VIOLENCIA VICARIA
3. PROPUESTA DE ABORDAJE DE LA IDEACIÓN Y TENTATIVA SUICIDA ADOLESCENTE
Neighbouring categories F15 “Disorder” and F16 “Sequence” reveal evidence of metaphor with D34 “Colour”; however, the first category is the source category whereas the latter category is the target.
Table 4.2.4.a Order to Colour connection
Source category Lexemes Dates of metaphorical transfer
E28 Behaviour and conduct
rory-tory a1794-
F15 Disorder muddle 1596-
riot 1713-
clashing clash
1895 1935-
Table 4.2.4.b Colour to Sequence connection
Target category Lexemes Dates of metaphorical transfer
F16 Sequence spectrum 1936-
To muddle a colour is to “mar the clearness or sharpness” of it or to mix it together with another colour (OED, muddle, verb 4). The OED lists the colour use under the senses relating to mixing rather than under those relating to mud, and so the Source of the metaphor lies in the F15 “Disorder” category as opposed to the B80 “Dirtiness” category.
An interesting metaphor is riot, most often used in the phrase a riot of colour, meaning “a vivid display of colour” (OED, riot, noun 8). For example:
In this quiet lane there was an extravagance of wild flowers, a riot of colour. (BNC)
Mr. and Mrs. Stoutenberg have made Oscar’s room into a small, cheerful riot of playful primary colors. (COCA)
Woolard’s costumes contrasted the officious blues and grays of Mao’s era with the riotous colors of the Chinese opera troupe. (COCA)
According to the OED, this initially developed from the sense “noisy, wanton revelry” but has more recently become “the violent disturbance of the peace” (OED, riot, noun 3 and 4a). A similar example from E28 “Behaviour and conduct” is rory-tory which described something or someone who was “noisy or boisterous” before a regional variation of “loud or gaudy” colours was adopted in the South West of England. According to the OED this
use has outlived the former by surviving into the modern day (OED, rory-tory, adjective 1 and 2), but this is not borne out by the corpora, where neither meaning was found. Colours can clash with one another, meaning they “go badly together” or “kill each other” (OED, clash, verb 4c), such as:
Strong pink is not the easiest colour to handle, as it can clash terribly. (BNC)
Some may find the site’s clashing color scheme a bit jarring. (COCA)
According to the OED, this is most likely derived from the chief current use of the verb “to conflict, be at variance; to interfere, be incompatible; to disagree (with)” (OED, clash, 4b).
Within D34 “Colour”, a spectrum is the coloured band created when light is diffracted in a prism (OED, spectrum, noun 3a) and this gives rise to the metaphorical meaning, within F16 “Sequence”, of “The entire range or extent of something” (OED, spectrum, noun 3d).
For example:
His knowledge of Scottish politics is unrivalled on any side of the political spectrum. (BNC)
Social-science research can be used to better identify appropriate stakeholders who represent the spectrum of interests. (COCA)
Though not contained in the D34 “Colour” MM category, rainbow is another similar example. A rainbow is an arch of coloured bands formed when sun shines through rain (OED, rainbow, 1a), dating back to OE, and is grouped in the MM categories A28
“Atmosphere and weather” and D24 “Electromagnetism and atomic physics”. A metaphorical meaning is first recorded in 1662 as “Something which consists of many elements” or “a wide variety or range of related things” (OED, rainbow, noun 3) and is grouped in F16 “Sequence”.
De Lagarde wanted to restore Germany to ‘unity’. The unity he had in mind was, ironically, that which had existed before Germany became a nation-state, the unity of the
disunited rainbow of German states and principalities. (BNC)
“If you compare it to 10 years ago, there’s a whole rainbow of options for first-time buyers now,” says Grose. (COCA)
Rainbow does appear in D36 “Variegation” as a verb meaning “To colour or illuminate (an object) with many colours, esp. those of a rainbow”, which can itself be used figuratively, but this sense is not recorded until 1807, around a hundred and fifty years after the
metaphor from F16 “Sequence”. In spite of this, I argue that this metaphorical meaning still derives from the notion of colour. The “many elements” or “variety of related things”
are transferred from the many colours contained within the rainbow. While colour occurs on a continuum, it is broken down according to various properties, most often hue. The resulting scale lends itself to the metaphorical meaning of variety and choice.
