FWU Journal of Social Sciences, Summer 2020, Vol.14, No.

2, 61-80

Cognitive semantic study of Pashto folklore, the Landay

Sardaraz Khan
University of Sialkot, Pakistan

Aasia Nusrat
COMSATS University Islamabad

Previous literature has focused on the literary and socio-cultural

aspects and attributes of Pashto landay, a two line poetic couplet.
The available literature shows that linguistic approaches to the
study of Pashto language and literature in general and the study of
Pashto landay in particular, are minimal. This paper has used
conceptual metaphor theory to discover the conceptual metaphors
within Pashto landay. Nine hundred and thirty landay taken from
Noorzi’s book, “Pukhto landay Misre, tappe” have been analyzed.
The analysis revealed eleven conceptual metaphors on the basis of
their respective experiential source domains besides the
resemblance based metaphors. Four examples of each conceptual
metaphor were selected for linguistic analysis. The analysis revealed
that experiential gestalts of, for example, a journey, war, fire,
disease, containers and objects in space have all been used to
conceptualize abstract concepts of love, emotions, time and events
in Pashto landay. However, as this paper has analyzed only a small
portion of landay, further studies of Pashto landay are needed to
discover more conceptual metaphors, which may be helpful in
understanding the cognitive schemas used by Pashto speakers for
processing abstract concepts.

Keywords: cognitive linguistic, Pashto folklore, landay, metaphor,

conceptual metaphor

Folklore epitomizes the unwritten traditions of a community, but definitions of folklore are
as varied as folklore itself. Leach (1949) accumulated twenty one definitions of folklore, which shows
that the boundaries of folklore are so broad that it is difficult to define it precisely or succinctly. One
of the most important definitions is “artistic communication in small groups (Ben-Amos, 1971, 2014).
Keeping in view the concept of context in modern technological age, Bronner (2016) defined folklore
as “traditional knowledge put into, and drawing from, practice”, and broadened the concept of
context in folklore definition. The most frequent key words used in the defining the folklore are the

Correspondence concerning this article should be addressed to Dr. Sardaraz, Associate Professor,
Department of Languages, University of Sialkot, Pakistan, Email: [email protected]
Contribution of Authors:
1. Dr. Sardaraz intitated the idea, collected and analyzed the data and completed the first
write-up of the paper.
2. Dr. Aasia Nusrat reviewed the article, contributed to the language, methodology and
discussions.
 Sardaraz, Nusrat 62

tradition and oral transmission. Pashto folklore embodies Pashtun traditions, beliefs and culture. The
origin of Pashto folklore is still shrouded in mystery, but it has been traced back to Vedic literature in
the form of landay four thousand years ago (Enevoldsen, 1969; Hakimi, n.d.). Being the oldest form of
Pashto folklore, Pashto landay has been examined from diverse perspectives such as socio-cultural
perspective (Khalil, 2011), historical perspective (Enevoldsen, 1969), historical evolutionary
perspective (Daud, 2012), gender perspective (Rahimi, 2017), literary perspective (Rafigh, 1930;
Noorzi, 2014) and figurative perspective (Halimi, n.d.). Landay is a robust source for linguistic
examination. This paper will study landay from a cognitive linguistic perspective.

Landay have two lines; the first line has nine syllables, while the second, thirteen syllables.
Landay has often been used to express emotions, feelings and thoughts, and is an epitome of Pashtun
civilization (Khattak, 2005; Rafigh, 1930). Landay, though mostly composed and sung by women in
different cultural events to express their feelings and emotions in a male dominated society (Rahimi,
2017), but it can be composed by any member of the community, man, woman, young and old, and
may sometimes take dialogue form, as is the case with following dramatic landay (Hakimi, n.d.).

Female
‫په سپينه خوله مې د پرار وکړ‬
Puh spinah khluh me de parar ukŗu
Your kissing left a scar on my lips
‫زه به بخيلې مور ته څه ځواب کومه؟‬
Zuh bah bakhile mor ta Tsu Tzawaab kawumah
How will I argue with my puritanical mother?

Male
‫مور ته دې داسې ځواب ووايه‬
Mor ta de daase Tzawaab uwayaah
You should tell your mother that
‫زه له منګي سره ګودر ته ولوېدمه‬
Zuh lah mangi sarah Godar thah wulwedumah
I fell down to Godar (ford) with the Mangi (Jug made of clay)

As landay are anonymous, and anyone from the community can compose or read or use
them, in this sense, they represent the general concepts of the community. The aim of the present
paper is to investigate landay from cognitive semantic perspective to explore the major source
domains used in the landay to express feelings, emotions and thoughts. The cognitive semantic
approach based on conceptual metaphor theory (Lakoff & Johnson, 1980a, 1980b) (hereafter CMT)
may help in revealing the major conceptual metaphors used in the Pashto language. The major
conceptual metaphors will throw light on how the Pashtun community conceptualizes the abstract
concepts, feelings and emotional states in their daily lives. In other words, it will show the major
experiential gestalts which are used by the Pashtun community to structure the abstract phenomena.

CMT does not consider metaphor as merely a linguistic phenomenon, but one that is
conceptual in nature because of the metaphorical nature of the human conceptual system itself.
Metaphor is experiential correlations between experiential concept and abstract concepts in human
mind, which generates not only language but also thoughts. For instance, the sentence, he could not
defend his position, CMT holds, is generated by the conceptual metaphor, ARGUMENT IS WAR. CMT
PASHTO FOLKLORE, THE LANDAY 63

has been used to analyze Nine hundred and thirty landay, taken from Noorzi (2014), and found
thirteen different conceptual metaphors during the analysis, in addition to resemblance based
metaphors. This paper recommends further rigorous research into Pashto folklore poetry from a
cognitive semantic perspective to discover the extent of the fundamental conceptual metaphors used
in Pashto folklore poetry.

Literature review
Pashto rich folklore has extensively been collected and discussed in the literature, from Al-
Beruni (973/1050), living at the time of Mehmood of Ghazna (998 to 1030), till the present age.
Various poets and critics, such as Khushal Khan Khattak, Hamid baba and Sikander Khan contributed
to Pashto folklore poetry collections and critiques (Rafigh, 1930). Rafigh (1930) himself carried out an
extensive classification of Pashto folklore by literary quality and subjects. Pashto mataluna (proverbs)
were collected by Tair and Edwards (2006), and examined for gender relations by (Sanauddin, 2015)
and for gender identities by Khan et al. (2015). Pashto Charbaitha has critically been examined by
Yousafzai (n.d.) and Rafigh (1930). The oldest Pashto folklore poetic form is the landay, which has also
attracted many investigations from various perspectives.

