Metaphors – Bridges between Conceptual Domains

Abstract

According to Cognitive Linguistics, metaphor involves using a familiar source domain as a model to categorize a less explored target domain. It thus becomes a bridge between two conceptual domains. Moreover, many idiomatic expressions rely on metaphors through which abstract entities are conceptualised on the basis of concrete ones.Our paper aims at providing an overview of the most common conceptual metaphors that lie behind the meanings of many English and Romanian idiomsdenoting body parts. We attempt to stress the important role that metaphors play in connecting conceptual domains, thus creating links between proper and figurative meanings of idioms.