VERNACULAR METAPHORS AS SOMATIC CULTURAL CODE

Abstract

The article explores vernacular dialectal metaphors with a somatic component in the context of the 19th-century British linguistic landscape. This type of metaphor serves as a highly significant cognitive tool that reflects deep-rooted models of popular worldview. Somatisms, as the names of human body parts, are actively used in the formation of metaphorical images that convey a wide range of concepts, phenomena, emotions, and evaluations. The study focuses on dialect material from across Great Britain, particularly Scottish, Northern English, Southern, and other regional varieties. Linguocultural modelling of dialectal metaphors reveals the interconnection between language, culture, and collective experience through somatic imagery. A key analytical approach is based on the principle of anthropocentrism, which regards the human being as the central measure of the world. The body, as the closest and most comprehensible object, becomes the basis for interpreting more abstract phenomena. In folk dialects, somatic metaphors function not only as linguistic constructions but also as carriers of cultural memory, shared experience, and the value systems of specific speech communities. One of the mechanisms of vernacular units formation is metaphor. They often act as a secondary means of expressing a concept. The most productive way of creating expressive colouring of words and expressions is associative and figurative reinterpretation of meanings. Metaphor traces ’the very origin of thought and its realisation in language’. The research demonstrates that somatic metaphors in British dialect speech act as distinctive cultural markers. They preserve traditional views on morality, social norms, emotions, and interpersonal relationships. Through them, it is possible to trace how local models of worldview developed across various British regions – models that, despite their diversity, are rooted in a common human experience: the experience of the body. Particular attention is given to interpreting these metaphors within the framework of the linguistic worldview that emerged in British culture. The author emphasizes that somatic images embedded in folk metaphors serve as a kind of “mirror” of mental processes, reflecting both individual perceptions and collective identity. These metaphors represent a specific type of thinking – concrete, sensory, figurative, emotionally charged – and serve as a vital source for understanding the cultural and linguistic heritage of Great Britain.