Study Of Metaphors Based On The Denotation-connotation Inheritance Theory

The study of metaphor begins from Aristotle in two thousand years ago. At thattime, metaphor was taken as a figure of speech and a deviant language phenomenon.But with the publication of Lakoff&Johnson’s “Metaphors We Live By”, the study ofmetaphor enters into a new stage, in which metaphor is a way of thinking and exists inour thought and action. From then on, the study of metaphor from the perspective ofcognition flourishes.In those theories concerning metaphor, the most attractive one must be the studyof the working mechanism of metaphor. Because it reveals the essence of metaphorwhich can help us understand the world better. From a diachronic view, there are threetheories concerning the working mechanism of metaphor, there are Richards’“Interaction View”, Lakoff&Johnson’s “Domain Mapping View” and Fauconnier’s“Blending Space Theory”. They make a great contribution to the development of thestudy of metaphor. However, they still face many questions and criticisms.This thesis attempts to reinterpret these three theories from the perspective of“Denotation-connotation Inheritance” theory. Denotation and connotation are twoimportant concepts in logic and any concept can be analyzed from these two points ofview. Denotation represents the relationship one thing or a situation has with the otherthings or situations, while connotation is the essential property. Everything in theworld is in a hierarchy and the ability of categorization can help people locate onething in the hierarchy and then get to know the thing and the others that related with it.So this is a new and a more intrinsic perspectiveBesides these, this thesis also attempts to study the richness of metaphor. In thepast studies, metaphor was always studied as an individual case, letting alone themechanism behind the rich production of metaphor. This thesis will divide themetaphors into three categories based on the ontology and vehicle, and then studythem from the perspective of “Denotation-connotation Inheritance” theory and the“Philosophy of Mind”. The philosophy of mind grew out of the philosophy oflanguage, but goes beyond the research object of language philosophy which regardsmeaning as the primary task(Tu Jiliang2003). Instead it focuses on the study of themind. Language is produced by human being, it is necessary to take the factors of thecognitive subject into consideration. So to research the process of the rich productionof metaphor from the perspective of philosophy of mind can well reveal the essence of the procedure.Through the research, this thesis finds out that the problems that the threetheories concerning the working mechanism of metaphor face will be solved from theperspective of “Denotation-connotation Inheritance” theory. Based on this theory, thisthesis will also try to establish a frame to interpret the richness of metaphors. In thisprocedure, some issues in philosophy of mind such as intentionality, property dualismand supervenience play an important role, directing and explaining the production andunderstanding of some steps in it.