Metaphors of Turtle Dove Physical Characteristics in Javanese Community: A Preliminary Study

Author: I Dewa Putu Wijana (Universitas Gadjah Mada, Indonesia)
Speaker: I Dewa Putu Wijana
Topic: Applied Sociolinguistics
The (SCOPUS / ISI) SOAS GLOCAL CALA 2020 General Session

Abstract

The Turtle dove (Javanese: perkutut) is one of most favorite pets the Javanese people. Here, the aim is to have a good quality turtle dove, either in the way it chirps or the luck it may bring, The selection process is quite complex and extensive, one of which is to carefully observe the physical characteristics of the bird. Accordingly, the community of turtle dove fans and experts is enriched with various turtle dove registers (words, phrases, idoims, etc.), many of which are metaphorical.

This paper intends to study the metaphorical expressions used by the Javanese to compare the body characteristics of turtle doves with various natural and mythical realities surrounding them. The study will focus on how Javanese people associate the shape of turtle dove body parts (the target domain) and natural objects used as a comparison (the source domain) for yielding metaphorical names or calls of the turtle dove, either for obtaining a good quality sound or magical powers that the animal can bring to its owner.

Keywords: Turtle dove, metaphor, source domain, and target domain