~ Pergamon Language Sciences. Vol. 18. Nos 1-2, pp. 37-52, 1996

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TO DIE, TO SLEEP A CONTRASTIVE STUDY OF METAPHORS FOR DEATH AND DYING IN ENGLISH AND SPANISH. I

JUANA I. MARIN-ARRESE

Departamento de Filologia Inglesa, Facultad de Filologia, Universidad Complutense de Madrid, Ciudad Universitaria s/n, 28040 Madrid, Spain.

ABSTRACT

Human capacity to conceptualize and reason appears to be essentially a question of both human experience (perceptions, cultural practices, motor activity) and imagination (metaphor, metonymy, mental imagery) (Lakoff,G. & M. Johnson,1980; Johnson,M.,1987; Lakoff,G.,1987; Lakoff,G.,1994). This paper aims to reveal the existence of a coherent conceptual organization underlying the use of the various expressions for death and dying, which derives from our bodily and social experience. It also aims to contrast the use of these expressions in English and Spanish in order to reveal the parallels in conceptual terms between both languages.

KEYWORDS

Metaphor; metonymy; image schema; embodiment; death.

INTRODUCTION

If we observe some of the terms used for death and dying we find a proliferation of disparate metaphorical expressions, which do not appear to have much in common:

(1) a. Pass away. b. Be feeding the daisies. c. Go to the great beyond.

I. In Memoriam Pedro Marin Galindo

37

38 J I J A N A I. M A R i N - A R R I i N I 2

This paper aims (i) to account for the use of the various expressions for death and dying in terms of a limited set of metaphors which are grounded in our bodily and social experiences (Lakoff & Johnson,1980; Lakoff,1987; Johnson,1987; Lakoff,1994); and (ii) to contrast these metaphorical mappings in English and Spanish and explore the extent to which they are common to both languages or whether they are language specific.

The experientialist approach views meaning "in terms of embodiment, that is, in terms of our collective biological capacities and our physical and social experiences as beings functioning in our environment". Our concepts are structured and that "structure is meaningful because it is embodied, that is, it arises from, and is tied to, our preconceptual bodily experiences" (Lakoff,1987:267).

This preconceptual experience is itself structured 2 and is directly meaningful through our direct and recurrent bodily experiences. An instance of such embodiment, of structure emerging from our physical experience, is the existence of image- schemas:

Image schemata are those recurring structures of, or in, our perceptual interactions, bodily experiences, and cognitive operations. (Johnson,1987:79)

An example of such a structure is the PATH schema, consisting of three elements (a source point A, a terminal point B, and a vector tracing a path between them) and a relation (a force vector moving from A to B). This schema, with its basic parts and relations, is a recurrent structure which, according to Johnson (1987:28), is manifested in a series of events:

(a) walking from one place to another, (b) throwing a baseball to your sister, (c) punching your brother, (d) giving your mother a present, (e) the melting of ice into water.

This notion of meaning in terms of embodiment must also account for abstract conceptual structure. In our understanding of

2. Johnson and Lakoff claim that there are at least two kinds of structure in our preconceptual experiences:

A. Basic-level structure: Basic-level categories are defined by the convergence of our gestalt perception, our capacity for bodily movement, and our ability to form rich mental images. B. Kinesthetic image-schematic structure: Image schemas are relatively simple structures that constantly recur in our everyday bodily experience: CONTAINERS, PATHS, LINKS, FORCES, BALANCE, and in various orientations and relations: UP-DOWN, FRONT-BACK, PART-WHOLE, CENTER-PERIPHERY, etc. (Lakoff,1987:267)

METAPHORS FOR DEATH AND DYING IN ENGLISH AND SPANIStt 39

abstract concepts there is a metaphorical projection from the realm of the physical to more abstract domains. According to Lakoff (1994:205) "as soon as one gets away from concrete physical experience and starts talking about abstractions or emotions, metaphorical understanding is the norm".

