A cognitive analysis of various imaginary schemas of proverbs in Nahj al-Balaghah

The variety of parables and parable-like stories of Nahj al-Balaghah is of great significance from a stylistic and linguistic point of view, along with the religious, educational and moral functions such stories serve. The effectiveness of these literary genres is evident in their richness of themes, creating images, highlighting meaning, and showing the cultural and intellectual identity of the time. These seemingly short and independent phrases are semantically related to the other elements of the text, whose literary and cultural meaning could be analyzed through cognitive semantics. The present study applies a cognitive analysis of the types of imaginary schemas of these concise expressions in Nahj-al-Balaghah. To fulfill this aim, the selected proverbs were analyzed based on the model presented by Evans and Hans. The results indicate the existence of schemas of space, force, containment, balance, and locomotion, among which the schemas of space and containment were significantly frequent. There is a direct relationship between the frequency of imaginary schemas and the rate of animal names, elements of nature, human activity, and human organs in these parables. Addition of space and locomotion to these abstract phenomena leads to more effective communication and greater understanding of such concepts.