PROFILE Love - something you give, receive and can measure? Studies on metaphors in English show that love is often described in terms like a commodity. Heli Tissari, Docent of English Linguistics, has studied conceptual love metaphors from the 15th and 16th century and in modern English.
“The word love appeared more often in early modern English, and especially in Shakespeare's works, than in modern English. When we describe love, it is on the one hand as a force that just happens on the other hand as something we get, deserve, or give when someone has done something we find favorable. What was surprising was that metaphors about love that were used in 16th century English are still used today,” says Heli Tissari, Department of Language Studies.
When we describe love, it is on the one hand as a force that just happens on the other hand as something we get, deserve, or give when someone has done something we find favorable.
Conceptual metaphors are used for descriptive purposes, but they also underpin our thinking. For example, the metaphor love is blind suggests that love is not affected by physical appearance, that love can blind you to someone else's behavior and actions, and that reason is not in control.
“The idea of letting reason control one's emotions is not a new one, but one that has been repeated and reformulated since ancient times and was also common in the early modern period. It was important for English writers to persuade their readers that their love follows generally accepted moral standards than that it is experienced as pleasant. Shakespeare's comedies, for example, made us laugh at people's follies in love.”
Heli Tissari's studies have shown that the verb and noun love often appeared in expressions conveying the metaphor of love is a valuable commodity. 16th-century texts describe how life is a gift that a person receives from God and therefore undertakes to take care of it, which requires showing love for oneself. But at the same time, one should not love oneself too much.
In early modern English texts, the emphasis is on people's duties while contemporary English texts describe people's individual rights
“In the Early Modern English material, there are many texts that deal with the theme of self-love: it was necessary to love oneself to survive, but at the same time the idea was that one should not love oneself too much. There was one way of loving yourself that was recommended and the other was condemned.”
Convincing others of the value of one's love, that love is something that someone is expected or obliged to express is also reflected in the older material. Also, that love is something one can express in terms that describe amount associated with commodities, for example my great stock of self-love was more common in early modern English.
Material from modern times shows that love is seen as something you have the right to choose.
"The word love was more common in Renaissance material, which may be why it also seems that expressing the amount of love was more important then. In early modern English texts, the emphasis is on people's duties while contemporary English texts describe people's individual rights, such as the right to choose a partner and the right to end a relationship. Love is no longer like a loaf of bread you have to earn every day, it can also be a product in a store that is either taken or rejected.”
Studies show that someone loved or lovable is described in terms of food, usually sweet food.
16th century: honey-sop, sweet-love, honeysuckle
17th century: sucket (=sugar), honey-sweet, honey-dew
19th century: jelly (=girlfriend), treat, honey-dew
20th century: sweetie-pie, honey-baby, honey-bun, doughnut, jelly-roll, sweet mama.
