Metaphor In EST Discourse

Metaphor is omnipresent in written English for Science and Technology (EST). This thesis has grown out of research into the characteristics of EST discourse with the cognitive approach. It intends to make a detailed study on the functions and the features of metaphor in EST discourse with the purpose of making up for the inadequacy in this research area. This thesis shows that metaphor permeates EST in many different contexts and is drawn from various domains of human experience. An analysis of the language that scientists and technologists use can help people appreciate the importance of embodied, directly physical experiences in the processes of thinking of scientists and technologists.After presenting a literature review on EST studies, this thesis introduces the theories of metaphor: the traditional approach and the cognitive approach. The former mainly takes metaphor as a figure of speech, and the latter takes metaphor as a cognitive tool. From the second perspective, the conceptual metaphor theory, which was developed by Lakoff and Johnson in 1980, is presented in detail in this thesis. According to Lakoff and Johnson, metaphor can be thought of as mappings from a source domain of everyday experience to a target domain of abstract entities, with the aim of enlarging and enhancing understanding of that target domain. There are three main kinds of conceptual metaphors: Structural, Orientational, and Ontological metaphors. Most examples from the EST materials in this thesis are structural metaphors. The conceptual metaphor theory shows that human thought processes are largely metaphorical in which metaphor is an important cognitive tool. In this respect, metaphor is also a necessary part of science and technology that are concerned with the cognitive ability of human being.On the basis of the analysis of the conceptual theory, this thesis explores the functions of metaphor in EST discourse. There are three main kinds of functions of metaphor in EST discourse: the theory-constitution function, the guidance function and the rhetorical functions. The theory-constitution function means that scientists and technologists can express new ideas and build new theories in which metaphor provides the cognitive framework. The guidance function means that metaphor can be a guide in processing raw scientific data to help scientists discover natural laws. The rhetorical functions mean that metaphor can be used to make definition, description, explanation and classification in a coherent EST discourse with a core metaphor as center.Although metaphors both in EST discourse and literature discourse create similarities, metaphor in EST discourse has its own features: universality of use, necessity for clear explanation, and conceptual open-endedness and inductive open-endedness. Owing to the universality of science and technology, metaphor in the language of science and technology is more characteristic of the universality of human thinking.Metaphor in language of science and technology is an important part of human thinking. It is less affected by culture factors and provides the evidence for the universality of human thinking, which deserves further exploration.The present thesis falls into six chapters. Chapter One is the introduction. The author points out the purpose, introduces some basic concepts, and defines the organization of this thesis. Chapter Two is devoted to the literature review relevant to the present study. Chapter Three discusses the theories of metaphor. This chapter mainly presents the conceptual metaphor theory on which the discussion of the following chapter is based. Chapter Four explores the functions of metaphor in EST discourse: the theory-constitution function, the guidance function in natural laws discovery, and the rhetorical functions (definition, description, explanation and classification). Chapter Five makes a distinction of metaphors respectively between EST and literature discourses. Chapter Six is the conclusion, which summarizes the whole thesis.