Landay is also called tappa in Pashto folklore poetry. Rafigh (1930) carried out pioneering
work on its literary composition and classification, nomenclature and construction. Noorzi (2014) and
Halimi (n.d.) also discussed landay from a literary perspective. Noorzi (2014) discussed at length the
classification of landay on the basis of its core topics, such as war, honour, valour, love, Godar (a
place visited by women for bringing water) and physical attributes of beloved. Noorzi (2014) also
documented nine hundred and thirty landay, analyzed in the present study. Halimi (n.d.) studied the
figurative language used in Pashto landay, in particular, on the use of various kinds of flowers as the
source domain for various target domains. Halimi (n.d.) demonstrates that fragrant imagery is one of
the key attributes of landay, and the study recommends further studies to explore this ocean of
poetic imagery.

Enevoldsen (1969) and Hakimi (n.d) documented the history and evolution of Pashto
landay. Enevoldsen (1969) claims that its roots can be traced back to Vedic literature, and that
through landay, Pashtuns reveal their own social and cultural portraits. Rafigh (Hakimi, n.d) claims
that landay began four thousand five years ago. Landay has also been studied from a socio-cultural
perspective. Khalil (2011) has carried out a detailed socio-cultural analysis of Pashto tappa, and
clams that Pashto tappa or landay represent the core values of Pashtun culture and tradition. Rahimi
(2017), in investigation of landay, holds that landay is a tool used by women to express their tender
feelings in Pashtun culture, but there is a perceptible change in the subjects of landay between the
older and younger generations. The author along with Daud (2012) stresses the need to study and
document landay in order to preserve it.

The available literature on Pashto folklore, particularly on landay reveals the need to
preserve the traditional folklore poetic heritage, and to analyze it from various linguistic perspectives.
The present paper uses CMT to reveal the major conceptual metaphors, used in Pashto folklore
poetry. CMT has recently been applied to Pashto language and poetry in order to investigate various
conceptual metaphors used by Pashto speaking community and Pashto poets. Khan and Ahmad has
investigated the conceptualization of life in Pashto language; Pischurnikova (2017) has deciphered
LOVE IS WAR metaphor in poetry of Abdul Hamid; and Sardaraz and Nusrat (2019) has investigated
 Sardaraz, Nusrat 64

Ghani Khan’s poems on title of Life and Death to find out the conceptual schemas used for the
abstract concepts of life and death. But landay, being anonymous, with no restriction of place, person
and time, offers a field for analysis of conceptual metaphors, which will orient us about the general
outlook of the Pashtun community. Hence, the basic research question of this paper is: What
conceptual metaphor themes are used in Pashto landay? Investigation of the conceptual metaphor
themes will help in understanding of Pashtuns’ world view, nature of figurative language in landay
and classification of landay from cognitive linguistic perspective. This paper may also kindle more
interest in Pashto figurative language, particularly metaphor, as recommended by Khan and Ahmad
(2017), Pischurnikova (2017) and Sardaraz and Nusrat (2019).

Method
This paper used Nine hundred and thirty landay documented by Noorzi (2014) as the units of
analysis. The researchers read Pashto data, and then carried out a metaphor identification procedure
(Group, 2007) to identify the metaphorical expressions. This procedure involves reading the text,
selecting lexical units, determining their meanings and defining their metaphoricity with the help of
dictionaries (Zeeya, 2009) and (Momand & Sehray, 1994). For example, in the Pashto phrase, ( ‫درانه‬
‫“ )خبره‬dranah khaburah-significant matter”, the word (‫“ )درانه‬dranah-significant” literally means
heavy, and as matter cannot be literally heavy, rather it can be significant. Thus, this phrase is marked
as metaphor. This procedure helped in identification of three hundred and thirty three (333) linguistic
metaphoric expressions in addition to resemblance based metaphors. The identified metaphors were
then categorized on the basis of their respective source domains following Kövecses (2002). This step
helped sub-classify metaphors as resemblance based or experiential correlation based metaphors.
The resemblance based metaphors compare the attributes of two concepts or objects, such as ( ‫ګالپي‬
‫“ )مخ‬gulapi mukh-rosy face”, comparing red cheeks to a red rose. Experiential correlation based
metaphors were thematically categorized on the basis of CMT (Lakoff, 1993; Lakoff & Johnson,
1980b). For example, the utterance (‫“ )جدائي راغله‬judaaye raaghlah-separation came”, is instantiated
by love is a journey metaphor, where separation in a journey maps separation in love. According to
CMT, metaphor is pervasive in language because of the metaphoricity of the human conceptual
system. Metaphor is not a novel use of language, but reflects the experiential correlation of concepts
in human conceptual system (Lakoff & Johnson, 1980a). Experiential concepts are used to process
and comprehend less experiential or abstract concepts. The schemas of experiential and abstract
concepts underpin the generation and comprehension of language. The analysis carried out through
CMT is detailed below.

Results
The analysis revealed eleven conceptual metaphor themes in addition to the resemblance
based metaphors. These conceptual metaphor themes are discussed below.

Love Is Journey
Love is journey is one of the conceptual metaphor themes found in the analysis of landay.
The study found ten (10) instances of this conceptual metaphor, where the source domain of journey
is used to map the love relationship. Four of the linguistic metaphoric expressions are analyzed
below.
PASHTO FOLKLORE, THE LANDAY 65

1 ‫اب کوثر جانانه راشه‬

Aab e kawthar jaanaanah rashah
Oh my sweet and fragrant beloved! Come,
‫د بېلتانه په سفر ځم تږې به شمه‬
Da belthanuh puh safar Tzum thuge bah shumah
Going on the journey of separation, I would become thirsty
2 ‫په خوله به جنګ درسره وکړم‬
Puh khluh bah jang dur sara wukŗum
I may wage a verbal fight with you
‫د زړه کوڅې به درنه ولې بېلومه‬
Da zŗu koTse bah dur na wale belawumah
Why should I separate the channel of my heart from you?
3 ‫جدايي راغله الرې دوه شوې‬
Judaaye raghlah laare dwe shwe
Separation came, Paths diverged
‫مرګ مې قبول دې جدايي نه قبلومه‬
Murg me qabul de Judaaye nu qablawuma
I accept death, but cannot accept separation
4 ‫د فکر ټال دې راته جوړ کړو‬
Da fekr taal de raathah joŗ kŗo
You made me pensive
‫ته رانه الړې زه يوازې زنګېدمه‬
Thu raanah laŗe zuh yowaze zangedumah
You went away, I swam around in thoughts alone

In these couplets, the words (‫“ )د بېلتانه په سفر‬da belthanuh puh safar-on the journey of
separation” in (1), the lexical items (‫“ )د زړه کوڅې‬da zŗu koTse-channels of heart and (‫)بېلومه‬
“belawumah-separate” in (2), the utterance (‫“ )الرې دوه شوې‬laare dwe shwe-paths diverged” in (3),
and the clause (‫“ )ته رانه الړې‬Thu raanah laŗe-you went away” in (4) are examples of the source
domain of separation and union in the journey, used for mapping separation and union in love. Thus,
the journey domain has been used to map the target domain of love.