4.2.5 Emotion
While the overall association that LIGHT IS POSITIVE and DARKNESS IS BAD holds, Apresjan (1997: 186-187) found exceptions to this within emotions, based on the physiology of facial colour. The categories within Level 2 “Emotion” reveal many bi-directional metaphorical links with D34 “Colour”.
Table 4.2.5a Colour to Emotion connection
Target category Lexemes Dates of metaphorical transfer
I01 Emotion colour
change colour
1938- 1523-1860
I03 Excitement colourful 1905-
I06 Emotional suffering
colourless c1425-
I16 Fear lurid 1850-
bleach c1760
Table 4.2.5.b Emotion to Colour connection
Source category Lexemes Dates of metaphorical transfer
saddish sadden
a1678 1787-
sullen a1586-
I17 Courage generous 1710-
Durkin (2014: 248-249) notes that the word colour shows borrowing from either French or Latin and both source languages have a variety of literal and figurative meanings (hue, complexion of the face, colouring matter, stylistic ornament, etc.), which are also shown by the English word. Within the top I01 “Emotion” category is colour, meaning to “lend a particularly interesting quality to something” (OED, colour, noun1 17). A similar sense for colourful can be found in I03 “Excitement”. Within the OED it is defined in metaphorical terms as something “full of or characterized by colour” (OED, colourful, adjective 1). The HT categorisation, however, is more revealing as within I03 “Excitement” it is
sub-categorised as “piquantly exciting”. For example:
Indeed his sanguine response to his discovery lent colour to the story when it reached the evening news. (BNC)
While scrounging for supplies, they met colorful characters, most of whom were friendly.
(COCA)
Sedate colours are defined as “not unduly striking” and, in equally metaphorical terms,
“restful in tone” (OED, sedate, adjective 1e), for example:
Three colours: saturated powder blue, sedate grey and matt white. (BNC)
As he trotted down the stairs, he stripped off the green windbreaker and reversed it so that it was a more sedate and less memorable blue. (COCA)
Sober colours are “subdued in tone” or “neutral-tinted” (OED, sober, adjective 9a). For example:
Prim suits for the races in sober colours open to reveal linings and blouses in vivid Indian bright silks. (BNC)
His color palette had become increasingly sober and monochromatic, his patterns increasingly abstract. (COCA)
I06 “Emotional suffering” and D34 “Colour” transfer lexis in both directions. Something colourless has “no distinctive character” and is “bland” (OED, colourless, adjective 2a).
Furthermore, colours can be described as sullen if they are of “sombre hue” (OED, sullen, adjective 4a), or sad if they are “dark”, “neutral” or “dull” (OED, sad, adjective 10a).
Adrian Henri ponders on what life would be like without his loved one - how colourless, dull and ordinary it would seem. (BNC)
The passionate reds of the room’s interior were exchanged for blue, sullen and grayed.
(COCA)
The room was decorated in sad shades of brown. (COCA)
The OED notes that sadly referring to dark colours later merged with the sense of mourning (OED, sadly, adverb 8 and 9a). These examples support the more direct metaphorical connection between I06 “Emotional suffering” and D33 “Darkness”. Word senses that are shared by D33 “Darkness” and D34 “Colour” and evidence a metaphorical link with I06 “Emotional suffering” include: dark, dull, dusky, gloomy, shadow and sombre.
