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<DIV>Attached is a file (in two formats) with a selection of allusive uses of
"lamb" in English extracted from BNC.</DIV>
<DIV>(Sorry, it's only English...)</DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV>In addition to the clichés you mention, English has:</DIV>
<UL>
<LI>like a lamb to the slaughter</LI>
<LI>meek as a lamb</LI>
<LI>gentle as a lamb</LI>
<LI>innocent as a lamb</LI>
<LI>helpless as a lamb</LI>
<LI>mild as a lamb</LI>
<LI>like a little lost lamb</LI>
<LI>a sacrificial lamb (is this different from a scapegoat?)</LI>
<LI>the lamb of God</LI>
<LI>the paschal lamb</LI>
<LI>He took it like a lamb.</LI>
<LI>[The month of] March comes in like a lion and goes out like a lamb.</LI>
<LI>etc.</LI></UL>
<DIV>Lambs also collocate interestingly with "lions", "eagles", "wolves",
"foxes", and "dogs".</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>Unsurprisingly, the vast majority of uses of "lamb" in English are as a
mass noun -- lamb </DIV>
<DIV>as meat --- closely followed by lamb(s) -- count noun -- as farm
animals. The file </DIV>
<DIV>appended here represents about 1% of the total. </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV>In English, as in Russian and (I suppose) other European languages, this
word is </DIV>
<DIV>shot through with Christian and Judaic religious imagery. Whether one
is a Christian </DIV>
<DIV>or not, one cannot deny the influence of the Bible -- specifically the
Wycliffe and </DIV>
<DIV>King James versions of the Bible -- on the phraseology of English from the
16th </DIV>
<DIV>century to the present day.</DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV>The word "intertextuality" springs to mind. </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV>I would expect something similar in Arabic and Iranian. Am I right?
</DIV>
<DIV>Islam, after all, is one of the three "heavenly" religions.</DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV>But then, to echo Fritz's question, what about cultures which,
historically, have </DIV>
<DIV>other religious norms? Hindu, Buddhist, Confucian, Shintoist,
etc. Are prototypical </DIV>
<DIV>lambs any different in such cultures?</DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Patrick</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV>----- Original Message -----
<DIV>From: "Fritz Goerling" <<A
href="mailto:Fritz_Goerling@sil.org">Fritz_Goerling@sil.org</A>></DIV>
<DIV>To: "lexicographylist yahoogroups" <<A
href="mailto:lexicographylist@yahoogroups.com">lexicographylist@yahoogroups.com</A>></DIV>
<DIV>Sent: Thursday, May 06, 2004 8:50 PM</DIV>
<DIV>Subject: [Lexicog] "lamb" as a metaphor</DIV></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT><FONT
face=Arial size=2></FONT><BR></DIV>> What is associated with the image "lamb"
when predicated of a person<BR>> in your language (not only English?<BR>>
I can only think of "pious as a lamb" (lammfromm) in German.<BR>> To my
knowledge in English you can say "as innocent as a lamb"<BR>> or "as
docile/quiet/obedient as a lamb". And it can be<BR>> used with reference to
someone who you are fond of and who<BR>> is gentle and lovable.<BR>>
<BR>> Fritz Goerling<BR>> <BR>>
<br>
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