The Sweet Smell of Red - An Interplay of ... - metaphorik.de

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metaphorik.de 18/2010
The smell of flowers and plants in the woods is by far the largest subgroup
and transfers the idea of freshness and harmony, it is interesting that while
those examples are metaphorical with the English word, in German they
belong to the category of literal occurrences.
ANR 779 It would be too much to say that by 1870 Paris had become a
fragrant bower — few cities
CK5 2826 taking advantage of the dying minutes of daylight, feeds on
flower nectar in the fragrant garden.
Ge 1977... mit Büscheln der kleinen weißen und nach Jasmin duftenden
Blüten.
The other subgroup also exists in German: the fragrant of people or people
related things like food. To find examples with the smell of food is not
surprising as there are words that can refer to both senses equally: flavor and
aroma. The senses of smell and taste are biologically so close that it appears to
be a logical strategy to use the same words in a literal form, while other words
are metaphorically used to combine both senses.
ASE 532 She withdrew the fragrant dish from the oven, and put it, still
sizzling, before the bedazzled sexton. CDR 2204 A herbal cream or
fragrant oil gives a soothing massage
Ge 1915... im Wasser. Liefert ohne jede Mühe kraftvollen, herrlich
duftenden Kaffee! Keine Kaffeemaschine.
In the cases of duftend and fragrant it is very clear that the sense related word is
actually the bearer of the connotation in the instances where a clear
connotation of the metaphors or even the literal versions can be found. This
connotation is than mostly positive.
The two metaphorical forms of duftend are both strongly synaesthetic,
displaying two sense combinations (vision and hearing). While the smellhearing
metaphor is somehow understandable, it is difficult to make sense of
the vision-smell one as it is hard to imagine a smelling light. Nevertheless, in
both cases the positive attitude of duftend appears to there as well.
Be 1983...Der A-Ton aus der Stimmpfeife von Lehrer Rumposch dringt
durch die duftende Stille, und ...
Ze 1921... Haut ihres Gesichtes erschien wie ein Gewebe aus duftendem
Höhenlicht, sie lächelte mit einer ...