A Conceptual Metaphor Study On The Lyrics Of The Northern Shaanxi Folk Songs From The Perspective Of Cognitive Linguistics

Metaphor has traditionally been regarded as a form of rhetorical device.In the work of Metaphors We Live By,Lakoff and Johnson proposed first their conceptual metaphor thought,claiming that metaphor is a systematic mapping from a concrete conceptual domain to an abstract conceptual domain,that it is a mode of thinking and a means of cognition,and that it could exist in language.The great use of metaphor is one of the characteristics of Northern Shaanxi Folk Songs(NSFS,hereafter).It is of great significance to explore the linguistic features of the NSFS from the perspective of conceptual metaphor,which can make people accurately understand this particular folk song,inherit excellent national culture of folk songs,and promote the development of conceptual metaphor theory itself.Based on this consideration,this thesis analyzes the current problems and deficiencies in the study of NSFS.On this basis,this thesis makes a preliminary study on the types of metaphor and the functions of metaphor of NSFS by using the conceptual metaphor theory.From the perspective of part of speech,this study found that the conceptual metaphors in the lyrics of the NSFS could be divided into four types: nominal metaphor,verbal metaphor,adjective metaphor and adverbial metaphor as well.As for the functions of metaphor in the lyrics of the NSFS,the thesis by illustrating a large number of examples from the NSFS concluded that the conceptual metaphor functions of the NSFS is manifested in five aspects: persuasive function,euphemistic function,economic function,easy-to-understand function and cultural function.The thesis proved that it is feasible and operable to classify metaphors in the lyrics of NSFS from the perspective of part of speech.After further exploring the connotation and cognitive process of metaphor,on the one hand,it is not difficult to get the five functions of metaphor in the NSFS,on the other hand,it further verifies the scientific nature of explaining metaphor phenomena from the perspective of cognitive linguistics.