Gastronomic Metaphor and Its Identification in the Context of Natural Bilingualism

The article focuses on the importance of theoretical understanding of the phenomenon of gastronomic metaphor as an element of the linguistic system and part of the semiotics of culture. The authors emphasize that the gastronomic metaphor representing individual and collective knowledge has special characteristics of the identification process within the framework of the bi-multilingual mental lexicon of a native speaker. A multi-stage experimental study of the specifics of the identification of a gastronomic metaphor by Moroccan Arab–French bilinguals showed that the metaphor accumulates personal meanings and is able to actualize dominants on the axis «man – society – culture» in the personal discourse of bilingual individuals. Based on the analysis of the results of empirical material, the authors propose to clarify the definition of the term «gastronomic metaphor», taking into account its ability to objectify the unique cognitive and emotional-evaluative experience of a bilingual individual.