Idiomatics--the scientific study of idiomatic language and figurative language--is a pervasive theme in global literature, yet its precise terminology often lacks clear definition. This article addresses this challenge directly by delving into the etymology, significance, and universality of idiomatics. It emphasizes the pivotal role of idiomatics…

The present study is a corpus-based grammatical investigation for the computational identification of metaphors. The aim of the study is to set a grammatical criterion for the computational identification of metaphors in the Holy Qur'an and propose a computer software input rule for the grammatical identification of metaphorical candidates. The…

Food is useful in the transference of semantic aspects that are vital in the construction of masculinity in society. Consequently, foodsemic metaphors that aid in the conceptualization of "omosacha" (a man) are pervasive in Ekegusii. Metaphor use may, however, present difficulties in comprehension due to the various interpretations that…

This article presents a study on novel language forms and uses across evolving digital environments, and questions whether emerging digital communication conventions should have a place in language education. The study was motivated by the deepening gap between the content of and approaches to language instruction evident in popular…

In this response to commentators, I agree with those who suggested that the distinction between exemplar- and abstraction-based accounts is something of a false dichotomy and therefore move to an abstractions-made-of-exemplars account under which (a) we store all the exemplars that we hear (subject to attention, decay, interference, etc.) but (b)…

This article makes a literary review to the linguistic research in the use of metaphor in didactic discourse; especially the religious one. Acknowledging Conceptual Metaphor Theory as the primary theory in the field, the researcher embarks upon how metaphor is perceived and analysed in discourse in order to pertain its persuasive function. The…

English is particularly rich in both metonymic and metaphorical expressions making use of the concept "heart" to speak of emotional issues (Niemeier, 2000). It is not difficult to find a large number of Chinese linguistic expressions in terms of "[Chinese characters omitted]" ("xin") ("heart")" to refer…

Categorization of objects' parts varies across human populations. This dissertation provides evidence that the linguistic and non-linguistic aspects of this categorization are closely linked. English speakers apply mostly terms with abstract geometrical meaning, like "top," to the parts of any arbitrary object. However, in the languages…

In the face of land confiscations and other forms of imperialism characteristic of the 19th century in Aotearoa/New Zealand, the second Maori King Tawhiao devised a number of sayings that seem at first glance to be entirely mythical. Highly metaphorical and poetic, they appear to refer, as Bakhtin would have it in his discussion of the epic, to a…

Research on reported speech is old, but scholars working in this field are inclined to see its roots in Davidson's (1968) paratactic account of indirect reports. Although Davidson aimed at a "truth-conditional" theory of indirect reports which could challenge ideational, use, and psychological theories, his paratactic view--of which the…

This paper reports on the ground-breaking research in the study of languages in doctoral education. It argues for democratizing the production and dissemination of original contributions to knowledge through activating and mobilizing multilingual Higher Degree Researchers' (HDRs) capabilities for theorizing through them using their full linguistic…

Euphemism, a linguistic and cultural phenomenon, which serves as a lubricant in people's communication, has aroused much interest among scholars worldwide. Many researches on euphemism have already been done in different fields, such as in daily conversations, intercultural communication, advertisements, science, literature, business affairs, etc.…

Idiom variation is a ubiquitous linguistic phenomenon which has raised a lot of research questions. The past approach was either formal or functional. Both of them did not pay much attention to cognitive factors of language users. By putting idiom variation in the framework of linguistic subjectivity, we have offered a new perspective in the…

Indirect metaphors are pervasive in everyday language: People talk about "long" vacations, "short" tempers, and "colorful" language. But, why do we use concrete lexical items that are associated with the physical world when we talk about abstract, or non-physical, concepts? A potential answer is provided by proponents…

This paper examines Roy Harris' discussion of number and the language of science in his book "History, Science and the Limits of Language" in light of recent work in cognitive linguistics. While many of his points are valid, linguistic theory has since addressed some of these concerns by formulating usage-based, cognitive frameworks to explore and…