A Linguistic Analysis Of Metaphor In English

The study of metaphor can be traced back to over 2000 years ago. But in recent years, there has been a growing interest in metaphor in the fields of linguistics and other related disciplines. Various approaches have been provided to explain the mechanism and functions of metaphor. The aim of this research is to focus on certain aspects, for an exploration of the phenomenon of metaphor, such as its mechanisms, various functions, and effective grammatical use. It also compares metaphor with simile and synaesthesia in order to make clear the dissimilarities as well as similarities. The thesis is of some help to students of English for a comprehensive understanding of metaphor.The present thesis is divided into six chapters:Chapter One is intended to confirm the"comparison view"of metaphor and to show the important role of imagery in metaphor. Chapter Two deals with the functions of metaphor: as a major factor in semantic motivation; as an essential function as a cognitive means; as an expressive device of emotion; as a means to illustrate; its ability to fill semantic gaps; and some others. Chapter Three mainly shows that the effectiveness of a metaphor comes largely from its freshness and its sufficient tenor-vehicle distance, but it must be ultimately judged by its appropriateness to context. This chapter also provides several limiting factors to make metaphors effective. Although metaphor and simile are both based on comparison, differences still exist. So Chapter Four illustrates the fact that metaphor and simile are related by dissimilarities as well as by similarities. This chapter is concluded with a detailed description of the formulae for expressing a simile. Chapter Five mainly focuses on synaesthesia, as a kind of metaphor, is characteristic in its forms in transplanting of different senses. This chapter also illustrates the functions of synaesthesia as a figure of speech. Chapter Six is a grammatical analysis of metaphor. It mainly illustrates the mechanisms of noun metaphor, verb metaphor, adjective metaphor and adverb metaphor, and offers several formulae so as to create various kinds of metaphors correctly. It is hoped that this chapter may enable a student of English to understand and use metaphor with greater ease.