Metaphor may thus be viewed as a process whereby we understand and structure one conceptual domain or domain of experience in terms of another domain of a different kind (Johnson,1987).

Metaphors then are mappings, that is, sets of conceptual correspondences from a source domain to a target domain. There are ontological correspondences, correspondences between entities in the source and target domain, and epistemic correspondences, which are correspondences between knowledge about source and target domains. The names of these mappings have a propositional form: 'TARGET-DOMAIN IS SOURCE-DOMAIN', or "TARGET-DOMAIN AS SOURCE-DOMAIN" (Lakoff,1994). For example, in the 'DEATH IS A JOURNEY' metaphor the correspondences that constitute the metaphor map our knowledge about journeys onto knowledge about death. Such correspondences permit us to reason about death using the knowledge we use to reason about journeys. Some of the correspondences that characterize the mapping are:

• The dying person corresponds to the traveller. • The dying person's destiny corresponds to the destination of the traveller.

Projection or extension of meaning may also take place through metonymy, which involves primarily a process of transferred reference. In metonymy reference to one salient characteristic of one conceptual domain represents the entire domain, so the "the mapping or connection between two things is done within the same domain" (Gibbs,1994:258). Lakoff & Johnson (1980:39) argue that:

Like metaphors, metonymic concepts structure not just our language but our thoughts, attitudes, and actions. And, like metaphoric concepts, metonymic concepts are grounded in our experience.

We will thus attempt to provide an account of the various expressions for death and dying on the basis of metaphorical and metonymic extensions and image-schematic structures. We will find that very often there are multiple, overlapping metaphors in a single expression so that various mappings will be activated simultaneously.

40 J/JANA 1. MARiN-ARRESE

PHYSICAL AND SOCIO-CULTURAL DOMAINS

Physiological Effects of Death

Our knowledge of the physiological effects of death forms the basis for one of the most general metaphors for death: 'DEATH IS SLEEP' In ontological terms, we find correspondences between entities in the source and target domains, that is, between 'a sleeping person' and 'a dead person'. Knowledge about the source and target domains renders the following epistemic correspondences between the 'effects of sleep' and the 'effects of death':

• entities which are sleeping are still and lying down, the effect of sleeping is stillness and lying down. • entities which are dead are still and lying down, the effect of death is stillness and lying down.

There is a variety of expressions in both languages where death is conceptualized in terms of sleep, rest or some other form of non-consciousness.

(2) a. To die, to sleep. (Shakespeare) b. The Big Sleep. c. Be reposing.

(3) a. E1 suefio profundo. 'The deep sleep'

b. Descansar en paz. 'Rest in peace'

On the basis of our experience of the physiological effects of death, we may also construct the following Metonymic Principle: 'THE PHYSIOLOGICAL EFFECTS OF DEATH STAND FOR DEATH'. From this, we may draw the following system of metonymies for death based on various aspects of the death scenario:

• Last movements, pains, sounds made at death-bed. • Lack of movement. • Interruption of breathing.

Thus, in the same way that life is associated with movement, breathing, etc., we find a whole series of expressions for death and dying in both languages which draw upon the above system of metonymies:

METAPHORS FOR DEATtt AND DYING IN ENGLISH AND SPANIStt 41

(4) a. Turn up one's toes. b. Kick the bucket. 3 c. Be a stiff. d. Breathe one's last.

(5) a. Estirar la pata. 'Stretch one's leg'

b. Quedarse tieso. 'Become stiff'

c. Dar el ~itimo suspiro. 'Give the last sigh'

d. Quedarse seco. 'Become dry'

Metonymic extensions applying to different aspects of the burial scenario and the subsequent decay of the body are also found:

(6) a. Leave feet first. b. Become a landowner. c. Be pushing up the daisies. 4 d. Turn to ashes.

