A Semiotic Study Of Cognitive Mechanism And Motivations Of Metaphors

Metaphor refers to a way that one thing is used to describe the concept of something else, and it is an activity in which people explain something in one domain with the experiences or knowledge in another. It is a basic cognitive tool for human beings. Researches on metaphors go back to ancient times. In the Western countries, Aristotle has been regarded as the one who initiated a systematic study on English metaphor and his theories about the nature and functions of metaphors determined the basic way to later metaphoric studies in some related academic circles. Ever since the 20th century, studies on metaphors have gradually broken through the limitation of classifying and describing metaphor as a figure of speech and begin multi-disciplinary studies from various angles. Researches on metaphor in the academic circle have been increasingly deepened, and the study on cognitive mechanism and motivations of metaphors has become a hot topic. More and more scholars have started their explorations from the perspective of semiotics.Based on semiotics, metaphor is a semiotic activity of endowing things with meanings. The illustration of metaphors from the perspective of semiotics lies in proclaiming the signification process of metaphoric language, a process of understanding meanings of signs. This study aims to give a systematic investigation on metaphoric cognitive mechanism and summarize their motivations from the perspective of semiotics. A better explanation and analysis to metaphors is given.This study employs both inductive and deductive analyses. Firstly, from the perspective of semiotics, dual planes and dual axes, iconicity and hierarchy of language sign are discussed to examine the cognitive mechanism of metaphors and construct a new model for the interpretation of metaphors. Secondly, three motivations of metaphors, language sign, social environment and cognitive factors are studied, which is helpful to the illustration of metaphors. According to the researches on cognitive mechanism and motivations from the perspective of semiotics, conclusion is drawn that metaphors are created on the iconicity of dual planes and dual axes and on the second-level of language sign. A new semiotic model is helpful to the interpretation of metaphors, which is also the innovation of this study.To a certain degree, this study has some theoretical and practical value. Theoretically, it provides a new angle for the understanding of metaphors and enriches metaphoric theories. Practically, the better interpretation of metaphors may deepen the understanding of languages and promote inter-cultural communication.