Love Is War
Love has also been mapped as war. The analysis reveals fifty eight (58) linguistic
instantiations of this conceptual metaphor. Various concepts from the source domain of war are used
to explain various states of love. These experiential concepts are (‫“ )د تورو گوزارونه‬da thuro
guzaarunah-blows of swords”, (‫“ )زخمونه‬zakhmunah-wounds”, (‫“ )دردونه‬dardunah-pains” (‫)ويشتمه‬
“wishthumah-struck”, (‫“ )شهيد کړم‬shahid kŗum-martyred”, (‫“ )داغونه‬daaghunah-wounds”, (‫)وويشتمه‬
“wuwishtumah-struck”, (‫)شړک‬, “shŗuk-blow”, (‫“ )ظلمونه‬zulmunah-cruelties” (‫“ )جرګه‬Jirgah-Jirgah”,
(‫“ )داغوې‬daghawe-cause wounds”, (‫“ )ويشتلی يمه‬wishtule yumah-I have been struck”, (‫“ )په غشو د بڼو‬puh
ghasho da baŅŗo-on the arrows of eyelashes”, (‫“ )ويشتم‬wishthum-struck”, (‫“ )ويشتل‬wishtul-to strike”,
(‫“ )چړې منډل‬chaŗe mandul-stabs with knife”, (‫“ )وژل‬wazhul-kill”, (‫“ )ازاروينه‬azaarawinah-offend”,
(‫“ )خرابوينه‬kharabawinah-destroy”, (‫“ )ژوبل‬zhobul-wounded”, (‫“ )و يني دکو ينه‬wine dakawinah-fill
something with blood”, (‫“ )ننواتې‬nunawaathe-ritual soliciting forgiveness after a fight”, (‫“ )د وينو رنگ‬da
wino rang-the colour of blood”, (‫“ )زخمي‬zakhmi-wounded”, (‫“ )سترګي دي ډکي تومانچي دي‬sturge de dake
thomanche di-your eyes are loaded pistols”, (‫“ )ګوله ماری‬golah maari-shelling”, (‫“ )ګوزار‬guzaar-blow”
 Sardaraz, Nusrat 66

and (‫“ )ټوپک ويشلی‬topuk wishtuli- fired with gun”, as the analysis revealed, which have been used for
conceptualizing various emotional states of love. Four couplets are analyzed below.

5 ‫د سترګو جنګ دې ورته ټينګ شه‬

Da sturgo jang de wurthah ting shah
It is a war of looks, stay strong
‫کاږه واږه باڼه په زړه ويشتل کوينه‬
Kagu wagu baŅŗu puh zŗuh wishtul kawinah
The curled eyelashes strike at the heart
6 ‫په الره تلې مخ دې راستون کړو‬
Puh laarah thle much de rasthun kŗo
Passing me on your way, you looked back
‫د ظالم لورې په ګوګل دې وويشتمه‬
Da zaalem lure pu gogul de wuwishtumah
Oh you daughter of Cruelty! You struck me in the heart
7 ‫اب و دانه مې شوه تمامه‬
Aab wa daanah me shwah thamaamah
My subsistence has finished
‫ليال په زړه راکړل د تورو گوزارونه‬
Laylaa puh zŗu rakŗul da thuro guzarunah
Laylaa stabbed my heart with a sword
8 ‫باران د اوښکومې ورېږي‬
Baaraan da ohko me waregi
My tears pour down like rain
‫بې نيازه يارراته په زړه راکړل زخمونه‬
Benyaazah yaar rathah pu zŗu raakŗul zakhmunah
The arrogant beloved caused wounded my heart

Example (5) reveals that the source domain of war used to describe the condition of the
lover and the beloved. In this war, the upswept eyelashes of the beloved are conceptualized as
arrows piercing the heart. Couplet (6) shows a similar emotional status, but more figuratively. The
lexical item (‫“ )وويشتمه‬wuwishtumah-struck” is taken from the domain of war to conceptualize the
effect of the look of the beloved. In the 7th couplet, (‫“ )د تورو گوزارونه‬da thuro guzaarunah-blows of
swords”, and in the 8th, (‫“ )زخمونه‬zakhmunah-wounds” caused by the beloved metaphorically
suggests LOVE IS WAR.

Love Is Fire
The analysis reveals twenty linguistic instantiations of LOVE IS FIRE metaphor. The key
conceptual metaphor behind it is EMOTIONS ARE FORCES metaphor. The domain of fire
conceptualizes the emotional state of the lover. The experiential concepts of (‫“ )اور‬or-fire”, (‫)لمبې‬
“lambe-flames”, (‫“ )بليږي‬balegi-burning”, (‫“ )سوزوينه‬swazawinah-burns”, (‫“ )سوزم‬swazum-I am
burning”, (‫“ )سيزې‬sezi-burns”, (‫“ )سومه‬swuma-burnt”, (‫“ )سوي‬suwi-roasted”, (‫“ )لوګی‬loge-smoke”,
(‫“ )کبابوينه‬kababawinah-to be turned into roast”, (‫“ )ستی‬sathi-burned alive” all use the concept of fire
to convey various emotional states of love. The experiential correlation between fire and love is
illustrated by couplets (9) to (12).
PASHTO FOLKLORE, THE LANDAY 67

9 ‫اور چې بليږي اخر مړ شي‬

Or che balegi akher muŗ shi
Where fire burns, it eventually burns out
‫د مينې اور سړی تر عمره سوزوينه‬
Da mine or saŗai thur umrah swazawinah
The fire of love burns a man for all his life
10 ‫په ما دې ځوانه ځواني اور کړه‬
Puh maa de Tzwaanah Tzwaani or kŗah
You tormented me in the prime of my youth
‫په تا دې اور شي د همزولو مجلسونه‬
Puh thaa de or shi da hamzolo majlisunah
May the company of your friends torture you!
11 ‫تنور چې تود شي اخير سوړ شي‬
Thanur che thowd shi akher soŗ shi
A hot oven eventually cools down
‫زړه چې مئين شي همېشه لمبې وهينه‬
Zŗu che mayan shi hameshah lambe wahinah
When a heart is infatuated, it always ejects flames
12 ‫راشه زما په څنګ کې کېنه‬
Raashah zumaa puh Tsang ke kenah
Come and sit by my side
‫چې درته ووايم د سوي زړه حالونه‬
Che durthah wuwaayum da suwi zŗuh haalunah
And listen to the story of my burning heart
The above couplets use concepts from the domain of fire, (‫“ )اور‬or-fire”, (‫“ )لمبې‬lambe-
flames”, (‫“ )بليږي‬balegi-burning”, (‫“ )سوزوينه‬swazawinah-burns” in (9), (‫“ )اور‬or-fire” in (10), (‫)تنور‬
“Thanur-oven/tanur”, (‫“ )تود‬thowd-hot” and (‫“ )سوړ‬soŗ-cold” in (11) and (‫“ )سوي زړه‬suwi zŗuh-burning
heart” in (12) to map the of psychosomatic states of love. The LOVE IS FIRE metaphor is constantly
used in Pashto folklore poetry.

