...Journal of Philosophy, Inc. Conceptual Metaphor in Everyday Language Author(s): George Lakoff and Mark Johnson Source: The Journal of Philosophy, Vol. 77, No. 8 (Aug., 1980), pp. 453-486 Published by: Journal of Philosophy, Inc. Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/2025464 Accessed: 23/01/2009 17:46 Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of JSTOR's Terms and Conditions of Use, available at http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp. JSTOR's Terms and Conditions of Use provides, in part, that unless you have obtained prior permission, you may not download an entire issue of a journal or multiple copies of articles, and you may use content in the JSTOR archive only for your personal, non-commercial use. Please contact the publisher regarding any further use of this work. Publisher contact information may be obtained at http://www.jstor.org/action/showPublisher?publisherCode=jphil. Each copy of any part of a JSTOR transmission must contain the same copyright notice that appears on the screen or printed page of such transmission. JSTOR is a not-for-profit organization founded in 1995 to build trusted digital archives for scholarship. We work with the scholarly community to preserve their work and the materials they rely upon, and to build a common research platform that promotes the discovery and use of these resources. For more information about JSTOR, please contact support@jstor.org. Journal of Philosophy, Inc. is collaborating with JSTOR...
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...Cognitive Linguistic and Idioms General considerations about cognitive linguistics Cognitive linguistics is a new approach to the study of language which emerged in the late seventies and early eighties and interprets linguistic knowledge as part of general cognition and thinking. This new contemporary study that argues that language is governed by general cognitive principles, rather than by a special –purpose language module, is therefore associated with semantics, but is distinct from psycholinguistics, which draws upon empirical findings from cognitive psychology in order to explain the mental processes that underlie the acquisition and storage of speech. The most influential linguists working along these lines and focusing on cognitive principles were Charles Fillmore, Wallace Chafe, George Lakoff, Dirk Geeraerts, Roland Langacker and Leonard Talmy. The most important assumption shared by all these researchers is that meaning is so central to language that it must be a primary focus of study. Linguistic structures serve the function of expressing meanings and thus, the mapping between meaning and form are a prime subject of linguistic analysis. In The Oxford Handbook of Cognitive Linguistics, Dirk Geerates stated : “ Cognitive Linguistics is the study of language in its cognitive function, where cognitive refers to the crucial role of intermediate informational structures in our encounters with the world. Cognitive Linguistics is cognitive in the same way that cognitive...
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...Chapter one Introduction 1.1 Purpose of the Study As closed-class words, the spatial prepositions (SP), which are used to illustrate the relation of two objects is limited in number and simple in form. Nevertheless, they have a great many senses. SP is not only applied to describe the spatial relationship, but also applied to organize other grammar structure. Therefore, at the initial stage of learning English, SP is always the vital category of words that English learners have to comprehend. However, these limited and simple words are used (use) in the expression of foundational spatial meaning and abstract meaning. Learners can easily understand the meaning of up in get up but not in time is up. This is because the common and normal way learners used (use) to comprehend English is to find the “semantic equivalent”. A Chinese learner can understand the former one while they find a semantic equivalent “qi” in their mother language, but the latter one’s (one) is empty. According to the “semantic equivalence hypothesis” by Ijaz (1986), learners always intend to copy all grammar and communication function, except for pronunciation and spelling. From the linguistics aspect, learner can hardly find a precise substitute in their mother language. Therefore, how to master the use of SP efficiently becomes a challenge for English learners. In the view of traditional schools of linguists, the mean of words are arbitrary (Saussure,**), that is to say, the various meanings of SP and...
