Virtual And The Cognitive Research

Counterfactual metaphors,which are pervasive in proverbs,fables,adages,slang, idioms,and literary quotations,deserve special theoretical treatment for their own right.They are very different from other metaphors.This thesis explores the relationship between counterfactual thoughts and rhetoric underlying the abundant counterfactual metaphors.Counterfactual thoughts are embodies not only in literary texts but also in daily speeches。While factual conceptual metaphors reflect the importance of the body in the mind(Lakoff & Johnson 1980,1999),counterfactual metaphors highlight the key roles played by the phantoms of the mind.Counterfactual metaphors have unique expressive and rhetoric effects which surpass those of factual conceptual metaphors.However,there hasn't been a monograph or thesis on counterfactual metaphors up to now.Hence,this thesis lays the rudimentary foundations for that goal with the analyses in the six chapters.PartⅠintroduces counterfactual metaphors.First we points out that the most typical feature of counterfactual metaphors is seeing reality in phantoms.That is, things and situations in reality are reflected in fiction.Second,we define counterfactual metaphors and compare them with factual conceptual metaphors.PartⅡsurveys the four major theories of metaphors.We argue that different metaphors demand different theoretical treatment.Space blending theory is suitable for the interpretation of counterfactual metaphors.Moreover,we offered some complements to the Space Blending Model.PartⅢexplores the typical features of counterfactual metaphors.On the one hand,speakers reconstruct one of the input spaces by projecting the schemata from the target domain;hence counterfactual metaphors show the parallel between reality and counterfactuals.There are two types of projection,single scope and double scope projection.On the other hand,understanding counterfactual metaphors involves the reversed mapping,namely,from the counterfactuals to realities.Furthermore,there is an interaction between explicit blending and implicit blending in understanding counterfactual metaphors.Contextual information controls the implicature of counterfactual metaphors.We argue that the Implicit Blending Model solve the projection problem in the Explicit Blending Model.PartⅣcovers the pragmatic functions of counterfactual metaphors,such as the function of triggering the negative and scalar implicature,acting as indirect speeches, and drawing analogies.PartⅤgeneralizes the ways to construct counterfactual metaphors.There are countless methods to make counterfactual metaphors,however,we summarized the major types,such as the blending of the Great Chain of Being,substitution,affixation, reversing,combining the methods with purposes,all of which show speakers' linguistic competence,i.e.,boundless new concepts(or structures) result from limited resources as Chomsky claimed.PartⅥdraws the conclusion.