The concept of “God” and its metaphorical representation in the english religious discourse

The focus of this research is the concept of «God» and its metaphorical representation in the English religious discourse. The research material is 570 religious texts published in American Theological Inquiry journal from 2000 to the present and posted on the publisher’s website. The paper emphasizes the importance of metaphor in the formation of the addressee’s (believer’s) knowledge about the image of God, his unique abilities and nature. Based on the results of an empirical analysis of the language material, the authors come to the following conclusions: 1) in the conceptual sphere of the English religious discourse, the concept of «God» is one of the key elements which form the system of religious knowledge of a person; 2) the religious discursive sphere is the space of actualization of a cognitive metaphor formed according to the scheme X is Y; 3) in English religious texts, the concept of «God» is often verbalized by metaphors; 4) the main linguistic means of manifestation of the metaphorical model «God is … » are nouns belonging to the core of the metaphor, adjectives and verbs, as a rule, representing the metaphorical periphery.

1. Alimuradov O. A. (2011). Concept and linguistic semantics. Saarbruken: LAP Lambert. 305 p. (In Russian).

2. Alimuradov O. A., Miletova E. V. (2015). Cognitive frame modeling of Categories Verbalized in English Religious Discourse: Evaluation Category Represented by Adjectives. Problemy yazykoznaniya, teorii yazyka i prikladnoy lingvistiki. Novosibirsk. 2: 159-225. (In Russian).

3. Alimuradov O. A., Miletova E. V., Shibkova O. S. (2023). Religious metaphor and ways of its verbalization in English theological texts. Aktual'nye problemy filologii i pedagogicheskoy lingvistiki. 1: 32-46. DOI 10.29025/2079-6021-2023-1-32-46. (In Russian).

4. American Theological Inquiry. Available at: https://www.atijournal.org/ (accessed 30 April 2023).

5. Anikushina M. V. (2008). The concept of "GOD" as the basic concept of modern Christian English preaching. Izvestiya Rossiyskogo gosudarstvennogo pedagogicheskogo universiteta im. A.I. Gertsena. 70-1: 36-40. (In Russian).

6. Anisimova E. E. (2021). On aspects of the study of religious discourse in Russian linguistics. Vestnik Moskovskogo gosudarstvennogo lingvisticheskogo universiteta. Gumanitarnye nauki. 9(851): 71-84. DOI 10.52070/2542-2197_2021_9_851_71. (In Russian).

7. Bobyreva E. V. (2020). Comparative characteristics of the concept of "miracle" in religious discourse in Russian and English. Izvestiya Volgogradskogo gosudarstvennogo pedagogicheskogo universiteta. 9(152): 113-117. (In Russian).

8. Caputo J. D. (2001). On Religion (Thinking in Action). London and New York: Routledge. 2001. 147 p.

9. Chudinov A. P. (2001). Russia in a metaphorical mirror: a cognitive study of political metaphor (1991 – 2000). Ekaterinburg. 2001. 238 p. (In Russian).

10. Guseynova E. Sh. (2019). The concept of "God" in the English language picture of the world. Sovremennaya nauka: aktual'nye problemy teorii i praktiki. Seriya: Gumanitarnye nauki. 9: 132-136. (In Russian).

11. Kondrat'eva O. N. (2012). Metaphorical modeling in Religious discourse. Nauchnyy dialog. 8: 191- 207. (In Russian).

12. Kondrat'eva O. N. (2015). Metaphorics of religious discourse. Vestnik Chelyabinskogo gosudarstvennogo universiteta. 10(365): 101-106. (In Russian).

13. Lakoff Dzh., Dzhonson M. (2004). Metaphors we live by / pod red. A. N. Baranova. Moscow: URSS. 256 p. (In Russian).

14. Lakoff G. (1993). The contemporary theory of metaphor. Metaphor and Thought. Cambridge University Press. 1993. 202-251.

15. Litvishko O. M., Miletova E. V. (2019). Religious discourse as an axiologically marked space (on the basis of Russian and English languages). Vestnik Permskogo natsional'nogo issledovatel'skogo politekhnicheskogo universiteta. Problemy yazykoznaniya i pedagogiki. 2: 65-72. (In Russian).

16. McFague S. (1982). Metaphorical theology: Models of God in Religious Language. Philadelphia: Fortress press.1982. 225 p.

17. Mechkovskaya N. B. (1998). Language and religion. Moscow: Agentstvo «FAIR». 1998. 352 p. (In Russian).

18. Miletova E. V. (2014). Metaphorical models with adjectives implemented in modern English religious discourse. Filologos. 20(1): 41-50. (In Russian).

19. Mirsaitova L. V. (2020). The concept of "God" and the ways of its verbalization in religious discourse. Global'nyy nauchnyy potentsial. 5(110): 131-134. (In Russian).

20. Shitikov P. M. (2012). Religious metaphor in the light of cognitive linguistics. Voprosy kognitivnoy lingvistiki. 3(32): 40-42. (In Russian).

21. Stiver D. R. (1996). The Philosophy of Religious Language: Sign, Symbol and Story. Oxford: Blackwell Publishers Ltd. 1996. 272 p.

22. Suspitsyna I. N., Silenko O. G. (2013). Metaphor in Religious discourse. Lingvokul'turologiya. 7: 135-147. (In Russian).