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...How we're herded by language Metaphors can persuade us to war or bring us back from the brink. We must try to be more aware of them ------------------------------------------------- Sarah Bakewell, The Guardian, Friday 6 September 2013 ‘The present meaning of the word poodle seems a world away from what the original breeders must have had in mind when they bred the Pudelhund to be a water retriever.' …………………………………………………………………………………………………………………. Here come the old metaphors again – and some new ones, too. In the last few days we have heard Barack Obama flooding the zone so as to urge strikes in Syria, within time windows, but without boots on the ground, because of the crossing of a red line which, back in May, threatened to box in the president, or even turn into a green light for Bashar al-Assad, who himself says that "the Middle East is a powder keg, and today the fuse is getting shorter". John Kerry calls people who hesitate "armchair isolationists," which suggests useless snoozers by the fireside rather than thoughtful opponents. Meanwhile, the media dubs France "America's poodle". So vivid are British memories of that taunt that the very thought of it may have accelerated the quick decision this time to reject military involvement. Metaphors are powerful. They can herd us to war or hold us back from the brink (these being metaphors too). Yet meanings shift. Whole theses could be written on the history of armchairs and poodles. Indeed, in a discussion of the...
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...Metaphor as a Cognitive Process Iordache Delia Master: Limba engleza. Studii teoretice si aplicate Anul II. Sem. I Introduction From the perspectives of construction, poetic and cognitive function and working mechanism, this paper makes a comprehensive analysis of metaphor as a cognitive process, where metaphor is constructed from human perceptual experience and is extended through imaginative processes An important feature of cognitive stylistics has been its interest in the way we transfer mental constructs, and especially in the way we map one mental representation onto another when we read texts. Cognitive linguists have consistently drawn attention to this system of conceptual transfer in both literary and in everyday discourse, and have identified important figures of speech, through which this conceptual transfer is carried out. Conceptual Metaphor, also called Cognitive Metaphor, was developed by researchers within the field of cognitive linguists. It became widely known with the publication of Metaphors We Live By, by Lakoff and Johnson, in 1980. Conceptual metaphor theory has since been developed and elaborated. Definition and Construction of Metaphor As we know, metaphor is a type of figurative language in which one thing is described in terms of some other thing. The word metaphor comes from Greek ‘metapherein’ which means carry over. Another translation is transference, a term more familiar to us from psychoanalytic...
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...7 What do Internet metaphors reveal about the perception of the Internet? 1 Denis L. Jamet, University of Lyon (Jean Moulin – Lyon 3) (denis.jamet@univ-lyon3.fr) Abstract The objective of this article is to throw light on what Internet metaphors – i.e. the metaphors used every day by English and French native speakers – reveal about their perception of the Internet. Within the framework of cognitive linguists such as Lakoff & Johnson, Sweetser, Turner, etc., I will analyze Internet metaphors to bring out the conceptual metaphors generating the various Internet metaphors, in English and in French. The main aim of this paper is to examine Internet linguistic metaphors a.k.a. Internet metaphorical expressions used to conceptualize the Internet, and try and see what conceptual metaphor(s) structure(s) the everyday metaphors we use to refer to the Internet, as well as the changing perception we have of it. Dieser Artikel untersucht Metaphern, mit denen die Technologie des Internet durch englische und französische Muttersprachler konzeptualisiert wird. Theoretischer Ausgangspunkt ist die kognitive Metapherntheorie, die von Lakoff & Johnson entwickelt sowie von Sweetser und Turner weiterentwickelt wurde. Ziel der Untersuchung ist es, die unterschiedlichen sprachlichen und konzeptuellen Metaphern aufzudecken und zu analysieren sowie Überlegungen dahingehend anzustellen, inwiefern ein konzeptuell metaphorischer Wandel im Zusammenhang mit einem Wahrnehmungswandel...
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...Black by asserting a radical view on metaphor: “Our ordinary conceptual system, in terms of which we both think and act, is fundamentally metaphorical in nature.”48 In this discussion of interaction views, there are some insightful notions with respect to metaphor. First, metaphor highlights certain features while hiding others.49 Second, metaphorical coherence between ostensibly inconsistent metaphors serves to share common entailments.50 In other words, each different metaphor interacts together coherently to highlight multiple aspects of the concept. For Richards, Black, Lakoff and Johnson, commonplaces are culturally determined and culturally specific, attention must be given to the associated commonplaces of...
