Metaphor in selected Runyankole Riddles

Abstract

This research aims at investigating metaphorical integrations in riddles in Runyankole language. Thirty metaphorical riddles are analysed to the detail, and classified in two groups. The first group, which is a contingent metaphor, involves those riddles shaped by metaphorical mapping between the precedent and the sequent as input spaces, which are then combined and compressed into the blend space. The linguistic structure of a contingent riddle includes the precedent space and some of the conceptual correspondences without any explicit reference to the sequent space. The possible candidates of the hidden sequent space are conditioned by the image-conceptual structure of the precedent space. The second group, which we call a discordant metaphor, includes those riddles that are based on a complicated metaphorical integration between the precedent and the sequent as input spaces: elements and relations of input spaces are cross-mapped, and then they are mixed and compressed into the blend space; and ultimately, a kind of disanalogy between spaces is brought about by backward projection. The linguistic structure of a discordant riddle includes two contradicting parts. The first part indicates the metaphorical integration, and the second shows the disanalogy. The candidacy of a possible sequent space is conditioned by the structure of the precedent space and by the differences highlighted by the backward projection. The metaphorical riddle in both groups is a specific kind of deliberate metaphor which invites the riddlee to view or guess the sequent in terms of the precedent. The deliberateness of the metaphorical riddle leads the riddlee to construct numerous metaphorical mappings between the precedent space and many possible candidates for the sequent space.