The “thrust of dust”

preliminary cognitive approach to the usage of the lexemes dust and polvere in conventional metaphors

Abstract

This study presents a preliminary comparative analysis of conventional metaphors retrieved from standard dictionary references associated with the lexemes dust (English) and polvere (Italian). Employing a cognitive linguistic approach, the paper reflects on the role played by conceptual metaphors in structuring our thinking, with a particular emphasis on the cultural dimension which shapes figurative speech. By conducting an interlinguistic comparison, the study aims to assess whether and how dust and polvere evoke distinct conceptual associations in the respective languages and cultures. The final remarks serve as a necessary premise for further research on conventional and novel metaphors related to the two lexemes within domain-specific corpora.