On Relevance And Adaptation Of Metaphor

Metaphor study has gone through rhetorical, semantic and multi-disciplinary stages. Modern metaphor theories insist that metaphor is a universal cognitive phenomenon. Based on the previous studies, the present thesis explores the relevance and adaptation of metaphor from a cognitive perspective, insisting that metaphor is a matter of language user's searching for optimal relevance in the light of cognitive context, and that metaphor is a process of choice-making in language form and strategy and adaptation to context and language structure. Namely, metaphor is a process of relevance and adaptation.Relevance theory proposed by D. Sperber and D. Wilson and adaptation theory developed by J. Verschueren being the theoretic basis, the present thesis explores the relevance and adaptation of metaphor by analyzing some examples, and tentatively brings forward an RT-AT model for metaphor interpretation by consulting the RT-AT approaches to verbal communication proposed by Chinese scholars. The main body of the study includes three parts, together with the introduction and conclusion, therefore, the entire thesis falls into five chapters.Chapter one briefly recalls the major theories and approaches in each stage of metaphor study and the status quo of Chinese scholars'study on metaphor. This chapter also illustrates the theoretical basis, i.e. relevance theory and adaptation theory, and some basic concepts respectively.Chapter two probes into metaphor from the perspective of relevance theory. By integrating the previous studies, this chapter puts forward our viewpoints about metaphor from the perspective of its mature, identification and understanding, insisting that metaphor, in its nature, is cognitive. Metaphor belongs to the category of loose talk and falls into the descriptive use of language, the identification of which depends on cognitive context. We also hold that the production and interpretation of metaphor are the processes of searching for optimal relevance in terms of cognitive context and processes of understanding weak implicatures. Moreover, we insist that metaphor is the product of complicated thoughts by employing the Economy Principle in the process of searching for optimal relevance.Chapter three explores metaphor in terms of adaptation theory by introducing some examples. This chapter, based on the basic views of adaptation theory, brings forward the adaptation of metaphor in the light of choice-making and adaptation. We insist that metaphor is a complicated socio-cultural and psychological phenomenon, that the production and interpretation of metaphor are processes of language user's choice-making in language forms and strategies, and that metaphor is an adaptation to context (including mental world, social world and physical world) and language structure (including language, code, style and utterance-building ingredients), which is a dynamic process concerning language user's salience. In short, metaphor is a product of language user's choice-making in form and strategy, adaptation to context and structure.Chapter four attempts to interpret metaphor based on the RT-AT models brought forward by some Chinese scholars, expecting to make a comprehensive understanding of metaphor. However, both relevance theory and adaptation theory have their merits and demerits in metaphor interpretation. Relevance theory emphasizes particularly on theoretical explanation while ignoring microscopical description, on the contrary, adaptation theory pays more attention to microscopical description while overlooking theoretical explanation. Therefore, by integrating the advantages of both cognitive theories in metaphor interpretation, we advance the adaptation of metaphor, insisting that metaphor is relevance-oriented, that metaphor is a product of language user's choice-making in language form and strategy, of language user's salient and dynamic adaptation to context and structure, of following the economy principle in the light of searching for optimal relevance. Both theories are complimentary with each other in metaphor interpretation.Chapter five summarizes the major findings in the previous chapters and explains the shortcomings and the direction of amendments in the future study. This thesis attempts to interpret metaphor by employing the latest theories to remedy the limitations of traditional studies and provide references for using and understanding metaphor.