(7) a. Ir con los pies por delante. 'Go feet first'

b. Estar mascando barro. 'Be chewing mud'

c. Estar criando malvas. 'Be feeding the mallows'

d. Convertirse en ceniza. 'Turn to ash'

e. Estar de cuerpo presente. 'Be laid out'

Sometimes there may be an overlap with other metaphorical mappings. Thus, on the basis of the metaphor 'THE GRAVE IS OUR

3. Ayto (1993:241) observes that the origin of this euphemism remains in dispute:

Very likely it comes from the notion of a slaughtered animal twitching while suspended from a beam by its legs (the now probably extinct dialectal bucket 'beam' may be a descendent of Old Frech buquet 'balance- beam'). But an alternative theory suggests the scenario of someone committing suicide by hanging, who stands on a bucket and then kicks it away from under him.

4. Ayto (1993:244) notes that: The tradition of regarding the daisy as the typical flower that grows above people's graves dates back at least to the mid 19th century. The first euphemism to exploit it was turn up one's toes to the daisies, followed shortly afterwards by under the daisies and, early in the 20th century, push up the daisies.

42 JUANA 1. MAR.[N-ARR]'St':

LAST BED/HOME', we find:

(8) a. Be put to bed with a shovel. b. Go to one's last home.

(9) Ira la ~itima morada. 'Go to one's last home'

Personification

Perhaps the most obvious ontological metaphors are those where the physical object is further specified as being a person. This allows us to comprehend a wide variety of experiences with nonhuman entities in terms of human motivations, characteristics and activities. (Lakoff & Johnson,1980:33)

We may conceptualize death as an entity through the following ontological metaphor 'DEATH IS A PERSON'. Lakoff & Johnson (1980:33) note that "personification is not a single unified general process. Each personification differs in terms of the aspects of people that are picked out". We thus find expressions making reference to certain activities or functions performed by that entity, as well as the instruments used, and we can also attribute physical characteristics to death:

(I0) a. The Grim Reaper. b. That grim ferryman. (Shakespeare) c. The Great Leveller. ~

(ii) a. The finger of death. b. The scythe of death.

In Spanish death is a lady, and we also find terms which focus on activities and denote physical or other properties associated with death:

5. Neaman & Silver (1983: 150) observe that although the origin of the euphemism is uncertain it makes clear reference to "a very old saw popular in the Middle Ages: popes, kings, beggars, and thieves alike must die". They add that:

In England, the term 'leveller' has had a long, significant history that undoubtedly contributed to the origin of the euphemism or, at least, to its popularity. It was the name of a political party of the 1640s that believed in obliterating all differences and privileges acquired by rank or position.

Mt~'FAPI tORS FOR 1)EATI l AND I)YING IN ENGLISH AND SPANISt I 43

(12) a. La Parca. 6 'The spinner'

b. La Chata. 'The snub-nosed one'

c. La Cierta. 'The certain one'

(13) a. La guada~a. 'The scythe'

b. La herradura de la muerte. 'The horseshoe of death'

Lakoff (1994:231-32) points out that 'death' seems to be personified in "a relatively small number of ways: drivers, coachmen, footmen; reapers, devourers and destroyers, or opponents in a struggle or game". These conceptualizations appear to have in common the fact that "events (like death) are understood in terms of actions by some agent (like reaping)". If we associate the idea of an event as an action on the part of some causal agent with the metaphor 'DEATH IS DEPARTURE', we find that the causal agents characteristically involved in departures are 'drivers', 'boatmen', etc., which would explain why it is that these types of agents are chosen to personify death and not 'teachers' or 'linguists', for example.

Death is also viewed as an event in which an entity ceases to exist in much the same way as in the actions of destroying and devouring. Thus, in both languages we often conceptualize death as an adversary, as the agent that can attack and destroy us. In this way we may focus on different aspects of the struggle with our adversary:

(14) a. Be smitten with death. b. Surrender one's life.

(15) a. Asestar el golpe mortal. 'Strike the death blow'

b. Perder la pelleja. 'Lose one's hide'

c. Palmar(la). 'Surrender sth.'

