What is a dignity-as-object metaphor?

What is a dignity-as-object metaphor?

Definition
	A conventional metaphor in which dignity is represented as an object that can be transferred, kept, and lost.

Examples
	Here are some examples in English:
	He preserved his dignity. She lost all her dignity. His grey hair and solemn manner lent him dignity. She discarded her dignity.

Generic
	A dignity-as-object metaphor is a kind of
	What is a metaphor for varieties of pride?

Source
	Kovecses 1986

Context for this page:

Concept module: dignity-as-object metaphor
In modular book: Metaphors in English, by Eugene E. Loos (general editor), Susan Anderson (editor), Dwight H. Day, Jr. (editor), Paul C. Jordan (editor), and J. Douglas Wingate (editor)
In bookshelf: Lexicon

This page is an extract from the LinguaLinks Library, Version 4.0, published on CD-ROM by SIL International, 1999. [Ordering information.]

Page content last modified: 18 September 1998