Exploration Of On-line Processing Mechanism Of Metaphor With Conceptual Integration Theory

Metaphor can be found everywhere in human language, and enjoys great universality and pervasiveness. Important as it is, metaphor has attracted the attention of many scholars since the Aristotle's time. In the cognitive approach of language emerged in the recent 20 years, metaphor is no longer considered as a rhetoric device or decorative method of language, instead it is now regarded as a universal cognition phenomenon of human beings. It is a mode of thinking and behavior expressed by means of human's language. The research on metaphor and its meaning interpretation is to study the modes and the patterns of human beings'thinking in essence.The Conceptual Integration Theory, a rapidly developing major force in cognitive science proposed by Fauconnier and Turner, opens a new window and provides a new framework for the study of on-line meaning construction of metaphors. Conceptual integration is the blending of mental spaces. According to Conceptual Integration Theory, the basic operation is comprised of four mental spaces:two input spaces, one generic space and one blended space. In blending, elements or structures from input spaces are selectively projected to a separate "blended space". Through composition, completion and elaboration, the blend develops structure that is not provided by the input spaces, which is called "emergent structure"Although Conceptual Integration Theory has propelled the metaphor study to a deeper level, which is the on-line interpretation process, it still has some deficiencies. First, Conceptual Integration Theory posits the generic space on the top of the integration network, and isolates it from the blended space. The role of generic space played in the process of integration is not elaborated. Second, Conceptual Integration Theory considers similarity as an inner-space vital relation that connects the elements with all kinds of shared characteristics, but not the foundation of cross-mapping. So it neglects the cognitive function of similarity in conceptual integration. At last, Fauconnier considers the emergent structure as the end of the whole integration process, while we hold the idea that emergent structure only provides structure or flame in neither of the input space, it is not where the metaphorical meaning comes out.This thesis uses the Conceptual Integration Theory as the theoretical framework, based on the classic "four-space" model, puts a revised model of conceptual integration by establishing the connection between the generic space and the blended space and adding an output space as the outcome of metaphorical meaning. The author points out there are three main phrases in the process of metaphor interpretation. First, two input spaces are established as the source domain and the target domain. By seeking for the similarity of the two input spaces, the shared structure or frame is abstracted to form the generic space; then the shared structure or frame is projected to the blended space and combined with some elements or values in the input spaces, which forms the emergent structure; at last, the metaphorical meaning comes out from the output space, which completes the process of metaphor interpretation. This thesis tries to uncover the on-line processing mechanism of metaphor by analyzing different types of integration network of metaphors in the famous American sitcom Friends, hence puts the research of metaphor to a more in-depth level.