Unrequited Love Is Disease

The psychosomatic state of unrequited love is mapped through the source domain of
disease in Pashto landay. This conceptual metaphor is derived from key conceptual metaphor of
EMOTIONS ARE FORCES. The analysis revealed thirty (30) metaphorical instances of love as an illness.
The experiential concepts of (‫" )ويده‬wedu-sleep", (‫“ )غمونه‬ghamunah-worries”, (‫" )غم‬gham-sorrow”,
(‫" )دردونه‬dardunah-pains”, (‫" )زنګېږم‬zangegum-I am feeling dizzy”, (‫“ )مرض‬maraz-illness”, (‫)تورې وينې‬
“thore wine-dark blood”, (‫“ )د هجران ښامار خوړل‬da hijraan haamaar khwaŗul-biting of the serpent of
parting”, (‫“ )رنځ‬ranTz-illness”, (‫“ )دارو‬daru-medicine”, and (‫“ )طبيب‬thabib-doctor”, all come from the
domain of disease and are used to map the psychosomatic states of unrequited or departing love, as
illustrated by examples (13) to (16).
13 ‫چې په مرض مې نه پوهېږې‬
Che puh maraz me nuh pohege
If you do not know my illness
‫طبيبه مه ګوره زما د الس رګونه‬
Tabibah mah gorah zumaa da laas ragunah
 Sardaraz, Nusrat 68

O Doctor! Don’t take my pulse

14 ‫زما د زړه ناچاره رنځه‬
Zumaa da zŗu nachaarah ranTzah
Oh, the helpless sickness in my heart
‫نه دې دارو شته نه دې حال ويلی شمه‬
Nuh de daaru shtah nuh de haal wayule shumah
You have neither cure, nor can I tell your state of health
15 ‫شال يې په سر اوږی په غاړه‬
Shaal ye puh sar ogi puh ghaaŗah
Wearing a shawl on her head and necklace round her neck
‫ګودر ته الړه عاشقان ر نځورو ينه‬
Godar (ford) thah laaŗah a’asheqaan ranTzurawinah
She went to Godar (ford) for causing the lovers diseased
16 ‫د خولې مې تورې وينې الړې‬
Da khole me thore wine laaŗe
Black blood flowed from my mouth
‫زه د هجران ښامار په زړه خوړلی يمه‬
Zuh da hijraan haamaar puh zŗuh khwaŗule yumah
I had been bitten by the Separation’s snake

The above landay illustrate the conceptual metaphor of LOVE IS DISEASE. The source domain
of disease is used to map the psychosomatic states of love. Couplet (13) shows that the experiential
concept of (‫“ )مرض‬maraz-illness” maps the psychosomatic state of unrequited love which cannot be
cured by (‫ )طبيب‬a “thabib-doctor”. In (14), (‫“ )رنځ‬ranTz-illness” also conceptualizes the feeling of
unrequited love, for which there is no cure. The disease domain also appears in (15) through the
lexical items of (‫“ )ر نځورو ينه‬ranTzurawinah-causing someone’s disease” mapping unrequited love as
the cause of disease. In (16), separation is mapped as poison from a snake, causing the blood to flow
from the mouth of the lover in the expression, (‫“ )تورې وينې‬thore wine-dark blood” and similarly, in
(‫“ )د هجران ښامار خوړل‬da hijraan haamaar khwaŗul-bitten by the serpent of parting”. The experiential
domain of disease is used to map feelings of unrequited love.

Emotions Are Forces

The analysis shows that emotions are also mapped through the source domain of forces.
Emotions are forces which cause psycho-emotional or physical changes in human beings. The analysis
reveals that in most of landay, the emotion of love is what causes these changes. Twenty (20)
instances of this conceptual metaphor were found, four of which are analyzed below.

17 ‫خلک مې ټول تپوس له راغله‬

Khalk me tol tapaos lah raghlu
Everyone visited me to inquire about my health
‫هغه رانغلو چې يې پروت له غمه يمه‬
Haghah ranughlo che ye proth lah ghamah yumah
He who caused me to lie in bed with grief did not come
18 ‫زه په عاشق سړي پوهېږم‬
Zuh puh a’aashiq saŗi pohegum
I know he who is in love
‫يا يې رنګ زېړ وي يا يې شونډې وچې وينه‬
Yaa ye rang zyeŗ wi yaa ye shunde wuche winah
PASHTO FOLKLORE, THE LANDAY 69

Either he is pale, or are his lips are dried up

19 ‫ستا په جفا مې پروا نشته‬
Sthaa puh jafaa me parwa nishtah
I am not anguished by your parting
‫ما ژړوي د رقيبانو پېغورونه‬
Maa zhaŗawi da raqibaano peghorunah
The rivals’ taunts make me weep
20 ‫د ناز کتو دې اثري کړم‬
Da naaz katho de asari kŗum
Your flirtatious looks pit a spell on me
‫د کړس خندا دې لېونی د دنيا کړمه‬
Da kŗus khandaa de lewane da dunyaa kŗumah
Your cheery smile turned me into the maddest man in the world

In couplets (17) to (20), the emotions of love are conceptualized as forces which cause
psychosomatic and physical changes in human beings. Landay at (17) conceptualizes grief at the loss
of his friend as a force which causes sickness through the lexical items of “che ye proth lah ghamah
yumah”. In (18), the emotion of love is mapped as a force which causes a physical change in colour of
the skin and the drying out of lips - “rang zyeŗ-pale” and “shunde wuche-lips dry out”. In couplet (19),
the feelings of parting from the beloved and the taunts of rivals are forces which lead the lover to
weep. Landay at (20) conceptualizes the ecstasy felt at the sight of beloved as a force which causes
madness, embodied in lexical items of “asari kŗum-spelled” and “lewane da dunyaa kŗumah- turned
me into the maddest man in the world. These examples show EMOTIONS ARE FORCES metaphor.

Emotions Are Physical Objects

The data revealed the conceptual metaphor of EMOTIONS ARE OBJECTS. Emotions are
mapped as physical objects in space in fourteen (14) linguistic expressions. Four of these linguistic
expressions are analyzed below.

