Conceptual Metaphor in the Holy Qur'an: Systemic Function in Focus

Zahraa Salman Essa AL-Zair

Department of English Language, College of Education – Qurna, University of Basra, Basra, Iraq

This paper demonstrates how the conceptual metaphors in the Quranic verses related to faith and infidelity in surah AL-Baqrah are manipulated. Conceptual metaphor is defined as a figure of speech that describes an object or action in a way that isn’t literally true, but helps explain an idea or make a comparison. There are three kinds of metaphors in Arabic: explicit (Tasrihiah), implicit (Makniah), and representative (Tamthiliah). The analytic framework is adopted from Halliday and Mattiessen's (2004) functional grammar. The Data for analysis are taken from Quran verses. It is concluded that the conceptual metaphor in the Holy Qur’an is a rhetorical device used to explain the miracle in this Holy Book. Consequently, emphasizing the semantic aspect of metaphors used in the Holy Quran shows the power of expression in this Holy Book in the best way possible.

Keywords: Conceptual Metaphor, Quranic Verses, Functional Grammar

 The above abstract is a part of the article which was accepted at The Ninth International Conference on Languages, Linguistics, Translation and Literature (WWW.LLLD.IR), 1-2 February 2024, Ahwaz.