Resumen

RAMIREZ, Maikel  y  RAMIREZ, Ana María. Personification and depersonification in the metaphor of the ignorant donkey. Letras [online]. 2015, vol.57, n.93, pp.43-62. ISSN 0459-1283.

This study aimed at analyzing the processes of personification and depersonification in the metaphorical expression of the ignorant donky. The theoretical support is on the statements of Lakoff (1987); Johnson (1987); Lakoff (2004); Lakoff and Johnson (2009); Steuter and Wills (2009); Kövecses (2010); and Rivano Fischer (2013). Methodologically, it is a documentary, descriptive and interpretative research work. The results were as follows: a) culturally, the speakers think that those who do not study and become professionals should carry out works that demand physical strength (masons, laborers, public sanitation workers); b) given the fact that a donkey is a beast of burden, or shortly, the physical strength of those who do not study corresponds to that of the donkey, the speakers personify this animal with traits of characteristically human ignorance; c) once these traits are attributed to the donkey, the speakers use this animal as a metaphor of ignorant people, which contains a new semantic load: that of being an animal.

Palabras clave : personification; depersonification; conceptual metaphor; donkey.

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