A Study On Functions Of Grammatical Metaphor In Scientific Discourse

Etymologically the word metaphor derives from"metaphore"in French and"metaphora"in Latin and can be traced back to the ancient word"metapherein"with the meaning"to transfer". The flourishing of metaphor research through history gives birth to various approaches to metaphor. But most approaches focus on lexical metaphor. Halliday's grammatical metaphor theory indicates that the phenomenon of metaphor happens not only on the lexical level but also on the lexico-grammatical level. This perspective opens a new realm of metaphor study.This thesis aims to explore the functions of grammatical metaphor in scientific discourse within the framework of systemic-functional linguistics. The explication of the ideational function and the tentative discussion of the interpersonal and textual functions of grammatical metaphor in scientific discourse contribute to the conclusion that grammatical metaphor constitutes the mechanism for the increase of technicality and rationality and the enactment of interpersonal relationship.The thesis is divided into six parts. Chapter One is the general introduction. The historical account of metaphor in Chapter Two falls into three parts. The first two parts examine the Aristotelian and Platonic schools of thought on metaphor. The third part is a review of the 20th century metaphor theories, including the comparison/substitution theory, the interaction theory, the cognitive metaphor theory and the grammatical metaphor theory. Chapter Three gives the theoretical framework in which grammatical metaphor is put forward with an overview of systemic functional linguistics. Some important and essential ideas and concepts in systemic-functional grammar are introduced. Chapter Four offers an illustration of grammatical metaphor. A comparison between lexical metaphor and grammatical metaphor is made to demonstrate their differences. Halliday classifies grammatical metaphor into ideational metaphor and interpersonal metaphor. Martin proposes the notion of textual metaphor. A composite explication of grammatical metaphor is given here. Chapter Five is a tentative discussion of the functions of grammatical metaphor in scientific discourse. The grammar of language is a reshaping of human experience. By recourse to grammatical metaphor scientists and researchers can construe the evanescent phenomena as entities which are stable and lasting and suitable to be theorized and systematized. In this way the reality is reconstructed. This is the ideational function of grammatical metaphor. Then a tentative study is made on the interpersonal function of grammatical metaphor in...