Conceptual Metaphor概念隐喻理论

ConceptualMetaphor1IntroductionFormostofus,metaphorisafigureofspeechinwhichonethingiscomparedtoanotherbysayingthatoneistheother,asinHeisalion.Or,astheEncyclopaediaBritannicaputsit:“metaphor[isa]figureofspeechthatimpliescomparisonbetweentwounlikeentities,asdistinguishedfromsimile,anexplicitcomparisonsignaledbythewords‘like’or‘as.’”Forexample,wewouldconsiderthewordliontobeametaphorinthesentence“Achilleswasalioninthefight.”Wewouldprobablyalsosaythatthewordisusedmetaphoricallyinordertoachievesomeartisticandrhetoricaleffect,sincewespeakandwritemetaphoricallytocommunicateeloquently,toimpressotherswith“beautiful,”estheticallypleasingwords,ortoexpresssomedeepemotion.PerhapswewouldalsoaddthatwhatmakesthemetaphoricalidentificationofAchilleswithalionpossibleisthatAchillesandlionshavesomethingincommon,namely,theirbraveryandstrength.Indeed,thisisawidelysharedview—themostcommonconceptionofmetaphor,bothinscholarlycirclesandinthepopularmind(whichisnottosaythatthisistheonlyviewofmetaphor).Thistraditionalconceptcanbebrieflycharacterizedbypointingoutfiveofitsmostcommonlyacceptedfeatures:First,metaphorisapropertyofwords;itisalinguisticphenomenon.Themetaphoricaluseoflionisacharacteristicofalinguisticexpression(thatofthewordlion).Second,metaphorisusedforsomeartisticandrhetoricalpurpose,suchaswhenShakespearewrites“alltheworld’sastage”.Third,metaphorisbasedonaresemblancebetweenthetwoentitiesthatarecomparedandidentified.AchillesmustsharesomefeatureswithlionsinorderforustobeabletousethewordlionasametaphorforAchilles.Fourth,metaphorisaconsciousanddeliberateuseofwords,andyoumusthaveaspecialtalenttobeabletodoitanddoitwell.Onlygreatpoetsoreloquentspeakers,suchas,say,ShakespeareandChurchill,canbeitsmasters.Forexample,Aristotlemakesthefollowingstatementtothiseffect:“Thegreatestthingbyfaristobeamasterofmetaphor.Itistheonethingthatcannotbelearnedfromothers;itisalsoasignofgenius,sinceagoodmetaphorimpliesaneyeforresemblance”.Fifth,metaphorisafigureofspeechthatwecandowithout;weuseitforspecialeffects,anditisnotaninevitablepartofeverydayhumancommunication,letaloneeverydayhumanthoughtandreasoning.2.Thecognitive-linguistictheoryofmetaphorthatchallengedalltheseaspectsofthepowerfultraditionaltheoryinacoherentandsystematicwaywasfirstdevelopedbyGeorgeLakoffandMarkJohnsonintheirfamousbookMetaphorsWeLiveBy(1980).Theychallengedthedeeplyentrenchedviewofmetaphorbyclaimingthat(i)metaphorisapropertyofconcepts,andnotofwords;(ii)thefunctionofmetaphoristobetterunderstandcertainconcepts,andnotjustsomeartisticorestheticpurpose;(iii)metaphorisoftennotbasedonsimilarity;(iv)metaphorisusedeffortlesslyineverydaylifebyordinarypeople,notjustbyspecialtalentedpeople;and(v)metaphor,farfrombeingasuperfluousthoughpleasinglinguisticornament,isaninevitableprocessofhumanthoughtandreasoning.Upuntilrecently,metaphorhasbeenprimarilystudiedbyphilosophers,rhetoricians,literarycritics,psychologists,andlinguists,suchasAristotle,Hume,Locke,vico,Herder,Cassirer,Buhler,I.A.Richards,Whorf,Goodman,MaxBlack,tomentionjustafewnamesfromthethousandsofpeoplewhohavedoneworkonmetaphoroverthepasttwothousandyears.Today,anincreasingnumberofcognitivescientists,includingcognitiveLinguists,engageintheresearchonmetaphor.Thereasonisthatmetaphorplaysaroleinhumanthought,understanding,andreasoningand,beyondthat,inthecreationofoursocial,cultural,andpsychologicalreality.Tryingtounderstand,metaphor,then,meansattemptingtounderstandavitalpartofwhoweareandwhatkindofwordwelivein.3.conceptualmetaphorManyofthemetaphorsweuseinlanguagearebasedonconceptualmetaphors.Thatis,wespeakinmetaphorsbecausewethinkinmetaphors.Inthecognitivelinguisticview,metaphorisdefinedasunderstandingoneconceptualdomainintermsofanotherconceptualdomain.Aconvenientshorthandwayofcapturingthisviewofmetaphoristhefollowing:CONCEPRTUALDOMAIN(A)ISCONCEPTUALDOMAIN(B)COGNITIVEDOMAIN(A)ISCOGNITIVEDOMAIN(B)COGNITIVEMODEL(A)ISCOGNITIVEMODEL(B)Bisthesourcedomain(始发域),andAisthetargetdomain(目标域).TARGETDOMAINISSOURCEDOMAIN.Aconceptualmetaphorconsistsoftwoconceptualdomains,inwhichonedomainisunderstoodintermsofanother.Aconceptualdomainisanycoherentorganizationofexperiences.Thus,Forexample,wehavecoherentlyorganizedknowledgeaboutjourneysthatwerelyonInunderstandinglife.SomeexamplesofconceptualmetaphorAnARGUMENTISWARYourclaimsareindefensible.Heattackedeveryweakpointinmyargument.Hiscriticismswererightontarget.Idemolishedhisargument.I’veneverwonanargumentwithhim.Youdisagree?Okay,shoot!Ifyouusethatstrategy,he’llwipeyouout.Heshotdownallofmyargument.LOVEISAJOURNEYLookhowfarwe’vecome.We’reatacrossroads.We’lljusthavetogoourseparateways.Wecan’tturnbacknow.Idon’tthinkthisrelationshipisgoinganywhere.Wherearewe?We’restuck.It’sbeenalong,bumpyroad.Thisrelationshipisadead-endstreet.We’rejustspinningourwheels.Ourmarriageisontherocks.We’vegottenoffthetrack.Thisrelationshipisfoundering.IDEASAREFOODAllthispaperhasinitarerawfacts,half-bakedideas,andwarmed-overtheories.Therearetoomanyfactshereformetodigestthemall.Ijustcan’tswallowthatclaim.Letmestewoverthatforawhile.That’sfoodforthought.Shedevouredthebook.Let’sletthatideasimmeronthebackburnerforawhile.Fromtheabove,wecanseethatmetaphorscanbeconceptualandlinguistic.Conceptualmetaphors,ormetaphoricalconcepts,involvetwoconceptsandhavetheformAisB,whereconceptAisunderstoodintermsofconceptB.Linguisticmetaphors,ormetaphoricallinguisticexpressions,arelinguisticmanifestationsofconceptualmetaphors.Theyarewordsorotherlinguisticexpressionsthatcomefromthelanguageorterminologyofthemoreconcreteconceptualdomain(i.e.domainB)Thus,alltheexpressionsabovethathavetodowithloveandthatcomefromthedomainofjourney,forexample,arelinguisticmetaphoricalexpressions,whereasthecorrespondingconceptualmetaphorthatmakemanifestisLOVEISAJOURNEY.3.ConceptualmetaphorasasetofmappingsSofarwehaveusedtheword“tounderstand”tocharacterizetherelationshipbetweentwoconcepts(AandB)inthemetaphoricalprocess.ButwhatdoesitmeanexactlythatAisunderstoodintermsofB?TheansweristhatthereisasetofsystematiccorrespondencesbetweenthesourceandthetargetinthesensethatconstituentconceptualelementsofBcorrespondtoconstituentelementsofA.Technically,theseconceptualcorrespondencesareoftenreferredtoasmappings.Sowecansayeachmetaphorisastructuralmappingfromoneconceptualdomaintoanother.Letuslookatsomecaseswhereelementsofthesourcedomainaremappedontoelementsofthetargetdomain.Let’staketheLOVEISAJOURNEYconceptualmetaphorfirst.Source:JOURNEYTarget:LOVEThetravelers theloversThevehicle theloverelationshipitselfThejourney eventsintherelationshipThedistancecovered theprogressmadeTheobstaclesencountered thedifficultiesexperiencedThedecisionsaboutwhichwaytogo