Language as metaphor in the stories "Learning to talk" by H. Mantel and "Mutterzunge" by E. Ozdamar

The paper is concerned with the study of plot-generating metaphor of language in the stories “Learning to Talk” by H. Mantel and “Mutterzunge” by E. Özdamar in the framework of cognitive linguistics approach. The article is aimed at describing the conceptual structure of the core metaphor, and also finding metaphoric density of the text in compliance with MIPVU (metaphor identification procedure). The study has interdisciplinary character, as its findings present interest from the perspectives of such disciplines as conceptual metaphor theory, analysis of fiction, and intercultural communication.