A Study Of Metaphors In Doctor-Patient Conversation From The Perspective Of Relevance Theory

Patients often use metaphorical language to describe their illness and feelings to doctors.Meanwhile,doctors utilize metaphors to explain treatment options and medical terminology to patients,ensuring they fully comprehend the presented information.As such,metaphors play a vital role in doctor-patient conversations and must be taken into account.Relevance theory is a critique and development of Grice’s conversational implicature,which was generated by Sperber and Wilson based on Grice’s cooperative principle theory.Relevance theory attempts to analyze discourse from pragmatic and cognitive perspectives,which offers valuable insights into the role of metaphors in doctor-patient conversation.The author uses natural doctor-patient conversation in the Shoulder and Neck Pain Department of a first-class tertiary hospital in Yantai as the data source.The effective conversation duration is approximately 660 minutes,and a total of 151 metaphors are identified.The main research method of this study is qualitative analysis.The author mainly studies metaphors in doctor-patient conversation from the following questions:(1)What are the characteristics of metaphors in doctor-patient conversation?(2)What are the functions of metaphors in doctor-patient conversation?(3)How to interpret metaphorical expressions in doctor-patient conversation from the perspective of relevance theory?The study has the following results.From the perspective of the actual use of language,the doctor in the Shoulder and Neck Pain Department prefers to use novel metaphors,while patients prefer to use conventional metaphors.From the perspective of cognitive linguistics,structural metaphors,ontological metaphors,and orientational metaphors are all used.The doctor mainly uses metaphors in the diagnosis and recommendation stages,while patients mainly use metaphors in the problem presentation stage.Changing context has led to different functions of metaphors,including simplifying expression(description and explanatory),euphemistic persuasion,and constructing discourse.Regardless of the types of metaphors,participants in the conversation follow the relevant principles of relevance theory when using metaphors.When the speaker predicts that the words he or she produces may be difficult for the listener to understand,to reduce the listener’s processing effort and achieve sufficient cognitive effects,the speaker will use metaphors.The metaphor,at this point,is considered the optimal relevant expression.After receiving an ostensive stimulus signal,the listener constantly seeks relevance and expands the cognitive context layer by layer until he believes he has achieved the desired contextual effect,thus inferring the implicit meaning of the metaphor.This study has explored the process and functions of metaphors in doctor-patient conversation from the perspective of relevance theory,enriching empirical research on metaphor in doctor-patient conversations.Moreover,it integrates pragmatic theory with western characteristics with the personality of Chinese doctor-patient conversation,strengthening the guiding role of theory in reality.On the other hand,this study also has specific practical significance: to help doctors improve their awareness of using metaphors so that patients can better control their physical conditions,which will increase the affinity between doctors and patients,and is conducive to creating a harmonious doctor-patient consultation environment.