Cat metaphors in Malay and English proverbs

Animals have been widely used metaphorically to convey certain meanings related to human beings in Malay and English. One such animal, cat, has a common proposition of being fickle and independent (Lakoff & Turner, 1989). This paper reports on the findings of a study that focused on the use of cat metaphors in Malay and English proverbs. It sought to ascertain whether the common proposition proposed by Lakoff and Turner is applicable to the data of this study. The study also aimed to examine the similarities and differences in the meanings associated with the cat metaphors in both Malay and English proverbs. Data of the study comprised Malay and English proverbs related to cats. They were selected from Malay and English books and online databases of proverbs. The data analysis focused on the examination of the meanings and metaphorical schemas of the respective proverbs using the Conceptual Metaphor Theory and the Great Chain of Being framework. The analysis revealed that the meanings associated with cat in Malay and English proverbs do not conform to the common proposition of Lakoff and Turner. The paper concludes that various differences in meanings are associated with the metaphorical schemas of the English and Malay proverbs, which are attributed to cultural differences of the two languages in question