21 ‫ژوند کې يې غم ليدلی نه و‬
Zhund ke ye gham lidule nuh wu
He had not seen grief in life
‫چې شوه مينه ډېر يې وليدل غمونه‬
Che shwa minah der ye ulidul ghamunah
When he fell in love, a lot of grief fell upon him
22 ‫مينه په تلو راتلو زياتيږي‬
Mina pu thlo raathlo zyathegi
Love increases after mutual visits
‫کله راځه کله به زه درځم مينه‬
Kulah raaTzah kulah bah zuh darTzum mayunah
Sometimes you visit me, sometimes I will come my love
23 ‫د زړه دپاسه مې امبار شه‬
Da zŗuh da paasah me ambaar shah
Be piled up on my heart
‫د جانان غمه د عمرونو ځای دې يمه‬
Da janaan ghamah da umruno Tzaai de yumah
 Sardaraz, Nusrat 70

O grief of my love! I am your living place

24 ‫کله دې غم راباندې بار شي‬
Kulah de gham raabande baar shi
Sometimes, my sorrow of love overburdens me
‫کله دې مينه په درانو کاڼو تلمه‬
Kulah de meenah pu drano kaŅŗo thalumah
Sometimes, I weigh your love with heavy stones

In (21), “gham-grief” is conceptualized as a physical object which can be seen. Landay at (22)
conceptualize “minah-love” as an object, being measurable, which can increase or decrease.
Grief/sorrow at the loss of the beloved is mapped as a physical object which can be piled upon the
heart in couplet at (23). The emotions of (‫“ )غم‬gham-grief” and (‫“ )مينه‬minah-love” are conceptualized
as solid objects with a weight in (24). These examples show that Pashto speakers view emotions
through the source domain of physical things.

Heart Is Container for Emotions

The analysis also revealed the conceptual metaphor of HEART IS CONTAINER in Pashto
landay. This metaphor was been found in seventeen couplets. Four of the couplets are analyzed
below.

25 ‫زړه مې نري درزونه وکړ‬

Zŗuh me nari darzunah wukuŗ
My heart has been seriously cracked
‫لکه ديوال چې زلزلې وهلی وينه‬
Luka dewaal che zulzule wahule winah
As if an earthquake caused cracks in a wall
26 ‫راشه په زړه مې ګوتې کېده‬
Rashah puh zŗuh me guthe kedah
Come! Check up my heart with your finger
‫چې عاشقي مې درمعلومه شي مينه‬
Che a’asheqi me dur ma’alumah shi mayunah
So that you may know my love for you, my love!
27 ‫نه به انځر د ورځې ګل شي‬
Nuh bah anTzar da wraTze gul shi
Just as a fig will not sprout a flower in daylight
‫نه به زما زړگی د غمه خالي شينه‬
Nuh bah zumah zuŗge da ghamah khali shinah
My heart will not become empty of grief
28 ‫شاه د ګودره روانيږه‬
Shah da godarah (ford) rawaanegah
Go back from godar (ford)
‫زما نړيږی د زړګی پا خه برجونه‬
Zumaa naŗegi da zuŗgi pakhu burjunah
The chimneys of my heart are roaring

In couplet (25), heart is mapped as a container which cracks, as evident from the sentence
“Zŗuh me nari darzunah wukuŗ- my heart has been seriously cracked”. The utterance “puh zŗuh me
guthe kedah- Check up my heart with your finger” at (26) shows the heart as a container and the
PASHTO FOLKLORE, THE LANDAY 71

emotions as steam, whose pressure can be checked by touching the heart. Landay at (27) also shows
the heart as the container of grief through the lexical item of “khali-empty”. The container schema is
also appears in (28), where the heart is mapped a container with (‫“ )برجونه‬burjunah- chimneys or
funnels”, which (‫“ )نړيږی‬naŗegi-roars” because of the steam. Literally, heart is not a container which
can hold emotions or feelings. Therefore, in these couplets heart is metaphorically mapped as
container.

Abstract concepts are things

Abstract concepts like ideas, thoughts, life and death, fate or destiny, verbal discourse and
other abstract concepts are mapped as physical things in Pashto landay. The analysis revealed thirty
eight (38) examples of this conceptual metaphor. Four of the linguistic expressions are analyzed
below.

29 ‫خاونده مرګ په ځواني ورکړې‬

Khawundah murg puh Tzwaani warkŗe
Oh Lord! Give him death in his youth
‫چې جنازه يې د ارمانه سره وړينه‬
Che junaazah ye da armaanah sarah wŗinah
For his corpse to carry all its yearnings
30 ‫يا خو زما نصيب خراب دی‬
Yaa kho zumah nasib kharaab de
Either I have bad luck
‫يا خو به ټولې يارانې دغسې وينه‬
Yaa kho bah tole yaraane daghase winah
Or all my love affairs have the same fate
31 ‫مبارکي راکړئ عالمه‬
Mubaraki rakŗai a’aalamah
O people favour me with your congratulations
‫د تهمتونو سره يار قبوله کړمه‬
Da thuhmatuno sara yaar qabulah kŗumah
My beloved accepted me with all the slanders
32 ‫د جانان ژبې ته حيران يم‬
Da jaanaan zhube thah hayraan yum
I am amazed at the sweet tongue of my beloved
‫څومره خوږې پستې خبرې پرې کوينه‬
Tsomrah khwage pasthe khabure pre kaweenah
What sweet, soft speech he delivers!

In (29), (‫“ )مرګ‬murg-death” is mapped as something which can be given to someone, as

evident from the verb (‫“ )ورکړې‬warkŗe-give”. Landay at (30) maps (‫“ )نصيب‬nasib-fortune” as a thing
which is (‫“ )خراب‬kharaab-bad or spoiled”. In (31), (‫“ )تهمت‬thuhmath-slander/lies” is metaphorically
represented as an object which can be possessed. Similarly, the clause (‫ )خوږې پستې خبرې‬in (32) shows
that speech is conceptualized by the Pashto speaking community as something which may be
“khwage pasthe-sweet, soft”, drawing on the experiential domain of food or taste. In all these
examples, “murg-death”, “nasib-fortune”, “thuhmat-slander” and “khabure-speech” are not literally
physical objects or things, but they are represented as objects metaphorically.
 Sardaraz, Nusrat 72

Great Chain of Being Metaphor

One of the most pervasive metaphors in the Pashto landay, the analysis revealed, is the
GREAT CHAIN OF BEING. Human attributes and characteristics provide a rich source domain for
conceptualizing various target domains of natural objects, inanimate phenomena, socio-cultural
concepts and events (Lakoff & Turner, 1989). In traditional rhetorical terms, this conceptualization is
referred to as personification. The study found sixty (60) examples of this metaphor in the data.
Inanimate phenomena are person metaphors are illustrated through the following linguistic
expressions.

