ZUM ALLTAGSMETAPHORISCHEN GEBRAUCH DES WORTES SCHIZOPHREN

• Authors: Constanze Fiebach

Title variants

EN

ON METAPHORICAL EVERYDAY USAGE OF THE WORD SCHIZOPHRENIC

• Languages of publication: DE

Abstracts

EN

Besides the medical usage, in everyday language the term schizophrenic is usually used to refer to something ambivalent, paradoxical and contradictory. This fact does not come as a big surprise with regard to the word’s Greek origin schizein, which means “(to) split” and phrén, which means “spirit”. Scientists who study this slang usage characterize it as metaphorical and complain about an association of schizophrenia with a multiple personality, which schizophrenia is not. Although the medical term ‘Spaltungsirresein’ has been considered obsolete for a long time and the phenomenon of multiple personality has its own name, in slang language the usage of ‘schizophrenic’ continues to exist. To what extent the everyday usage is metaphorical shall be discussed in this article.

Keywords

EN

schizophrenic; medical term; metaphorical usage; slang language

• Publisher: Inter Litteras Research Centre, STEFAN CEL MARE University, Suceava, Romania; STEFAN CEL MARE Publishing House
• Journal: Concordia Discors vs Discordia Concors: Researches into Comparative Literature, Contrastive Linguistics, Cross-Cultural and Translation Strategies
• Year: 2010
• Volume: 2
• Pages: 91-89

Contributors

author

Constanze Fiebach

• Heinrich-Heine-University Düsseldorf Essen, Germany