A Dog or a Wolf – The Role of Connotations in Animalistic Metaphors and the Process of Dehumanisation

Animalistic metaphors have been used since the dawn of times to dehumanise members of outgroups and thereby deny them their rights. The paper examines the causes and symptoms of animalistic dehumanisation through the analysis of connotations of several terms used to conceptualise undesirable individuals and groups across various cultures, focusing on four source domains: rat, cattle, wolf, and dog.