METAPHORS OF FISH NAMES IN INDONESIAN

This article aims at describing metaphors of fish names in Indonesian. The study is focused on the language origin and constituent structure of the fish names, locus of metaphorical expressions, source domains and target domains intended to, sociocultural factors which influence the metaphorical fish naming. The data are firstly collected intuitively from the researcher’s own knowledge as an Indonesian native speaker, and they are added with ones found in “Big Indonesian Dictionary†and You Tube. The data are further classified in line with the five matters that become focus of the paper consideration. Having analyzed the data carefully, the research finds that the structure of fish names may consist of two, three, four, and at maximum five elements in which ikan ‘fish’ functions as the head constituent structure. The metaphorical expressions might be located in the second, third, second and third, fourth, and so far are not found in the fifth elements. The source domains are taken from everything familiar with human life, and intended to compare on the basis of similarities and closeness with the body shape, parts of the body organs, scale color, liquid substance produced by the aquatic animals. Many of the source domains are universals, and several of them are culture specific.