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...Creative metaphor in three creation myths Introduction In this essay I will analyse the creative use of metaphor in three creation myths: Japanese, Chinese and Australian aboriginal creation myths. Before going into the detailed analysis of each creation myth, I will first consider the most appropriate framework by outlining the concept of cognitive metaphor and its uses. I will also draw on historical and cultural background information of each creation myth to provide the context for my analysis. I will then employ the chosen framework to analyse the three creation myths and draw particular attention to the interplay of metaphor and language creativity. Finally, I will evaluate the effectiveness of the chosen framework by considering how far it enables me to interpret creation mythology in context. Cognitive metaphor theory Traditional approaches have regarded metaphor mainly as a rhetorical or artistic figure of speech (Johnson, 1989). Cognitive metaphor theory coming more recently has recognised metaphor as a persistent trait in human thoughts. It is based on the foundation that metaphor is not limited to literary texts but is a pervasive feature in all language uses (Jeffries and McIntyre, 2010). Lakoff, Johnson and Turner were the forerunners in establishing cognitive metaphor theory (Lakoff and Johnson, 1980; Turner, 1987; Lakoff and Turner, 1989). In the classic work Metaphor We Live By, Lakoff and Johnson (1980) argue that metaphor is not merely a matter of language...
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...The Everyday Life of Metaphors “To be aware of metaphors is to be humbled by the complexity of the world, to realize that deep in the undercurrents of thought there are thousands of lenses popping up between us and the world, and that we’re surrounded at all times by what Steven Pinker of Harvard once called ‘pedestrian poetry.’ ” --David Brooks When having a conversation with family, friends, or a colleague, are you aware of what you are saying? Are you aware of the devices that you use to shift the conversation in your favor or even to make your point more relatable? Contrary to popular belief, metaphors are a part of our everyday life; they are ubiquitous. We use them in everyday conversations more often than we may realize. Metaphors are powerful devices; often times we use them subconsciously, but they still manage to deliver the same validity. The aim of this paper is to bring the metaphors in our everyday life to light, by showing their explicit and implicit use in different areas of our daily life. Metaphors go beyond literature and transcend to other realms such as storytelling, spoken art, government, and advertisement. Before examining the everyday life of a metaphor, it is important to present its meaning and history to best explain how it became such an important part of our speech. Aristotle was the first to provide a scholarly treatment of metaphors and gives a detailed definition of the term ‘metaphor.’ He reports that a metaphor ”consists in giving...
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...City Life: The City as a Metaphor What is a metaphor? Metaphors are words or phrases that make comparisons between two things that are usually very different. They are used every single day by every single person in the world. They can be utilized in regular normal speech or in sophisticated literature. In the context of cities, historian Lewis Mumford had introduced a few metaphors to describe the city and how it runs on a daily basis. He gave cities definitions, by saying that one: cities could be magnets and how it could exert a type of pull, two: cities could be containers of many different things, or three: cities were transformers that could change people, places and things in many different ways . These definitions will be exemplified by showing them through two of the historical types of cities of our time, the Medieval City and the Suburban City. Metaphors can give everything, like cities, a completely different meaning. They can give people different...
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...The words "Machine Metaphor", "Human relations", and "Human Resource Approaches" share no comparison nor do they contrast to each other. Each term has its own unique meaning to it and should be classified and labeled as that. These words differ from each other by their name and sound nothing alike. Throughout this paper, I will be explaining how each one of them is different from one another and why they are different. Machine Metaphor is built upon the idea that is central to classical organizational theorists use for theories. Machine Metaphor consists of specializations, standardization, and replaceability. An example of how Machine Metaphor works would be the military. In the military, there is a Scalar chain, Unity of Command, Unity...
