A Characterization of Metaphorical Expressions Related to some Verbs in the Timorese Socio-Historic and Cultural Context

Abstract

The main objective of this scientific work is to identify and characterize the metaphorical expressions related to some verbs in the Timorese socio-historical and cultural context in the two languages ​​in confrontation, Tetum and Portuguese. For this purpose, ten Tetum verbs were selected (dada, fó, halo, han, kaer, ko'alia, la'o, mate, moris and taka) taken from the Disionáriu Espresaun Populár Dalen Tetun nian written by B. Oliveira and ten Portuguese verbs equivalent to those of Tetum, (pular, give, do, catch, speak, walk, die, live and close or cover) which were taken from the Dictionary of Portuguese Popular Expressions authored by Guilherme Augusto Simões. Through these verbs that were selected in both languages ​​in comparison, which served as a basis for data analysis, the study shows that there are more phenomena of divergence of metaphorical expressions in the two languages ​​under study, Tetum and Portuguese. The result of this research also demonstrated that the phenomenon of metaphorical extension is very common in the two languages ​​in comparison. Some metaphorical expressions are identical in the two languages ​​under study. Furthermore, it was found that social and cultural factors can determine the metaphorical values ​​of the same expression. Through this research, it was also found that some expressions cannot be translated from one language to another, as there is no equivalence in the target language. Metaphorical competence involves our prior knowledge of language, as well as our knowledge of the concept of literal meaning. Metaphorical expressions thus reflect conceptual structures built based on experiences, knowledge of the world and society around us and culture itself.