Death may be conceptualized as a dangerous animal, also endowed with physical characteristics:

(16) a. Keep the wolf from the door. b. In the jaws of death.

(17) En las garras de la muerte. 'In the clutches of death'

6. According to Maria Moliner (1979), "Parca" is the Latin name given to the goddesses of destiny, who spin and reel and cut the thread of wo/men's lives.

44 JUANA 1. MARIN-ARRESI(

Further specification of the 'DEATH IS AN ADVERSARY' metaphor in English is found in expressions where death is viewed as the master gamesman whom everybody has tried and failed to defeat, and to whom one eventually surrenders:

(18) a. Be mated. (chess) b. Be cleaned out of the deck. (cards) c. Be KOed. (boxing)

Religious System of Beliefs

There is a series of expressions for death whose origin is based on the system of beliefs in the Judaeo-Christian tradition:

• There is a life hereafter, an immortal life. Heaven is located up in the skies.

• People who die and go to heaven are reunited in life hereafter. • There is a day of the Last Judgment, when all the dead are summoned and judged, and are thence rewarded or condemned for eternity.

In this way, the mapping of the belief in a life hereafter with the domain of death forms the basis for the metaphor 'DEATH IS ETERNAL LIFE'. Various aspects of this reunion in life hereafter with God and with the Saints are also dwelt upon, including 'the last reckoning':

(19) a. Be alive with Jesus. b. Join the choir invisible. c. The final summons. 7

(20) a. Ira la vida eterna. 'Go to eternal life'

b. Reunirse con el Creador. 'Be reunited with the Creator'

c. Set llamado a juicio. 'Be summoned to judgement'

We also find multiple, overlapping metaphors where there is a simultaneous activation of some of the most common metaphorical mappings for death together with mappings based on this system of beliefs, which provide the basis for a series of expressions which are common to both languages:

• 'Death is Sleep'. Death as Defeat.

• Physiological Effects of Death, Death & Burial Scenario. • 'Death is a Container'. • 'Death is a Journey' • 'Eternal life is UP'

7. Neaman & Silver (1983: 149) observe that "the imagery of summoning originates in the Book of Revelation's description of the raising of the dead, as does the euphemism, THE FINAL CALL."

Mt¢TAPI tORS FOR 1)t']A'I'I t AN]) DYING IN ENGI~IS} t AND SPANISt t 45

(21) a. Be asleep in Jesus. b. Yield the ghost. c. Enter into a better world. d. Saddle a cloud and ride to the great beyond. e. Go up to meet one's Maker.

(22) a. Dormir en Dios. 'Sleep in God'

b. Exhalar el esp£ritu. 'Exhale the spirit/ghost'

c. Estar en el m~s all~. 'Be in the great beyond'

d. Irse al otro mundo. 'Go to the other world'

e. Ascender a los cielos. 'Ascend into heaven'

Other Socio-Cultural Beliefs and Practices

Some mappings seem to have their origin in certain social and cultural beliefs and practices. In many cases we find expressions where different aspects of the 'death script' are evoked. For example, some expressions are originally derived from gangland use or from relatively current forms of violent death associated with certain activities:

(23) a. A long walk off a short pier. (gangland) b. Be blown across the creek. 8 (gunpowder factories) c. Back door parole. (prison)

(24) a. Dar el paseo a alguien. 9 'Give sb. the ride'

8. Neaman & Silver (1983:147) note that this expression: Originated with the munitions industry, particularly with the Du Pont gunpowder factories along the rivers and creeks of Pennsylvania and Delaware. Often the power ignited and blew up the workers, literally propelling them across or over the adjacent creek or river. A few of the other expressions for dying an explosive death are: GO BLOOEY, GO FLOOEY, or POP OFF.

