Abstract: | The aim of the paper is to analyze instances of vegetalization, which is the X IS A
PLANT metaphor, in John Henry Newman’s collection of sermons, published as
Sermons on Subjects of the Day (1843). One group of metaphors are ontological
metaphors, whose source domain is an entity (Lakoff, Johnson 2003[1980]). They
can be classified as reifications, vegetalizations, animalizations, personifications, and
deifications, which corresponds to the hierarchy of the so-called Great Chain of
Being. As claimed by Krzeszowski (1997), these metaphors play an important role in
expressing the axiological dimension of language, since they can express specific
values of their target domains. In Christian discourse, vegetalizations contribute to
the conceptualization of such notions from the religious sphere as God, grace, the
Kingdom of God, the Christian life, the Church, or evil. |