ANALYSIS OF THE IMAGE-SCHEMATIC CHARACTER OF ANATOMICAL TERMS IN BULGARIAN AND ENGLISH IN VIEW OF METAPHORICITY

Abstract

Image schemata are preconceptual mental structures, recurring patterns, stemming from sensorimotor stimuli (Johnson 1987). They form the very fabric of our conceptual apparatus and are also a motivating factor for term designation. The current paper analyses image schemas in both Bulgarian and English anatomical systems in a comparative manner. The schemata CONTAINER, SCALE, PART-WHOLE, BALANCE and PATH are the most frequent and formative in anatomy both with respect to the „Great Chain of Being“ and to the „Event Structure“ metaphor system. The analysis ascertains that Bulgarian anatomical system is richer in lexical realizations of image schemata owing to the presence ot a concurrent doublet terminological system.