LENGUAJE, CULTURA Y METÁFORAS CONCEPTUALES

Abstract

This article examines the relationship between language, thought, action, and culture from the perspective of cognitive linguistics. Drawing on Conceptual Metaphor Theory and Cultural Linguistics, it argues that language is not a neutral medium of communication but a cognitive and cultural system through which communities conceptualize experience, organize social values, and transmit collective knowledge. The study analyzes conceptual metaphors as interfaces between linguistic expression and cultural cognition. Using Hofstede’s cultural dimensions as a heuristic comparative framework, the article discusses metaphorical patterns associated with ten cultural contexts, including the United States, Japan, Germany, India, Brazil, France, China, Russia, South Africa, and Turkey. Examples such as “time is money,” “life is a journey,” “life is a cycle,” and “Ubuntu: I am because we are” illustrate how culturally embedded metaphors shape perceptions of time, identity, social relations, authority, and collective behavior. The article concludes that conceptual metaphors are culturally grounded cognitive models with implications for intercultural communication, translation, and language teaching.