Conceptual Metaphors of Pain in Persian: A Cognitive Analysis

Aim: Pain is an abstract concept that can be understood by others through conceptual metaphors. The purpose of this study was cognitive analysis of pain metaphors in Iranian patients. Method and Materials: This qualitative study has been done among 30 patients with musculoskeletal pain through cognitive analysis. The participants were asked to compare their pain to anything that comes to their minds. In next stage, frequent categories of pain source domains were extracted from 300 statements manually. Findings: The results of this study showed that there were 9 important pain source domains as object, causation, path and direction, human, place, taste, container, force and circle. Conclusion: To conclude, it seems that pain as like abstract concepts can be understood as object, causation, path and direction, human, place, taste, container, force and circle among Persian patients.