Man-tree metaphor in British linguoculture

Moscow Region State University, 141014, Very Voloshinoi Str., 24, Mytishchi, Russia

^* Corresponding author: abramel@mail.ru

Abstract

The tree has long been incorporated into human culture and is interpreted as compatible with a human being as a result of the man’ cognizing the world. Thus, the tree (and its elements) is used as a source of metaphor for describing all the spheres and domains of human activity. The prerequisites for the man-tree metaphor are the qualities of man and tree which can be matched: the physical configuration of the tree and the human body, which is vertically directed; local relations between trees and human relations; the visual image of the tree and the family tree concept. The cultural concept of the tree is implicit in personal names and idioms as lexical units. It manifests itself in the context of folklore texts (rhymes, ballads, verbalized superstitions, incantations, riddles) and classical works of fiction. The man-tree metaphor reflects the ancient ideas about man-tree kinship and man-tree isomorphism. The metaphorical transfer is reciprocal: the man can be endowed with the qualities of the tree, the tree can be endowed with the qualities of the man. The man-tree / tree-man metaphor is based both on the generic concept of the tree and its elements and on the concept of individual trees. The man-tree metaphors are verbalized through nouns (functions and status), verbs (activities), adjectives (qualities).