Gastronomic metaphor in the conceptualization of the world (based on the Karachay-Balkar language)

This article examines lexical and paremiological units with a gastronomic component in the Karachay-Balkar language. Gastronomic names, like other onyms (anthroponyms, hydronyms, ethnonyms, zoonyms, phytonyms, etc.), encode valuable linguistic and cultural information that reflects the historical, geographical, and religious beliefs of an ethnic group. In modern linguistics, metaphor is considered a fundamental mechanism of world perception that reflects the cultural and specific worldview of an ethnic group. In this sense, gastronomic metaphors deserve special attention – transfers of meaning based on images of food and culinary processes. The axiological component of a gastronomic metaphor can be expressed explicitly (an open comparison of a person's external and internal characteristics, their social interactions with food (taste, smell, texture), and cooking processes) or implicitly (a hidden comparison of phenomena with food that is embedded in the structure of language and is not perceived as figurative). The article highlights gastronomic metaphors that describe a person's appearance, character, and moral qualities, social status, emotional state, and attitude towards life in general.

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