The Role of Ontological Metaphor in Arabic Children’s Poetry: Based on Lakoff and Johnson’s Theory

Undoubtedly, cognitive sciences have brought about a fundamental transformation in various branches of philosophy and linguistics, expanding rapidly in contemporary discourse. Metaphor is one of the most significant phenomena that has acquired a new meaning within the framework of cognitive sciences. Historically, metaphor and metonymy were merely tools for the subtlety of language in traditional linguistics. However, under the new lens of these sciences, metaphor is regarded as a fundamental element of thought and subjective perception. According to the pioneering theorists of this framework, metaphors permeate cognitive thought processes and are prevalent in everyday life, extending beyond mere literary language and rhetorical embellishments. Children are capable of understanding the relationships between different domains, which is a sign of their metaphorical thinking and the development of their cognitive abilities. In children's literature, writers tend to use cognitive metaphors to convey intangible concepts related to fundamental areas such as time, emotions, relationships, and events, contributing to cognitive growth in children and responding to their curiosity. This research, based on a descriptive-analytical approach, examines poetic models for children and aims to illustrate the effectiveness of ontological metaphor and its types (personification, substance, and container) in light of the "Lakoff" and "Johnson" theory to reveal its role in embodying mental and abstract images and clarifying their conceptual nature. From the analysis of metaphors in fifteen poetry collections for children, it can be concluded that there is a direct relationship between the quantity of metaphors