33 ‫باد سبا زما قاصد شه‬

Bad e sabaa zumaa qaased shah
O wind of the Morning! Be my messenger
‫زما شيرين اشنا ته يوسه سالمونه‬
Zumaa sherin Aashanaa thah yosah salaamunah
Take my greetings to my sweet beloved
34 ‫باده په باد مې سالم وايه‬
Baadah puh baad me salaam waayah
O wind! Give my greetings to the wind
‫په هغه باد چي د جانان په لورې ځينه‬
Puh haghah baad che da jaanaan puh lori Tzinah
To the Wind which is blowing towards my beloved
35 ‫آسمانه درز وهه راولوېږه‬
Aasmaanah draz wahah ra-olwegah
Oh Sky! Become cracked and fall down
‫په ما قيامت دی چې په ټولو قيامت شينه‬
Puh maa qiyamath de che puh tolo qiyamath shinah
Calamity has overtaken me, so that it overtakes everything
36 ‫ ورو پرې ورېږه‬،‫بارانه ورو‬
Baraanah wro wro pre waregah
Oh Rain! Pour on them lightly
‫ وړې جنکئ غره ته تللي دينه‬،‫وړې‬
Waŗe waŗe jinakay ghru thah thlule Dinah
Little girls have gone to the hills
37 ‫سپوږمئ سالم به درته وکړم‬
Spogay salaam bah durthah wukrŗum
Oh Moon! I will pay you my greetings
‫جانان مې مه رسوا کوه ماته راځينه‬
Jaanaan me mah ruswaa kawah maa thah raTzinah
Don’t disgrace my beloved, he is visiting me
38 ‫پاس پربام مه خېژه کوترې‬
Paas pur baam mah khezhah kawthare
Don’t climb up on the roof, O Dove!
‫پورته اسمان کې به سپين لمرشرمنده شينه‬
Porthah aasmaan ke bah speen lmar sharmindah shinah
The Sun, up in the sky, will feel shy

Couplets (33) to (38) refer to the inanimate phenomena of “baad-wind”, “aasmaan-sky”,

“braraan-rain”, “spogay-moon” and “lmar-sun” as persons. In (33) to (37), “baad-wind”, “aasmaan-
PASHTO FOLKLORE, THE LANDAY 73

sky”, “braraan-rain”, “spogay-moon” are addressed as human beings, who can hear the pleas, while
in (38), the sun is given the human social attribute of being shy. These examples show that Pashto
speakers use the conceptual metaphor of INANIMATE PHENOMENA AS PERSONS.

Analysis of the data also revealed that various natural objects, social phenomena and events
are conceptualized as persons, as illustrated by the following couplets (39-51).

39 ‫اختره ستا د برکته‬

Akhtharah sthah da barakatah
O Akhthara! Because of your blessings
‫د جنکو په سينه زانګي زيړ ګلونه‬
Da jinako pu sinah zangi zyeŗ gulunah
Yellow flowers are bouncing on the chests of girls
40 ‫باغ ته دې تګ مناسب نه دی‬
Baagh thah de thag munaseb nuh de
Your visit to the garden is not appropriate
‫ګالن شرمېږی مخ په پاڼوپټوينه‬
Gulaan sharmegi much puh paŅŗo putawinah
Flowers feel shy, cover their faces with leaves
41 ‫گالب د اصله شهزاده دی‬
Gulaab da aasalah shahzaadah de
Rose is the real prince -
‫رامبېل چامبېل يې نوکران نيولي دينه‬
Raambel chaambel ye nokaraan niwuli dinah
Hired jasmine flowers as his servants
42 ‫بېلتون په هر چا مېلمه کيږي‬
Belthun puh har chaa melmah kegi
Separation visits everyone as a guest
‫ماته چې راشي نو کلونه تېروينه‬
Maa thah che raashi no kalunah therawinah
When he visits me, he spends years with me
43 ‫کاغذه الړ شه په هوا شه‬
Kaaghuzah laaŗ shah puh hawaa sha
O letter! Go with utmost speed
‫په عاشقانو باندې وايه سالمونه‬
Puh A’asheqaano bande waayah salaamunah
Give my greetings to the lovers
44 ‫ګودره بخت دی غلبه دی‬
Godurah bakht de ghalabah de
O Godurah! Your fate is dominant
‫د پيغلو جنو سيل کوی حيران دی کړمه‬
Da peghlo jino sel kawi hayraan de kŗumah
Young girls visits you, make me amazed
45 ‫پېزوانه ستا نه ګيله من يم‬
Pezwaanah sthah na gilaman yum
O Rose Ring! I am annoyed with you
 Sardaraz, Nusrat 74

‫د ليال سرې شونډې خو تا ښکل کړې دينه‬

Da lailaa sre shunde kho thaa hkul kuŗi Dinah
You have kissed the red lips of Lailaa
46 ‫چې فکر بند په زولنو کړم‬
Che fikur band puh zawlano kŗum
I shackle my thoughts, but
‫چې رانه خالص شي برابر جانان له ځينه‬
Che raanah khlas shi baraabar jaanaan lah Tzinah
When once breaks free, it goes at once to my beloved
47 ‫خاونده کوم يو په کې خوښ کړم‬
Khawundah kum yo puh ke khwah kŗum
O Lord! Which one should I opt for?
‫مرګ او بېلتون راته جوړه راغلي دينه‬
Murg aw belthun rathah joŗah raghule Dinah
Death and separation have come as a pair
48 ‫عالمه يو له بل ځاريږئ‬
A’alamah yo lah bul Tzaregay
O People! Love each other
‫مرګ راپسې دی نيمه خوا به پاتې شونه‬
Murg raapuse de nimah khwaa bah paathe shinah
Death is after us, and we will be left disappointed
49 ‫غم دې دا ستا نه وفادار دی‬
Gham de daa shtaa nah wafaadaar de
Your grief is more loyal than you
‫ته کله کله غم دې تل راسره وينه‬
Thuh kulah kulah gham de thul raasarah winah
You come sometimes, your grief is always with me
50 ‫قسمته خدای لپاره ويښ شه‬
Qimathah Khuday lapaarah wih shah
O Fortune! For God’s sake get up!
‫څوک تر قيامته پورې نه کوي خوبونه‬
Tsok thur qiyamatha pore nu kawi khobunah
No one does sleep till the Day of Judgement
51 ‫ما د نصيب نه تېښته وکړه‬
Maa da nasib na thehthah wukŗah
I fled from my fate
‫نصيب زما د الرې مل راسره ځينه‬
Nasib zumaa da laare mal raasarah Tzinah
Fate is my companion, accompanying me everywhere

