is perceived as a jade>. As argued in Kiełtyka (2008), a large number of multi-thread metaphors points clearly to the fact that the mechanism of zoosemy is by no means internally uniform, but rather gradual and multidirectional, based on our knowledge, experience and perception of the world. Semantic change is, therefore, as is frequently emphasised in the literature on the subject, a mechanism which is deeply rooted in experience and based on graduality and developmental processes. Finally, it needs to be stressed that some of the metaphors analysed in this article are evaluative in character; that is, either pejorative or ameliorative, e.g. <a low, ill-bred, surly, cowardly and contemptible human being is perceived as a cur>, others like, for example, <a flirtatious girl is perceived as a jade> are to be regarded as positive, or at least neutral; that is, devoid of evaluatively negative load, still others —however rare— like, for example, <a yorkshireman is perceived as a tyke> may even be classified as (mildly) complimentary. Last but not least, it must be noted that not all of the metaphorical extensions analysed in this paper are related exclusively to the conceptual dimension origin/social status. 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Zimnowoda, J. 2003. “Opozycja homo — animal w ekspresywnych zwrotach językowych”. Język a kultura 15, pp. 103-115. nombre del autor: Robert Kiełtyka dirección-e: [email protected] dirección postal: University of Rzeszów, The Institute of English Studies, Al. Rejtana 16B, 35-959 Rzeszów, Poland fecha de recepción: 29/06/2010 fecha de aceptación: 26/04/2011