An Exploration Into Cognitive Functions Of Metaphor In Economic Texts

Metaphor is not only a means of rhetoric, but also a tool of thinking and a cognitive way for human to understand the world. As a rhetoric phenomenon, metaphor exists in our common life. It is said traditionally that in strict and objective sciences the exaggerating form—metaphor is not allowed. In fact, the cognitive function of metaphor is so important that it can redound to discourse analysis, information processing and the comprehension of author's aim. Metaphor is generally used in description of economic theories, because the content of economics is abstract and hard to be understood. Therefore, this thesis aims to explore the functions of metaphor in economic text.This thesis makes a literature review of metaphor development and its relative studies. From the view of functional linguistics, the thesis aims to make functional analysis to explore the cognitive functions of metaphors in economic texts. And the study draws a conclusion with some new findings.The study has multidisciplinary significance. First, linguistics theories and statistic method are combined to analyze linguistic phenomenon, cognitive method and the value of cognitive process, for the development and innovation of other disciplines. Second, from the view of linguistics and English teaching, the study can help the student of economics and scholars promote the apprehension to economic text and follow author's original intention. Besides, the study is advantage to reading teaching of professional English on economics. Third, as a dynamic cultural process, the comprehension and creation of metaphor enrich the word's meaning, expand words' pragmatic scope and promote the development of language. Then, the study chooses some representative materials to analyze the functions and their influences by scientific statistic method and illustrations on the basis of theoretical cognitive models. And the study also points out the limitation...