Metaphor and Conceptual Metaphor Theory

WHAT IS A METAPHOR? "The essence of metaphor is understanding and experiencing one

kind of thing in terms of another" (Lakoff & Johnson)

In the cognitive linguistic view, metaphor is defined as understanding one conceptual

domain in terms of another conceptual domain without the use of words like “as” or

“like”.

For example when we talk and think about love in terms of journey (e.g. Our marriage is a

bumpy road) we have two conceptual domains: the source domain (journey) and the

target domain (love). The source domain is the conceptual domain from which we

draw metaphorical expression to understand the target domain, which makes the

target domain the conceptual domain understood through the use of the source domain.

If I say “LOVE IS A JOURNEY” I am expressing a conceptual metaphor. In this case the

source domain is Journey and the target domain is Love.

It is necessary to distinguish conceptual metaphor and metaphorical linguistic

expressions: the latter are words that come from the language or terminology of the

more concrete conceptual domain, and are a manifestation of the conceptual

metaphor. Between the source and the target there is a systematic set of

→ →

correspondencies, this is called mapping (e.g. The travelers the lovers / the journey

events in the relationship). In most cases the source and target are not reversible, this is

called principle of undirectionality.

Typical source domains are the human body (heart of the problem), health and illness (a

healthy society), animals (that man is a lion), money (save energy), movement (he went

crazy).

Common target domains are emotions, politics, economy, relationship.

→ →

I FLIPPED MY LID EMOTION IS MOVEMENT THE BODY IS A CONTAINER (ex

comics)

Features of metaphors

Conventionality: how much a metaphor is used in everyday life by everyone

→

ARGUMENT IS WAR highly conventional

Conceptual metaphors can be structural when they allow speakers to understand the target

from the source (mapping – ex time passing is motion).

Ontological: allow us to understand better the structure of the sentence where there is none

or very little.

Orientational: use spatial movement to express a concept: HAPPY IS UP, SAD IS DOWN.

Metonymy is a process in which we use a word instead of another, for example the producer

for the product. They focus on only one domain.

Universality in conceptual metaphor

some conceptual metaphors are universal, which means that they are globally recognized. One

example can be “happiness is up”, this exists also in other languages, e.g. chinese and

hungarian.

Cultural variation in metaphors →

(LIFE IS A GAME EX. BASEBALL-CALCIO home run-gol) time is money

→ →

wasting time +++ life is a journey marriage went off tracks ++moods are weather warm welcome +

Can be cross-cultural, when different languages share the same or similar conceptual

metaphor (ex. Anger is a hot fluid in english and zulu) or within culture (depending from

personal experience and life). This is caused by the broader cultural context. T

otal

coincidence in CM across languages is rare

Semino's article analyzes how the adoption of the Euro as the single currency for europe has

been commented by newspapers with large use of metaphors, for example personificating the

Euro (ex the birth of euro, un bambino forte, an heavyweight baby), using the journey as a

metaphor (il faticoso viaggio verso la moneta unica, a derailing train) and comparing the euro

to a container (being inside or outside euro, stare nell'euro).

AN ARGUMENT IS WAR

Your claims are indefensible.

He attacked every weak point in my argument.

I demolished his argument.

I’ve never won an argument with him.

LOVE IS A JOURNEY

We’ll just have to go our separate ways.

We can’t turn back now.

I don’t think this relationship is going anywhere.

It’s been a long, bumpy road.

Metaphor: "An analogy identifying one object with another and ascribing to the first object one

or more of the qualities of the second" (Harmon and Holman, A Handbook to Literature).

A comparison between two things without the use of "like" or "as."

A metaphorical concept: ARGUMENT IS WAR. It is a complete thought, rather than a mere

image. L&J prefer the term metaphorical concept because metaphor is part of our conceptual

system; metaphor is not just an image but also a complete thought; and as such, metaphor

has an impact on action, for action arises from thought.

EMOTION IS MOVEMENT

He floated around the room (happiness)

He stomped around the room (anger)

He strutted around the room (pride)

He climbed out of his depression

TIME IS MONEY

1. You're wasting my time.

2. That flat tire cost me an hour.

-metaphor is not a special use of language

-metaphor is pervasive in everyday language and interaction

-metaphor in language is the result of the analogical structure of human conceptualization

-our ordinary conceptual system in terms of which we think and act is fundamentally

metaphorical in nature

-metaphor is possible in language because it is present in the mind.

Conceptual Metaphor Theory

Container metaphor:

THE BODY IS A CONTAINER

EMOTIONS ARE FLUIDS

EMOTIONS ARE FLUIDS IN A CONTAINER (THE BODY)

Rationale behind the expression “I flipped my lid”. When the fluid in the container is too much

or too agitated, the container overflows. If there is a lid on the container, the pressure in the

container causes the lid to pop open.

Anger is an emotion.When there is too much anger in the body the emotion is represented as

boiling, rising and causing the top (the head) to pop open. That is where the expression “I

flipped my lid” (meaning “I was extremely angry”) comes from.

I flipped my lid.

I blew my top

I blew my stack

I hit the ceiling.

CONCEPTUAL METAPHORS

-A set of conceptual metaphors organizes a whole system of concepts with respect to one

another

CM: LOVE IS MADNESS FIGURATIVE EXPRESSION: I’m crazy about her.

CM: LOVE IS WAR FIGURATIVE EXPRESSION: He fled from her advances.

CM: LOVE IS A PHYSICAL FORCE FIGURATIVE EXPRESSION: I could feel the electricity

between us..

A concept is structured by the metaphor PARTIALLY and it can be EXTENDED in SOME ways but

not in others.

MORE IS UP LESS IS DOWN

The figurative expression: He attacked every weak point in my argument

is motivated by The CONCEPTUAL METAPHOR (CM): AN ARGUMENT IS A BATTLE

LOVE IS FIRE

He was on fire with emotion

They were ablaze with emotion

Seeing her every day kindled his passion for her

He was burning with desire

She fanned the flames of his desire

She was consumed by passion

He was all burned out

Time extinguishes passion

Happy is up; sad is down.

Conscious is up; unconscious is down.

Health and life are up; sickness and death are down.

ECONOMY IS WAR inflation is my biggest enemy

Idiomatic expression

-a polylexical (partially fixed) unit whose meaning cannot be derived from its component parts

I flipped my lid

TIME IS MOTION

In cognitive linguistics, conceptual metaphor, or cognitive metaphor, refers to the

understanding of one idea, or conceptual domain, in terms of another, for example,

understanding quantity in terms of directionality (e.g. "prices are rising"). A conceptual domain

can be any coherent organization of human experience. The regularity with which different

languages employ the s