A Comparative Study of Metaphor in Persian and Arabic

Document Type : Original Article

Author

professor, Department of Persian language and literature, Faculty of literature and Humanities, University of Qom, Qom,Iran.

10.22091/npa.2025.13013.1035

Abstract

Metaphor is one of the most important figurative types that has a special place in every language; but the way it is viewed in different languages ​​is different. In Arabic and Persian, the similarities of this discussion are more than their differences; in such a way that most of the metaphorical discussions of Arabic rhetorical books have been repeated in Persian books after a gap of two or three centuries. This article discusses metaphor in Persian and Arabic using a descriptive, analytical, and comparative method. The topic of metaphor in Arabic books has experienced five stages: beginning, growth, flourishing, stagnation, and modernization, and in Persian, with fewer developments, it has gone through three stages: emergence, expansion, and revision. The period of emergence can be compared to the period of initiation and growth; the period of expansion can be compared to the period of stagnation; and the period of revision can be compared to the period of Arabic modernization. Unfortunately, Persian rhetoric has not benefited much from the flourishing period of Arabic rhetoric; hence, the analytical and aesthetic perspective in it is weak. Today's research in both languages ​​is inclined towards critical discussions, the use of metaphorical studies of other languages, and a linguistic perspective, among which, attention to the nature of language and vernacularism is more prominent in Persian metaphor scholars. Lack of attention to the development of metaphorical culture, disregard for literary types and styles in metaphorical research, and lack of attention to the evolution of metaphor in literary texts are some of the weaknesses of bilingual metaphor research.
 

Keywords


Article Title [العربیة]

دراسة مقارنة للاستعارة فی الفارسیة والعربیة

Abstract [العربیة]

تُعتبر الاستعارة من أبرز أنواع المجاز التی تکتسب مکانة خاصة فی کل لغة، لکن النظرة إلیها تختلف بین اللغات. فی اللغتین العربیة والفارسیة، یتجاوز التشابه الفروقات، حیث غالبًا ما تُکرر معظم المواضیع المتعلقة بالاستعارة الموجودة فی کتب البلاغة العربیة فی الکتب الفارسیة خلال فترات زمنیة تمتد بین قرنین إلى ثلاثة قرون. تتناول هذه الدراسة بأسلوب وصفی وتحلیلی ومقارن موضوع الاستعارة فی اللغتین. وقد شهد موضوع الاستعارة فی المصادر العربیة خمس مراحل هی: البدایة، والنمو، والازدهار، والرکود، والتجدید. بینما فی اللغة الفارسیة، هناک ثلاث مراحل هی: الظهور، والتوسع، والتنقیح، مع حدوث تحولات أقل.یمکن مقارنة مرحلة الظهور بالفترات الأولى للنمو، ومراحل التوسع مع فترة الرکود، بینما تتطابق مرحلة التنقیح مع مرحلة التجدید فی العربیة. ومع الأسف، لم تستفد البلاغة الفارسیة بشکل کبیر من فترة ازدهار البلاغة العربیة، مما أدى إلى تراجع النظرة التحلیلیة والجمالیة فی هذا المجال. تمیل الأبحاث الحدیثة فی اللغتین إلى القضایا النقدیة، واستثمار الدراسات الاستعاریة من لغات أخرى، إلى جانب اهتمام علماء اللغة، حیث یبرز بین الباحثین الفارسیین اهتمام خاص بالطبیعة اللغویة والهویة الثقافیة فی موضوع الاستعارة. یُعد غیاب التوجه نحو إعداد معجم استعاری، وإغفال الأنواع والأسالیب الأدبیة فی الأبحاث الاستعاریة، ونقص الترکیز على مسار تطور الاستعارة فی النصوص الأدبیة من نقاط الضعف فی دراسة الاستعارة فی کلتا اللغتین.

Keywords [العربیة]

  • البلاغة
  • اللغة الفارسیة
  • اللغة العربیة
  • المجاز
  • الاستعارة
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  • Receive Date: 23 May 2025
  • Revise Date: 01 August 2025
  • Accept Date: 05 August 2025
  • First Publish Date: 11 September 2025
  • Publish Date: 11 September 2025