9. Common usage during the Spanish Civil War, referring to the practice of driving the victim to some secluded spot in the outskirts of the city to be killed. One of the famous victims was the poet Federico Garc£a Lorca, assassinated by the death squad 'La escuadra negra'. This metaphorical expression parallels the euphemism take sb. for a ride, a characteristic Chicago gangster usage (Ayto,1993).

46 JUANA I. MARIN-ARRI(SE

b. Espichar(la). I° 'Be spitted'

Just as our life may be conceptualized in terms of the various activities we undergo while in the land of the living, death is conceptualized as the conclusion of all activity, or as the final act, in the metaphor 'DEATH IS THE FINAL ACT'. In this respect we find a variety of expressions related to gambling games, to the theatre, to business, eating, etc.:

(25) a. Cash in one's chips. b. Take the last curtain call. c. Shut up shop. d. Lay down one's knife and fork.

(26) a. E1 desenlace. 'The ending/denouement'

b. Doblar la servilleta. 'Fold the napkin'

c. Entregar la cuchara. 'Hand in the spoon'

We also find some expressions where death is conceptualized as a debt we must all pay; in financial terms, we live on borrowed time and must finally pay up, as part of "the concluding phase of a transaction, and of leaving no debts outstanding on one's 'departure'" (Ayton,1993: 241-42):

(27) a. Pay one's last debt b. Settle one's accounts

(28) Fenecer. 11 'Finish/conclude'

SPATIAL DOMAINS

In a fairly extensive group of expressions 'death' is conceptualized in terms of our bodily experience of spatial domains. In this case image-schemas which characterize the source domains (containers, paths) are mapped onto the target domain (death), and the metaphors in general preserve the image- schematic structure of the source domain (Lakoff,1994).

i0. The expression presumably evokes the scenario of an animal in the 'roasting spit' or "espiche".

ii. One of the examples provided by the Diccionario de la Lengua Espa~ola, R2~E is "fenecer la cuentas", 'to conclude or settle one's accounts'

METAPHORS FOR I)EATIt AND DYING 1N ENGLISt I AND SPANIStI 47

Container Schema

Our encounter with containment and boundedness is one of the most pervasive features of our bodily experience .... From the beginning, we experience constant physical containment in our surroundings (those things that envelop us). We move in and out of rooms, clothes, vehicles, and numerous kinds of bounded spaces .... In other words, there are typical schemata for physical containment. (Johnson,1987:21)

In our experience existence is associated with physical presence and life is understood metaphorically in terms of bounded regions, or 'containers' The properties of life can be seen as following from the topological properties of containers plus the metaphorical mapping from containers to life via the following metaphors: 'LIFE ON EARTH IS A CONTAINER', 'DEATH IS A CONTAINER'

Containers have as structural elements an interior, a boundary and an exterior, as well as an entrance point. 'Dying' may be conceptualized as exiting container A (This world/Life on earth) and entering or being in container B (The world of Death/Existence in another place):

(29) a. Be at the portals of death. b. Quit this world. c. Be in Morgue city.

(30) a. En el umbral de la muerte. 'At the threshold of death'

b. Salir de esta vida. 'Exit this life'

These two worlds or containers have a boundary separating them. Thus passing from life to death, from container A to container B, is conceptualized as going through some transition point, crossing a barrier or a dividing line:

(31) a. Cross the great divide. b. Take the big jump.

(32) Hallarse entre la vida y la muerte. 'Be between life and death'

Path Schema

Every time we move anywhere there is a place we start from, a place we wind up at, a sequence of contiguous locations connecting the starting and ending points, and a direction. (Lakoff,1987:275)

This preconceptual experience is structured in terms of a Source- Path-Goal schema, which provides the basis for a series of

48 JI.JANA I. MAR~-ARRESE

metaphorical mappings from this spatial domain onto an abstract domain like 'death'

In this way through the metaphor 'DEATH IS A JOURNEY', dying is conceptualized as a journey along a path from a starting point to an end point, where we may focus on the elements of the schema and the relation of directionality:

• Setting off from the starting point. • Motion along path. • Destination or end point. • Actions in preparation for and at the end of the journey.

