Examination of Conceptual Metaphors of Body-Part Terms in A City’s Tale by Ahmad Mahmoud

Abstract

The present study aims to examine the function of body-part terms within three types of conceptual metaphors—structural, orientational, and ontological—in Ahmad Mahmoud’s novel A City’s Tale. The theoretical framework of the study is based on the model of Lakoff and Johnson (1980), who view metaphor not merely as a linguistic element but as a fundamental mechanism for organizing thought and experience. The research method is descriptive–analytical, and the data were collected from discourses related to urban life in a specific city and analyzed using SPSS software. The results show that a total of 462 metaphorical instances were identified, with structural metaphors representing the highest frequency at 216 instances (46.75%). This type of metaphor reflects the author’s emphasis on semantic organization, conceptual relations, and narrative structure. Orientational metaphors, with 160 instances (34.63%), rank second and highlight movement, orientation, and the actions of characters in their interaction with the urban environment. The lowest frequency pertains to ontological metaphors, with 86 instances (18.61%), which primarily represent existential experiences, self-awareness, and philosophical dimensions of the characters. This distribution indicates that Ahmad Mahmoud employs body-part terms not merely for physical description but in a purposeful manner to create a balance among the structural, dynamic, and psychological dimensions of the narrative. To assess the significance of the metaphor distribution pattern, a chi-square test was conducted. The chi-square value of 1585.021 with 21 degrees of freedom and a significance level of 0.000 demonstrated that the distribution of metaphors in the text is not random and that the observed differences are highly significant. The value of the likelihood ratio (957.178) and the linear-by-linear association (102.646), both with a significance level of 0.000, indicate the presence of a strong and systematic relationship among the types of metaphors, showing that fluctuations in one type of metaphor correspond predictably with those in another. These findings confirm that the use of structural, orientational, and ontological metaphors in the text follows a deliberate and systematic pattern.