choicesaboutwhattodoThedestinationofthejourney thegoal(s)oftherelationshipThisisthesystematicsetofcorrespondences,ormappings,thatcharacterizetheLOVEISAJOURNEYconceptualmetaphor.ConstituentelementsofconceptualdomainAaresystematiccorrespondencewithconstituentelementsofconceptualdomainB.Fromthisdiscussionitmightseemthattheelementsinthetargetdomainhavebeenthereallalongandthatpeoplecameupwiththismetaphorbecausetherewerepreexistingsimilaritiesbetweentheelementsinthetwodomains.Thisisnotso.Thedomainoflovedidnothavetheseelementsbeforeitwasstructuredbythedomainofjourney.Itwastheapplicationofthejourneydomaintothelovedomainthatprovidedtheconceptoflovewiththisparticularstructureorsetofelements.Inaway,itwastheconceptofjourneythat“created”theconceptoflove.4.ThetypesandcognitivefunctionofmetaphorWhenweaskwhatthefunctionofmetaphorisforordinarypeopleinthinkingaboutandseeingtheworld,we’reaskingaquestionaboutthecognitivefunctionofmetaphor.Conceptualmetaphorscanalsobeclassifiedaccordingtothecognitivefunctionsthattheyperform.Onthisbasis,threegeneralkindsofconceptualmetaphorhavebeendistinguished:structural,ontological,andorientational.4.1StructuralMetaphorsInthiskindofmetaphor,thesourcedomainprovidesarelativelyrichknowledgestructureforthetargetconcept.Inotherwords,thecognitivefunctionofthesemetaphorsistoenablespeakerstounderstandtargetAbymeansofthestructureofsourceB.ThisunderstandingtakesplacebymeansofconceptualmappingsbetweenelementsofAandelementsofB.Forexample,theconceptoftimeisstructuredaccordingtomotionandspace.GiventheTIMEISMOTIONmetaphor,weunderstandtimeinthefollowingway:Weunderstandtimeintermsofsomebasicelements:Physicalobjects,theirlocations,andtheirmotion.Thereisabackgroundconditionthatappliestothiswayofunderstandingtime:Thepresenttimeisatthesamesituationasacanonicalobserver.Giventhebasicelementsandthebackgroundcondition,wegetthefollowingmappings:Timesarethings.Thepassingoftimeismotion.Futuretimesareinfrontoftheobserver;pasttimesarebehindtheobserver.Onethingismoving,theotherisstationary;thestationarythingisthedeicticcenter.Thissetofmappingsstructuresournotionoftimeinaclearway.TheTIMEISMOTIONconceptualmetaphorexistsintheformoftwospecialcasesinEnglish:TIMEPASSINGISMOTIONOFANOBJECTandTIMEPASSINGISANOBSERVER’SMOTIONOVERALANDSCAPE.Thetwoversionscanbeseeninsuchexamplesas:TIMEPASSINGISMOTIONOFANOBJECTThetimewillcomewhen…Thetimehaslongsincegonewhen…Thetimeforactionhasarrived.IntheweeksfollowingnextTuesday…Ontheprecedingday…I’mlookingaheadtoChristmas.Thanksgivingiscominguptous.Timeisflyingby.InthisversionoftheTIMEISMOTIONmetaphor,theobserverisfixedandtimesareobjectsmovingwithrespecttotheobserver.Timesareorientedwiththeirfrontsintheirdirectionofmotion.TheotherversionoftheTIMEISMOTIONmetaphoris:TIMEPASSINGISANOBERVER’SMOTIONOVERALANDSCAPEThere’sgoingtobetroublealongtheroad.HisstayinRussianextendedovermanyyears.Hepassedthetimehappily.We’recominguptoChristmas.We’regettingclosetoChristmas.Whereasinthefirstversiontheobserverisfixed,inthissecondversiontimesarefixedlocationsandtheobserverismovingwithrespecttotime.TheTIMEISMOTIONmetaphor(asspecifiedinthemappingsandthedifferencesinthetwoversion)accountsforalargenumberoflinguisticmetaphorsinEnglish.Themappingsnotonlyexplainwhytheparticularexpressionsmeanwhattheydo,buttheyalsoprovideabasicoverallstructure,henceunderstanding,forournotionoftime.Withoutthemetaphoritwouldbedifficulttoimaginewhatourconceptoftimewouldbe.Moststructuralmetaphorsprovidethiskindofstructuringandunderstandingfortheirtargetconcepts.4.2OntologicalmetaphorsOntologicalmetaphorsprovidemuchlesscognitivestructuringfortargetconceptsthanstructuralonesdo.Theircognitivejobseemstobeto“merely”giveanontologicalstatustogeneralcategoriesofabstracttargetconcepts.Whatthissimplymeansisthatweconceiveofourexperienceintermsofobjects,substances,andcontainers,ingeneral,withoutspecifyingexactlywhatkindofobject,substance,orcontainerismeant.Sinceourknowledgeaboutobjects,Substances,andcontainersisratherlimitedatthisgenerallevel,wecannotusethesehighlygeneralcategoriestounderstandmuchabouttargetdomains.Thisis,ashasbeenseem,thejobofstructuralmetaphors,whichprovideanelaboratestructureforabstractconcepts.Butitisneverthelessacognitivelyimportantjobtoassignabasicstatusintermsofobjects,substances,etc.tomanyofourexperiences.Thiskindsofexperiencesthatrequirethisthemostarethosethatarenotclearlydelineated,vague,orabstract.Forexample,wedonotreallyknowwhatthemindis,butweconceiveofitasanobject.Thiswaywecanattempttounderstandmoreaboutit.Ingeneral,ontologicalmetaphorsenableustoseemoresharplydelineatedstructurewherethereisverylittleornone.SourceDomains TargetDomainsPHYSICALOBJECT NONPHYSICALORABSTRACT ENTITIES(e.g.themind)EVENT(e.g.goingtotherace,), ACTIONS(e.g.givingsomeacall)SUBSTANCE ACTIVITIES(e.g.alotofrunningin thegame)CONTAINER UNDELINEATEDPHYSICAL OBJECTS(e.g.aclearinginthe forest) PHYSICALANDNONPHYSICAL SURFACES(e.g.landareas,the visualfield) STATES(e.g.inlove)Giventhatundelineatedexperiencesreceiveamoredelineatedstatusviaontologicalmetaphors,speakerscanusethesemetaphorsformorespecificjobs:(1)toreferto,toqualify,toidentifyaspectsoftheexperiencethathasbeenmademoredelineated.Forexample,conceivingoffearasanobject,wecanconceptualizeitas“ourpossession”.Thus,wecanlinguisticallyrefertofearasmyfearoryourfear.Caseslikethisaretheleastnoticeabletypesofconceptualmetaphor.(2)Oncea“nonthing”experiencehasreceivedthestatusofaThingthroughanontologicalmetaphor,theexperiencesoconceptualizedcanbestructuredfurtherbymeansofstructuralmetaphors.Ifweconceptualizethemindasanobject,wecaneasilyprovidemorestructureforitbymeansofthe“machine”metaphorforthemind(asin:“Mymindisrustythismorning”).Wecanconceiveofpersonificationasaformofontologicalmetaphor.Inpersonification,humanqualitiesaregiventononhumanentities.Personificationisverycommoninliterature,butitalsoaboundsineverydaydiscourse,astheexamplesbelowshow:Histheoryexplainedtomethebehaviorofchickensraisedinfactories.Lifehascheatedme.Inflationiseatingupourprofits.Cancerfinallycaughtupwithhim.Thecomputerwentdeadonme.Theory,life,inflation,cancer,computerarenothumans,buttheyaregivenqualitiesofhumanbeings,suchasexplaining,cheating,eating,catchingup,anddying.Personificationmakesusofoneofthebestsourcedomainswehave—ourselves.Inpersonifyingnonhumansashumans,wecanbegintounderstandthemalittlebetter.4.3OrientationalmetaphorsOrientationalmetaphorsprovideevenlessconceptualstructurefortargetconceptsthanontologicalones.Theircognitivejob,instead,istomakeasetoftargetconceptscoherentinourconceptualsystem.Thename“orientationalmetaphor”derivesfromthefactthatmostmetaphorsthatservethisfunctionhavetodowithbasichumanspatialorientat