In these couplets, various socio-cultural concepts, natural objects and events are
conceptualized as persons. Akhthar or Eid in (39) is an event which is mapped through the source
domain of human attribute of blessings or causes. In (40) and (41), the rose is given the personal
characteristics of shyness and authority for hiring the services of other flowers. Abstract socio-
cultural concepts, such as (‫“ )بېلتون‬belthun-separation” are represented as a (‫" )مېلمه‬melmah-gust" in
(42), (‫“ )کاغذ‬kaaghuz-letter” as a person who can convey the greetings of one person to another in
(43), (‫“ )ګودر‬godar-a social place for women to meet and bring water or ford” as a person with good
luck in (44), and (‫“ )پېزوان‬pezwan-nose ring” as a person, kissing a girl in (45). Similarly, abstract
PASHTO FOLKLORE, THE LANDAY 75

concepts are also conceptualized as persons. The concept (‫“ )فکر‬fikar-thinking”, is mapped as a
prisoner in shackles in (46), (‫“ )مرګ‬murg-death” in (47) and (48), (‫“ )غم‬gham-grief” in (49) and (‫)قسمت‬
“qismath-fate” and (‫“ )نصيب‬nasib-fate” in (50) and (51) respectively are presented as having human
attributes. The analysis revealed that human attributes and characteristics are a rich source domain
for the Pashto speaking community to process and comprehend many socio-cultural concepts and
other abstract ideas.

Part-Whole Schema
The analysis also found metonymic linguistic expressions in the data. Part of an image
schema has often been used to conceptualize the whole. The key conceptual metaphor behind these
metonymic linguistic expressions is the GENERIC IS SPECIFIC. The part-whole relationship was found
in thirty eight (38) landay, where the heart is metonymically used to represent the emotional being of
the lover. Four of these landay are analyzed below.

52 ‫زړګيه ځان ورته تکړه کړه‬

Zuŗgiyah Tzaan wurthah thakŗah kŗah
O heart! Prepare yourself for it
‫اشنا د سپين مخ نه نقاب پورته کوينه‬
Aashnaa da spin much nah niqab porthah kawinah
My beloved is removing the veil from her face
53 ‫زړګيه صبر دې په خدای شه‬
Zuŗgiyah sabar de puh Khudai shah
O heart! May you have patience with your Lord
‫جانان په غټو خلکو ځان حسابوينه‬
Jaanaan puh ghato khalko Tzaan hisaabawinah
My beloved considers himself among important people
54 ‫زړګيه صبرشه مه ژاړه‬
Zuŗgiyah sabar shah mah zhaaŗah
O heart! Be patient, don’t weep
‫ستاپه ژړا اشنا د نازخندا کوينه‬
Sthah puh zhaŗah Aashnaa da naaz khandaa razinah
My beloved smiles coquettishly at your weeping
55 ‫زړګيه مينه په کې نشته‬
Zuŗgiyah minah puh ke nishthah
O heart! There is no love in them
‫نن واړه ښکلي د لباس خندا کوينه‬
Nun waŗah hkuli da lebaas khandaa kawinah
Nowadays, all the pretty ones pass on false smiles
56 ‫سترګې ديدن وکړي مړې شي‬
Sthurge didan wukŗi maŗe shi
Eyes see the beloved, and get satiated
‫شونډو د غم نه وچ پتري نيولي وينه‬
Shundo da gham na wuch pathri niwuli Dinah
My lips has got dry scars because of grief
In examples (52) to (55), (‫“ )زړګي‬zuŗgay-heart” stands for the whole emotional being. Heart
in (52) represents the emotional and personal being, while in (53), it stands for the psychological
 Sardaraz, Nusrat 76

being, and in (54), it refers to both the emotional and psychological being, and in (55), the emotional
being. In (56), (‫“ )سترګې‬sturge-eyes” stands for the emotional being, The part-whole relationship in
the above examples is by imbuing the heart and eyes with the personality of the whole being.

Time Is an Object In Motion

Time is conceptualized as an object in motion. It draws on the aka metaphor, which involve
the structuring of time in terms of objects and space. It has two main entailments, Time is an object
in motion and time is space. The study found twenty eight (28) examples of this metaphor in the
data, four of which are analyzed below.

57 ‫اختر چې تېر شي بيا به راشي‬

Aakhthar che ther shi byaa bah rashi
Akhthar, if it passes, will come again
‫دا د ځوانئ عمر په بېرته نه راځينه‬
Daa da Tzwanay umar bah berthah nuh raTzinah
This youthful life will never come back
58 ‫ارمان به وکړې وخت به تېر وي‬
Aarmaan bah wukŗe wakht bah ther wi
You will regret it, but time will have passed
‫بيا به وطن راپسې ګورې نه به يمه‬
Byaa bah watan raapuse gore nuh bah yumah
You will, then, search land me for me, I will not be here
59 ‫وطن به ستا لپاره پرېږدم‬
Wathan bah sthah lapaarah pregdum
I will leave the land for your sake
‫چې ستا د حسن دوران تېر شي رابه شمه‬
Che sthaa da husan dawraan ther shi raa bah shumah
When the duration of your beauty has passed, I will come
60 ‫هغه ساعت به کله راشی‬
Haghah sa’ath bah kulah raashi
When would the hour come
‫چې د اشنا سره به بر ګودر له ځمه‬
Che da Aashnaa sarah bah bar godar lah Tzumah
To go to Western Godar with my beloved

These couplets present time as an object moving in space. The time concept of (‫" )اختر‬
Aakhthar-Eid, religious festival” in (57) maps, (‫" )وخت‬wakhth-time" in (58), (‫“ )دوران‬dawraan-
duration” in (59) and (‫" )ساعت‬saa'ath-hour" in (60) are mapped as moving objects through the
corresponding verbs (‫“ )تېر شي‬ther shi-passed” and (‫“ )راشي‬raashi-will come” in (57), (‫“ )تېر وي‬ther wi-
will have passed” in (58), (‫“ )تېر شي‬ther shi-passed” in (59) and (‫“ )راشي‬raashi-will come” in (60).
Hence, these linguistic expressions conceptualize time as an object in motion.

The data also found one linguistic expression of conceptual metaphor of TIME IS BOUNDED
SPACE. Time in human conceptual system is also structured in terms of bounded space. Durational
aspect of time is measured in terms of space/distance, and the location of some event of certain
duration is mapped as an object located in space. The following linguistic expressions structure an
event within time as an object in space.
PASHTO FOLKLORE, THE LANDAY 77

61 ‫ډيوې مې بلې په مزار کړه‬

Dewe me bale puh mazaar kŗah
Light candles on my grave
‫چيرته وختونو کې د مينې يار دې ومه‬
Chere wakhtuno ke da mine yaar de wuma
I was your beloved in the past

In couplet (61), the spatial preposition (‫“ )کې‬ke-in” maps past time as space. The event of
being in love at a certain time in the past is mapped as a landmark within space. Thus, the above
linguistic expression reflects the conceptual metaphor of TIME IS BOUNDED SPACE.

