Metaphorical Expressions of Happiness in English, Kurdish and Persian Languages Considering Three Schemas of Image, Force and Container

Hiwa Weisi & Jila Jawadian, Iran, ID CLEaR2016-328;      Metaphoricity is the important feature of all human languages. Native speakers of all languages use a large number of metaphors when they communicate about the world. Such metaphorically used words and expressions may vary considerably among different languages. In fact, a language or any form of language, without metaphorical traits is nonexistent. Happiness is one of emotional concept which is expressed via metaphors in most languages. This study aimed to investigate using metaphorical expression of happiness in three different languages of English, Kurdish and Persian in three schema types of Image, Force and Container. The results of the study indicated that the three mentioned languages are not the same with regards to using metaphorical expressions of happiness considering the three mentioned schemas. Finally discussion, and applications to language teaching, are provided for the reasons behind the similarities and differences.

Key Words: Metaphor, Happiness, English, Kurdish, Persian