The Applied Study Of The Legal Lexicon From The Perspective Of Conceptual Metaphor

As a hot issue of linguistics in recent years, the research on conceptual metaphorhas become more and more diversified. And as a means of absorbing knowledge fromother areas, the research scope of conceptual metaphor has expanded from linguisticsto the natural sciences and other disciplines.The legal lexicon, as an important part of the legal language, is not only the basisof comprehending legal concepts, but also the basis of comprehending legal nexusand the study of legal discourse. The legal lexicon could be compartmentalized intothe legal terminology (words of art) and the common words which have legalmeanings. Legal terminology is part of the legal lexicon that possesses the legalmeaning merely in the legal context, which does not exist in the common context;while the common words which have legal meanings belong to polysemic words andhave multiple meanings. The meanings of a word in the common context are differentfrom its meanings in the legal context. On one hand, the meanings of certain words inthe legal context and their meanings in the common context are interrelated, whichmeans the meanings of certain words in the legal context would be extended fromtheir meanings in the common context. On the other hand, the meanings of certainwords in the legal context would be entirely different in contrast with their meaningsin the common context. There has been a variation from the meaning in the commoncontext to the meaning in the legal context. The main question of this study is tofigure out how conceptual metaphors make the meaning of the words in the commoncontext extend and change into the lexical meaning in the legal context via themapping process.Based on the review of the relevant researches on the legal lexicon, this thesistakes cognitive linguistics as the theoretical support from the perspective ofconceptual metaphor, as well as taking the “Reality-Cognitive–Language” as theresearch mainline. It tries to construe a series of cognitive processes in whichconceptual metaphor is involved. On this basis, the mapping process of polysemy inthe legal lexicon would be explored. And the discussion of the positive significance of conceptual metaphors used in the legal English teaching especially for the learningand discrimination of the legal lexicon, as well as the conceptual metaphors used inthe legal English translation would be expounded.