Combing a horse and licking thinking. The conceptual metaphor in the 'Rgveda'

The article shows that the method of cognitive linguistics as it is seen in Lakoff's approach is useful in the investigation of the metaphorical language of the 'Rgveda' (13th c. BC). The authoress analyses a group of conceptual metaphors based on one general experiential domain, which is cleaning under the influence of heat. The analysis shows a semantic coherence of these metaphors, which conceptualise strictly limited domains. The authoress concludes that the composers of the 'Rgveda' created their metaphorical language in a very rational and conscious way, which could be understood by the recipient acquainted with the linguistic tradition shared by him and the poet.