The Mechanism Of Metaphorical Concepts And Their Functions In Language Interpretation And Internalization

Metaphor is traditionally treated only as a figure of speech and as deviation from plain and ordinary use of words. The recent studies, especially those made by Lakoff and Johnson, however, have changed people's understanding of metaphors."We have found, on the contrary, that metaphor is pervasive in everyday life, not just in language but in thought and action. Our ordinary conceptual system, in terms of which we both think and act, is fundamentally metaphorical in nature"(Lakoff & Johnson, 1980: 3).Based on the Theory of Conceptual Metaphor proposed by Lakoff and Johnson (Lakoff & Johnson, 1980), this thesis first analyzes metaphorical mapping, the mechanism of metaphorical concepts, from the perspective of Fauconnier and Turner's Blending Theory, and then it describes and generalizes the main functions of metaphorical concepts in language interpretation and internalization.Specifically, this thesis suggests that metaphorical concepts have the functions of illustration and illumination in terms of language interpretation, and the functions of induction and deduction in terms of language internalization. Besides, learners can also make use of some metaphorical concepts to differentiate synonymous structures. The functions of illustration and illumination were traditionally proposed as rhetorical skills (Feng, 1995: 169), but now they are treated as cognitive means. The illustrative function means explaining abstract or complicated ideas or processes through simple, concrete ones. For example, the abstract concept of life can be clearly delineated with the help of concrete concepts like gift, war, container and journey. The function of illumination refers to the fact that the use of metaphorical concepts in language is likely to give people deeper insight into persons, things, ideas, even problems through suggestive association generated by metaphorical mapping. In order to better explain the process of mapping, this thesis employs Fauconnier and Turner's Blending Theory, which indicates that metaphorical mapping is a process of blending, one which creates networks of connections between mental spaces.Deduction means deducing specific instances from general metaphorical concepts; in contrast, induction refers to inducing general metaphorical concepts from various specific metaphorical expressions. These inductive and deductive processes are complimentary to each other and form an unbreakable cycle in the process of language learning. Such functions originate from the systematicity of metaphorical concepts, both internally and externally, and help to facilitate the memorization and internalization of language information, especially idiomatic and formulaic expressions, by way of systemizing and categorizing metaphorical expressions.Metaphorical concepts also help to differentiate synonymous structures. Take English for example, the emergence of grammatical structures like transferred negation, circumlocution and tautology lies partly in metaphorical concepts in the conceptual system of English native speakers. Metaphorical concepts like CLOSENESS IS THE STRENGTH OF EFFECT and MORE OF FORM IS MORE OF CONTENT provide a new perspective for the study of such grammatical structures, especially in terms of the differentiation of their subtle differences in meanings.The analysis of metaphorical concepts'functions in language interpretation and internalization reveals the importance of applying theoretical achievements to teaching and learning practice. It is the hope of the author that this thesis might serve as tentative effort which would elicit fruitful work in this area.