Conceptual Masculine Metaphors Expressed in Folk Songs: Analysis of Source Domain and Target Domain

Abstract

The objectives of this research were to investigate the conceptual masculine metaphors and to study the use of concepts expressing masculinity in folk songs (Luk Thung songs) by using Cognitive Linguistic Theory as an educational approach. The research results revealed that Luk Thung songs were a set of sources that use conceptual metaphors to convey meanings about Thai men in rural societies through the use of seven types of metaphors:human metaphor, plant metaphor, animal metaphor, object metaphor, place metaphor, and belief metaphor. These showed that language was a reflection of cognition and the human thinking system. From the research, it was found that when comparing the male human beings using metaphorical language, the analogy (source domain)was often the natural environment, place, or things that were necessary for their existence. It can be said that the experiential view or people's experience of seeing the world played an important role in the formation of language and reflective language. At the same time, the idea also reflected the process of language formation. These two things are so intertwined and fused together that they cannot be separated from each other.