Metaphorical representation of husband and wife in Korean paroemias

Paroemias are of particular interest for cognitive metaphor studies since they reflect the national world view. An analysis of conceptual metaphors represented in paroemias makes it possible to reveal national ways of conceptualizing the world, including ideas concerning the roles of spouses and family relationships. This paper provides a qualitative analysis of conceptual metaphors represented in Korean paroemias that include kinship terms for husband and wife. The study was carried out using a data base consisting of 93 paroemias which use five kinship terms for husband (fiancé): 신랑 (新郞), 남편 (男便), 서방 (書房), 영감 (令監), 임, six kinship terms for wife (fiancée): 신부 (新婦), 색시, 아내, 계집, 마누라, 처 (妻), and six derivatives for wife: 새색시, 여편네 (女便네), 본부인 (本夫人), 본처 (本妻), 악처 (惡妻), 조강지처 (糟糠之妻). The semantics of these kinship terms is discussed, and major differences in meanings are highlighted. Using the methods of MIPVU and the five-step metaphor analysis, conceptual domains involved in cross-domain mapping are identified. In particular, cross-domain mapping has been revealed between SPOUSES as the target domain and HOUSEHOLD ITEMS, FOOD, PETS, LIVESTOCK, PEOPLE WITH OTHER SOCIAL ROLES as the source domains. A conclusion is drawn that conceptualizing the roles of spouses the Korean people relied on objects commonly used in everyday life and people who attracted attention due to their social status or specific behavior.