Resemblance based metaphors

The data also revealed metaphors and similes based on comparisons between two objects.
Resemblance based metaphors and similes follow the Aristotelian concept of metaphor and simile
metaphor, which involves the naming one thing by another, as in Abid is a Lion. The dominant
attribute of bravery is transferred from the source domain of lion to the target domain of Abid in
praise of Abid. These metaphors include (‫“ )عنبري زلفې‬aNbari zulfe-locks with the scent or colour of
ambergris”, (‫“ )ګالبي مخ‬gulaabi mukh-rosy cheeks”, (‫“ )د سروزروغنچه‬da sro zaro ghuncha-golden
bunch”, (‫“ )د ګلوڅانګه‬da gulo Tsaangah-a flowery branch”. These metaphors are drawn from the
source domain of flowering plants, and are often used to emphasize the beauty of the beloved. The
study found sixty three (63) instances of resemblance based metaphors and similes in the data.

Discussions
The analysis revealed that the Pashto speaking community draws on various experiential
gestalts to process and comprehend abstract concepts. These source domains include journey, war,
fire, disease, forces, objects, containers, generic attributes, and motion, which structure the abstract
concepts in Pashto landay. Some of the conceptual metaphors used by the Pashtuns, as the analysis
revealed, are LOVE IS JOURNEY, LOVE IS WAR, LOVE IS FIRE, UNREQUITTED LOVE IS DISEASE,
EMOTIONS ARE FORCES, EMOTIONS ARE OBJECTS, HEART IS CONTAINER, GREAT CHAIN OF BEING
METAPHOR, GENERIC IS SPECIFIC METAPHOR, TIME IS OBJECT IN MOTION and TIME IS SPACE. These
conceptual metaphors have also been found in previous literature (Lakoff, 1993; Lakoff & Johnson,
1980b; Pischurnikova, 2017; Sardaraz & Ali, 2017; Sardaraz & Nusrat, 2019) except LOVE IS FIRE and
UNREQUITTED LOVE IS DISEASE. Moreover, the analysis reveals that 396 metaphors in 930 couplets
which constitutes 42 percent of the collected data. The analysis also found 63 resemblance based
metaphors or poetic metaphors, which constitutes six percent of the total populations. This reflects
that Pashto landay, having a lot of conventional metaphors, are composed generally by common folk,
because poets often use language laden with imagery. However, the results do not claim any
generalization about the use of these conceptual metaphors, and recommends more studies from a
cognitive linguistic perspective to explore further experiential domains in Pashto folklore.

This paper adds evidence to CMT view that the conceptual metaphor is a universal
phenomenon across all languages, with slight cultural deviations. This paper found eleven conceptual
metaphors. The findings corroborates those of previous research in major languages, such as in
English (Lakoff, 1993; Lakoff & Johnson, 1980a, 1980b; Lakoff & Turner, 1999) Arabic (Sardaraz 2017;
Sardaraz & Ali, 2016, 2017) and Chinese (Yu, 1998) and (Boroditsky, 2001). These metaphors also
 Sardaraz, Nusrat 78

indicate the general outlook and world view of the Pashtun community is similar to other
communities. But cultural differences leave impact on the life and language of the community. The
analysis revealed a few different conceptual metaphors such as LOVE IS WAR, LOVE IS FIRE and
UNREQUITTED LOVE IS DISEASE. The LOVE IS WAR metaphor in Pashto poetry was investigated by
Pischurnikova (2017). The analysis revealed that this metaphor has also been used in Pashto landay.
This metaphor might be used in Pashto language and poetry because of the Pashto speaking
community’s long experience of war. LOVE IS FIRE and UNREQUITTED LOVE IS DISEASE might relate to
the traditional cultural taboos of Pashtun society, where women, as Khalil (2011) and Rahimi (2017)
argue, live in a male dominated society. The Pashto speaking community might consider love as a fire
or a disease which cannot be cured in a society, where marriages are arranged by parents. These
metaphors add to the existing literature on conceptual metaphor.

This paper gives a new dimension to the categorization and classification of Pashto landay.
Previously, it was classified on the basis of topics such as godar, accusation, separation, moon, valour,
honour, didan, heart and eyes (Benewa, 1958; Noorzi, 2014). The present paper offers a different
approach on the basis of conceptual metaphor themes which helps in the classification of landay on
the basis of conceptual metaphors which are used for structuring abstract concepts. This paper has
examined a small portion of landay, and could be extended to discover more conceptual metaphor
themes used in landay.

This paper has taken a different approach to the figurative language of Pashto language from
CMT perspective, which argues that metaphor is generated by conceptual correlations structured in
the human conceptual system. Some conceptual correlations have been investigated in the present
paper, which may prove instrumental in redirecting research into the figurative use of language in
Pashto language and poetry. The findings differ from previous studies (e.g. Rafigh, 1930; Noorzi,
2014; Rahimi, 2017; Halimi, n.d.), locating figurative language in thought rather than in language. The
major contribution of this paper is introduction of CMT to Pashto folklore, investigation of major
experiential source domains used in Pashto folklore, finding of conceptual metaphor themes, which
perhaps hitherto not explored, and giving a new touch to the classification of landay. This paper
might prove instrumental in rebirth of interest in investigation of figurative language in Pashto
literature and literary criticism,

Conclusion
The analysis revealed eleven conceptual metaphors in the data. Pashto landay, being
anonymous, and as it can be composed by any Pashtun, can represent the general world view of
Pashto speakers. The major experiential gestalts used in Pashto landay are journey, war, fire, disease,
forces, objects, container, motion and space to conceptualize the abstract concepts of love,
emotions, time and events. The findings of this paper support CMT’s claim that conceptual metaphor
is pervasively used in both everyday language and literature, and it further corroborates the
conceptual metaphor themes found in previous literature. But, this paper also found the conceptual
metaphors of LOVE IS WAR, UNREQUITTED LOVE IS DISEASE and LOVE IS FIRE, which may add to the
existing literature on conceptual metaphor in general. Moreover, this paper offers conceptual
metaphor approach to the classification of Pashto landay, which may enrich the existing literature on
Pashto landay. However, this paper has investigated a small portion of Pashto landay, which may be
extended in future research to discover more conceptual metaphors used in Pashto language and
literature.
PASHTO FOLKLORE, THE LANDAY 79

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Publishing.

Received: Feb 25, 2019

Revisions Received: Sep 15, 2019