The word lurid has developed several contrasting meanings. Originally referring to a pale colour that is “wan and sallow”, especially that of the sickly pallor of the skin, it could also signal something shining with a red glow (OED, lurid, adjective 1 and 2a). From either of these senses arose the metaphorical connotations of “terrible”, “ominous”, “ghastly”,
“sensational”, categorised in the I16 “Fear” category (OED, lurid, adjective 3). Examples of the figurative meaning in the corpora include:
Although the driver ant colony is an “animal” weighing in excess of 20 kg and possessing on the order of 20 million mouths and stings […] it still does not match up to the lurid stories told about it. (BNC)
But he did create the referral with its lurid details, igniting that firestorm of controversy and criticism. (COCA)
In the final development of meaning, the current colour sense of lurid has gone full circle and now refers to shades that are “unpleasantly bright” (OED, lurid, draft additions). For example:
Alas, smarts drinks prove to be non-alcoholic cocktails of fruit juice, lemonade and lurid food colourings. (BNC)
By 5:30 P.M. on Saturday the conga line already snakes up San Francisco’s Columbus Avenue: thirtysomethings and Generation Xers queuing under a lurid neon sign. (COCA)
Also in the I16 “Fear” category is bleach in the sense of becoming pale with fear (OED, bleach, verb1 2b), though this use only has one attestation.
This domain has shown that dark and dull colours are linked with negative emotions, and vivid colours and brightness are linked with positive emotions or traits. The only exception to this is lurid, which fits into the pattern outlined above in terms of its motivation and development, as the metaphorical sense of fear derived from the original colour sense of paleness, but not in terms of its current use, denoting vivid colours. This may not be a problem; however, as other sections show that it is not only the presence or absence of colour that affects metaphors for positive or negative traits. Colours with very high saturation or luminosity, for example, can also be viewed negatively.
4.2.6 Truth
The category H22 “Truth” shows evidence of being the target domain in a strong metaphorical connection with D34 “Colour”, displayed in Table 4.2.6.
Table 4.2.6 Colour to Truth connection
Target category Lexemes Dates of metaphorical transfer
H22 Truth and falsity colour colourable
A figurative use of colour in H22 “Truth and falsity” relates to outward appearance as some “show, aspect, or semblance of something” and in later use comes with the
“implication that the appearance is false and used as a pretext” (OED, colour, noun1 7).
The OED states this use is now restricted to legal contexts, which was found to be the case in COCA, for example:
In essence, this case is an allegation of murder under color of law, inseparably entwined with a broad-scale political controversy. (COCA)
Various other forms of colour also appear in H22 “Truth and falsity”. Something colourable has “an appearance of truth or trustworthiness” (OED, colourable, adjective 1a). Slightly later is a sense of colourable with a much graver meaning: “Intended to deceive or to conceal a true purpose; fraudulent; feigned, pretended, spurious” (OED, colourable, adjective 2a). Both senses are also used within a legal context in the corpora, with only one example in the BNC and 9 examples in COCA, for example:
The Division Court thought it ‘clear to everyone […] that any suggestion of peaceful picketing was a colourable pretence and that it was a question of picketing by intimidation and threat’.
(BNC)
And the campaign facts only have to be colorable. (COCA)
Similarly, that which has been coloured has been “presented or manipulated so as to appear true or trustworthy” (OED, coloured, adjective 4a). For example:
We hope the branches and members w- w- will believe those reports because they will be the truth, and not some of the more highly coloured statements which I’m sure will be put around from time to time. (BNC)
It seemed to Snow that her mother’s words were colored by Julian’s presence, as if she were putting on a certain kind of show for him. (COCA)
The reverse is also recorded, as to be uncoloured is to be “open, undisguised; not influenced or affected by something” (OED, uncoloured, adjective 2a).
