Cultural Conceptualisations of Animal Expressions in Persian

This study investigates animal expressions that instantiate cultural conceptualisations in Persian and is the first attempt to employ the analytical tools of Cultural Linguistics to exclusively focus on exploring such conceptualisations. Analysis of the data reveals that the animal expressions in Persian are informed by conceptualisations which are culturally constructed. Furthermore, the findings demonstrate that a number of socio-cultural factors such as religion, history, myth, and gender have a role in shaping the conceptualisations of animal expressions in Persian. Investigating these concepts and exploring their underlying roots are significant for a variety of domains including inter-cultural communication, translation, interpretation, and language learning and teaching.