Temporal Metaphors in Dino Buzzati’s Prose

This article focuses on the ways of representing metaphorical transfers and the features of metaphor formation. The purpose of this study is to identify these mechanisms for temporal metaphors in Italian fiction. In accordance with the conceptual metaphor theory the ways of metaphorical representation of the temporal concepts are considered using the material of Dino Buzzati’s novels and short stories. The article describes the main metaphorical models in the texts of the Italian writer, identifies source domains and features underlying metaphorical transfer, and describes the semantics and syntax of metaphorical expressions, it also outlines the methods by which the described metaphors were transformed from conventional ones. At the first stage, the research procedure included the selection of contexts for the metaphorical representation of the concept of “time” (only verbal and phrase metaphors were considered); source domains were identified using the method of component analysis, and then combined into metaphorical models through systematization; the tools and methods for transforming conventional metaphors into author’s metaphors were described using structural and semantic analysis methods. The scientific novelty of this study is determined by the selected material, as the specifics of Dino Buzzati’s authorial conceptosphere are analyzed for the first time. The study establishes the closeness of the defined conceptual metaphors to archetypal ideas about time, since the most productive models in the studied texts are “time is a moving object,” “time is a natural phenomenon,” “time is a being,” and “time is a resource.” The semantic feature underlying the transfer can belong to both the semantic core and the periphery of the concept serving as the source domain. Linguistic representations of the metaphorical models in the texts are based on methods of extension, elaboration, and combining of conventional metaphors.

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