An objective view is free from the values, moral judgments and ideology of the observer: it provides facts and explanatory frameworks which are uncoloured by the observer’s feelings and opinions. (BNC)
Why do you think, for example, the “Wall Street Journal” chose to do its copy about this story on the editorial page [...] rather than in the hard news pages, which are assumed to
be uncolored by any political belief? (COCA)
To paint is “to embellish, esp. with a view to deception” (OED, paint, verb1 5) and to overpaint is to depict in an exaggerated manner. This sense is metaphorically used “to describe in extravagant terms” or “to overstate” (OED, overpaint, verb 2). Only one example was found in COCA:
Robin Hood’s story romanticises, but does not exaggerate, the anger of the common people.
Nevertheless, one must not overpaint the picture. (COCA)
The meaning of deceit by covering with a color or by painting over something was also common in older Czech, and has been preserved in a few idioms (Vaňková 2007: 443). A relevant example from D35 “Individual colours” is whitewash, meaning “to give a fair appearance to; to free, or attempt to free, from blame or taint; to cover up, conceal, or gloss over the faults or blemishes of”, and the OED notes that this use is now usually somewhat contemptuous through implying a false appearance of something good (OED, whitewash, verb 2a). Not only does this metaphor involve the idea of concealing the truth with a colour or paint, but it also draws on the positive connotations of white for the outward show.
Another relevant example, though one that relates to appearance generally rather than to colour, is to paper over the cracks in order “to use a temporary expedient; to create a mere semblance of order” (OED, crack, noun 7f).
A pair of relevant examples come from D32 “Transparency”, and fit in to the
INTELLIGENCE IS LIGHT metaphor. Opaque maps on to H18 “Intelligibility” and is “not clear or lucid” (OED, opaque, adjective 3a); whereas transparent maps on to E28
“Behaviour and conduct” and describes someone who is “Frank, open, candid, ingenuous”
(OED, transparent, adjective 2a). Barcelona (2002: 212) compares an object that is not transparent, and so the inside of which remains unknown, to an idea that has not been clearly expressed. While this metaphor is based on the knowledge that an increase in light brings an increased understanding, there are counter examples. Too much light can result in a dazzling effect, and something which has a gloss has “a deceptive appearance” or “fair semblance” (OED, gloss, noun2 1b). In this metaphor, the lustre metaphorically deflects light concealing the inward truth once again. Also, see the current use of sheen as found in the corpora in Section 4.2.7.
4.2.7 Morality
Very closely related to the domain of truth discussed above is the domain of morality.
According to Lakoff and Johnson (1999: 290) “virtually all of our abstract moral concepts are structured metaphorically”, and so it is no surprise that moral concepts are found to be highly metaphorical in the MM data. Morality is represented by MM categories H31
“Contempt”, E28 “Behaviour and conduct”, T01 “Morality and immorality”, T04 “Virtue”, and T05 “Moral evil”. Evidence of a metaphorical connection is revealed by the shared lexis between these categories and D34 “Colour” and is displayed in Tables 4.2.8a and 4.2.8b.
Table 4.2.7.a Colour to Morality connection
Target category Lexemes Dates of metaphorical transfer
H31 Contempt dark c1374-1818
black c1425-
decolour 1630
sable 1726-1749
off-colour 1875-
darksome 1880
Table 4.2.7.b Morality to Colour connection
Source category Lexemes Dates of metaphorical transfer
E28 Behaviour and conduct
savage 1706
T05 Moral evil wanton 1583-
Terminology from the domain of colour is also transferred to other areas of meaning. To decolour means to figuratively “stain” someone (OED, decolour, verb 1) and similarly to discolour is “To cause (a thing) to be less attractive; to stain, to tarnish” (OED, discolour, verb 2). This use is not frequent in the corpora with only one example in the BNC and 2 in COCA:
Europe’s underclass is threatening, if not to wreck, at least to discolour the modernised, modish Spain that the country’s prime minster, Felipe González, intends to present to the world in 1992. (BNC)
She even has expressed concern that the controversies surrounding brother Michael’s life might discolor her own. (COCA)
He speaks quietly, carefully, choosing his words as if each might break or discolor his true thoughts.
