earticle

영어

This study explores nominal metaphorical expressions utilizing CATS as the source domain and HUMANS as the target domain within the Corpus of Contemporary American English (COCA). The findings illustrate that the metaphorical mappings between the CAT source domain and the HUMANS target domain are grounded in traits such as greed, sexual behavior, resilience, timidity, and composure. Contrary to prior claims, many of these metaphors demonstrate gender neutrality, except for “tom cat.” The gender association was shown to be attributed by the target domain rather than the CAT domain. The research challenges previous notions of negative connotations linked to CAT metaphors, emphasizing the need for a broader understanding encompassing various aspects of CAT metaphors.