Chapter 9 The Embodiment of Emotions in Turkish Face Constructions
In: Embodiment in Cross-Linguistic StudiesPurchase instant access (PDF download and unlimited online access):
Abstract
This study presents a qualitative and quantitative examination of expressions containing the face denoting words ‘yüz’, ‘surat’ and ‘çehre’ in the conceptualization and communication of emotions in Turkish. The data of the study come from the dictionaries of idioms and a corpus, which were examined in terms of the emotion types they include. The dictionary-based data were analyzed in terms of their metaphoric and metonymic mappings (Barcelona 1997, Kövecses 2000). Findings reveal that the ‘face’ is conceptualized as a mirror/projector of emotions and is more productive in the expression of anger and shame. The examination of the conceptual mappings underlying face idioms reveals that the ‘face’ is conceptualized as the representative of person, as an object (of value), and as a reflector of emotions through muscle movements, skin color, thickness and temperature. The study provides further support for the situated embodiment view, which holds that there is a close interplay between language, body, emotion and culture.