(33) a. The last voyage. b. Put out to sea. c. Step westward. d. The journey's end.

(34) a. E1 viaje definitivo a la tierra. 'The definite journey to earth'

b. La partida. 'The parting'

c. Ir hacia el ocaso. 'Go towards the sunset'

d. Irse al otro barrio. 'Go to the other quarter/district'

Different aspects of the process of departing or of the journey may be focused on as subordinate categories. Thus preparations for the journey are appropriate metonymic extensions of the concept of dying as are finals actions at the end of the journey:

(3) a. Buy a one-way ticket. b. Cut one's stick. c. Hang up one's hat.

(36) a. Liar el petate. 'Pack up'

b. Colgar la boina. 'Hang up one's beret'

Passage of Time

In our culture, we have a metaphorical understanding of the passage of time based on movement along a physical path .... And we understand the course of processes in general metaphorically as movement along a path toward some end point. (Johnson,1987:l17)

Human life is characteristically construed as a process, and as such it is constrained by the Source-Path-Goal schema, so that it is viewed as having a starting point, and end point and a time span. In this way, death may be conceptualized as the last moment in our time span, through the metaphor 'DEATH IS THE LAST HOUR'. And we find a variety of expressions related to time and to

METAPHORS FOR DEATH AND DYING IN ENGLISI I AND SPANISH 49

measuring time, which are used to refer to the temporal limitations of life:

(37) a. The hour is come. b. The sands of life are running out. c. Snuff it.

(38) a. La hora suprema. 'The supreme hour'

b. Acabarse la candela. 'The candle burns out'

As Lakoff (1994:232) points out "the passage of time will eventually result in death. Thus, the overall shape of the event of death has an entity that over time ceases to exist as the result of some cause". We thus find expressions which focus on the end-point of the process, through the metaphor 'DEATH IS THE END', and on the result, which is non-existence or disappearance from this world.

(39) a. The latter end. b. The ebb of life. c. Be no longer a going concern.

(40) a. Finar. 'End'

b. Fallecer. 'Finish/Lack sth.'

c. Desaparecer. 'Disappear'

UP-DOWN Schema

Our preconceptual structures of spatial orientation, based on the verticality schema, similarly provide the basis for metaphorical mappings. Lakoff & Johnson (1980:15) argue that there is a physical and cultural basis for these metaphors:

Serious illness forces us to lie down physically. When you're dead, you are physically down.

Verticality serves as an appropriate source domain for understanding life and death, as there is a regular correlation in our experience between verticality and life and death. We thus have the following metaphors: 'LIFE IS UP', 'DEATH IS DOWN'.

When speaking of death we often find a simultaneous activation of metaphorical mappings based on the verticality schema and on our experience of the death scenario.

(41) a. The downward path. (Horace) b. Be beneath the sod.

(42) a. Desplomarse. 'Collapse'

METAPHORS FOR DEATH AND DYING IN ENGLISH AND SPANISIt 51

CONCLUSION

In this paper we have tried to account for the way we conceptualize death metaphorically in terms of a limited system of metaphors, metonymies and image-schemas which are grounded in our bodily and social experience.

We have also observed the parallels between the metaphor system in English and Spanish. The question remains, however, whether we can posit the universal character of these metaphorical mappings. According to Lakoff (1994), some mappings seem to be universal, whereas others seem to be culture specific. Contrastive studies with languages of a non-Judaeo-Christian culture would, no doubt, reveal different mappings, though one would hypothesize that the metaphors could still be accounted for in terms of embodiment. As Johnson (1987:xxxviii) concludes:

As animals we have bodies connected to the natural world, such that our consciousness and rationality are tied to our bodily orientations and interactions in and with our environment. Our embodiment is essential to who we are, to what meaning is, and to our ability to draw inferences and to be creative.

52 JUANA I. MAR[N-ARRESE

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