الفهرس 
INTRODUCTIONOnly 14 pages are availabe for public view
 |  | from | 190 |  |  |
| | | from | 190 | | |
Abstract
Many reasons have incited the present study of the cognitive linguistic metaphors in The Holy Quran. The first and most significant one is that The Holy Quran has been among, if not the most influential of all books, in the Islamic and Arab world at least. The Cognitive Metaphor Theory (CMT) has relished a great ‘popularity in and outside cognitive linguistics’ (Kovecses 2008, p. 168). The third pillar of the study is the process of metaphor identification devised by the Pragglejaz School (2007, 2010), known as ‘Metaphor Identification Process Vrije Universiteit (henceforth MIPVU). MIPVU is accredited for enabling ‘metaphor researchers to achieve a higher level of reliability in annotating metaphor-related words than MIP as it is more explicit and systematic, (Steen et al., 2010b: p. 789).
The present study attempts to score a number of goals at once. First, it conducts a theme-based approach to the metaphorical analysis of selected verses in The Holy Quran. Second, it attempts an application of the English-based MIPVU to the original language of the Holy Quran (i.e. Arabic). Third, it serves as an entry to a holistic approach to the metaphor network in the Holy Text, comprising different sub-theories based on the Cognitive Theory of Metaphor, mainly embodiment and culture.
The study takes place when the world is divided in opinion about the moral and ethical message of the scriptural foundation of Islam. Generally, it can be argued that the West believes that “Islam has never had any officially recognized tradition of pacifism, and throughout its history warfare has been an integral part of the Islamic theological system.” (Johnson 2010, pp. 20). This study is an attempt to prove that the intact Text of the Holy Quran has, for more than fourteen centuries, been itself a Messenger of peace for Mankind. The Book is a living manual for its followers, the Muslims, who must believe in God’s many Messengers, including Muhammad, Jesus, Moses, and Ibrahim, and say and do only good. However, The Qur’an-based principles, law and ideology have been indicted with extremism despite the reiterated attempts to highlight its noble purpose. The present study partly aims to attest the peaceful content of this message via the application of conceptual metaphor theory and MIPVU. iii
This study is intended as a guide for western scholars who show interest in studying the text of The Holy Quran, and have to rely on the translations available, most of which are highly subjective. Regardless of their intentions, Arabic has always stood between full comprehension, their tools and their final product, due to its heavy grammar and formidably polysemous vocabulary. and understanding One of the most renowned attempts include chartaris-Black’s sugar-coated study of metaphor schemas in the Holy Quran, one that failed to define the purpose of the discussed metaphor schemas. Another piece of evidence, that the West suffers from ignorance, is the notorious speech given by Benedict XVI in 2006, in which he condemned Islam altogether as evil. This study presents a practical refutation of those groundless claims on well-founded evidence from the text itself; that Islam is a peaceful religion inside-out. ’Furthermore, the present study attempts to answer the question vis-a-vis what is and what is not essentially metaphorical through the application of Metaphor Identification Process (MIPVU). The purpose of the two-fold analysis is simply to postulate that cognitive linguistic metaphors are in The Holy Qur’an for reasons that are partly connected to the early era of revelation.
The study reveals that the language of the Holy Quran is broadly metaphorical, and that many of its metaphors are specifically conceptual. Patterns of metaphor schemas show the intrinsic use of embodiment and culture as common factors among the cited cognitive metaphors. It also reveals that the application of CMT and MIPVU to the analysis of the original language of The Holy Quran does not produce the least linguistic challenge based on the nature of Arabic, being a highly inflectional/morphological language.