The first two examples are concerned with a damaged reputation, whereas the last is a little different. Here, the subject is worried that his thoughts might be discoloured, meaning that they might be misrepresented, or even influenced, by his words.
The following examples overlap considerably in metaphorical meaning with B80
“Dirtiness”. The first attestation of stain used within the “Contempt” category means “To vilify in words, abuse” (OED, stain, verb 5f). More common is the sense categorised in H31 “Contempt” to “inflict a permanent reproach to or stigma upon” someone, thereby blemishing their reputation or honour (OED, stain, verb 5c), such as:
The toll was considerable -- as many as 6,000 priests, for example, may have died within Republican Spain -- and a stain upon the Republic’s reputation. (BNC)
Those years I worked for Granny Kate with the stain on my name, most people showed kindness. (COCA)
There are two distinct origins of the word taint, which share an identical form; the first relates to touching or hitting and the second to colour and dyeing. According to the OED, in later uses, these two meanings have more or less blended together and one such example is recorded in the T05 “Moral evil” category. Here, taint may mean “To infect with
pernicious, noxious, corrupting or deleterious qualities; to touch with putrefaction” (OED, taint, verb1 9a). The definition of the noun form, also within T05 “Moral evil”, reveals a clearer link with D34 “Colour” and B80 “Dirtiness”: “A stain, a blemish; a sullying spot; a touch, trace, shade, tinge, or tincture of some bad or undesirable quality” (OED, taint, noun 5a).
Hiding the thousands of volumes in the cellar […] in the words of a letter to the Earl, ‘no longer taint with unchristian ambition the minds of good men like our dear friends.’ (BNC)
The Dutch, you might recall, were in charge in Srebrenica and saw their national honor tainted by the massacres that took place there. (COCA)
An undesirable quality is described as a stain or blemish giving it a physical mark that is clear to see.
Examples from T05 “Morality and duty” also relate to H22 “Truth and falsity” and S07
“Law”. For instance, colourable was discussed in 4.2.7. Off-colour can indicate that something is vulgar, and is categorised in K02 “Tastelessness” and T05 “Moral evil”.
According to the OED, things “Of questionable taste, disreputable; improper, vulgar” have been described as colour since 1875, and language and jokes specifically which are off-colour are “slightly indecent or obscene” (OED, off-off-colour, adjective 3). A comparable, and more established, metaphor is dirty meaning “morally unclean or impure” (OED, dirty, adjective 2a). This is another instance where the metaphorical link between B80
“Dirtiness” and T05 “Moral evil is revealed through D34 “Colour”. Only 3 examples of off-colour in this sense were found in the BNC, and one in COCA:
Then you followed that up with some fairly off-colour remarks about Lapland, and what you referred to, I believe, as ‘the old earth-moving equipment.’ (BNC)
Bines glanced over at Lucy and then at Alvin as Rils told a joke that was not so much off colour as childish. (COCA)
Colour metaphors for obscene language were also found under blue and occasionally purple, but draw on different aspects of the two related colour domains. Something that is literally off-coloured is not “considered natural, proper, or acceptable” (OED, off-colour, adjective 2a) and the phrase is extended to include things that are metaphorically coloured and not considered “proper, or acceptable”.
To be darksome is to be “morally of dark character” (OED, darksome, adjective 3c), swart to be “wicked, iniquitous” (OED, swart, adjective 3a) and sable refers to a personification of evil (OED, sable, adjective 2c). No examples of these were found in the corpora.
The VIRTUE IS LIGHT metaphor is well established, and numerous connections between the T04 “Virtue” MM category are found with several Level 2 “Matter” categories relating to
The VIRTUE IS LIGHT metaphor is well established, and numerous connections between the T04 “Virtue” MM category are found with several Level 2 “Matter” categories relating to