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...A Comparative Study of Metaphor in British and United States of America (US) Political Discourse Student’s Name University Affiliation Comparative Study of Metaphor in British and United States of America (US) Political Discourse Abstract This study offers a research on the application of metaphor in the discourse of cultural and political aspects between these two countries; The United States of America and Great Britain. As a result, this is an analysis of the various factors related to the perspective in terms of the cultural and socio-political phenomenon, in which a lot of attention is placed on the elements ascertaining the pragmatic, variable, and cognitive details of the British and US's political discourses: The inaugural speeches of four US presidents and party political manifestos of two British political parties during the period between 1974 and 1997 are analysed. The main purpose of undertaking this kind of comparative study of the British and the American political discourses is quite evident, these discourses symbolize intriguing and complex methods of cultural values and political differences as depicted in the respective linguistic contexts. The key findings are that metaphors from the domains of conflict, journey and buildings are general across the divide. However, the British corpus contain metaphors that draw on the source domain of plants whereas the American corpus hugely draws on source domains like fire and light and the physical environments that are...
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...The Yorùbá Animal Metaphors: Analysis and Interpretation ADÉSOLÁ OLÁTÉJÚ University of Ibadan, Nigeria ABSTRACT The paper undertakes a study of animal metaphors in the Yorùbá language with a view to highlighting the stylistic and communicative potentials of these metaphors. To achieve the set objective, the animals – domestic and wild – involved in metaphors and their individual distinctive characteristic features that motivate their metaphorical interpretations are highlighted. The paper also discusses the sources of animal metaphors, which are said to be located in three areas, namely: the Yorùbá naming culture, animal characteristic habits and behaviour, and the Yorùbá poetry. In discussing the metaphorical processes involved in the interpretation of animal-related metaphors, a two-dimensional approach is adopted: stylistic and cultural. In the first, the semantic features of animals involved in metaphors are decomposed into semantic markers that are of two types. The first is the High Priority Semantic Markers (HPSM), which determine the cognitive/conceptual meaning of the metaphors, and the second is the Low Priority Semantic Markers (LPSM), which determine the secondary metaphorical interpretation. Animal metaphors involve transference of meanings, and whatever meanings or interpretations are assigned to a particular animal metaphor, are culture and context dependent. The paper concludes with stylistic and communicative functions of animal metaphors, with the submission...
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...网络流行新词“X姐”和“X哥”语义演变的隐喻认知研究 摘要:近几年来，“X姐”、“X哥”作为新兴的网络新词得到广泛推广。“姐”、“哥”的语义也发生了变化：由最初表示一种亲属关系的身份，到如今人们对社会当中的某些比较特殊的或是比较突出的个人冠以的一种或调侃或戏谑的称呼。隐喻作为语言使用过程中的一种重要的认知模式，与语义演变密切相关。本文从隐喻认知的角度，就“姐”、“哥”在“X姐”、“X哥”中产生的新义，加以阐释。 关键词：网络新词，语义演变，隐喻认知 Abstract: In recent years, “X Jie” and “X Ge”, as new forms of internet expressions, have been widely used. “Jie” and “Ge” have developed from the original meanings, elder sister and elder brother into many new meanings, such as a person of special personality in a given filed. Metaphor, as an important cognitive model, has a close relationship with the language evolution. From the view of cognitive metaphor, the new meanings of “Jie” and “Ge” can be scientifically explained. Key Words：New Forms of Internet Expressions，Language Evolution，Cognitive Metaphor 一、引言 随着信息时代的高速发展，网络时代的到来促使了新的交流方式的产生，即以网络为媒介而实现的人际交流的方式。在这个交流的过程中出现了一种新的语言——网络语言。网络语言基于网络的开放性和自由性形成了其独具特色的新语体，许多新词扑面而来，并经过网络传播而得以推广流行。网络流行词“X姐”、“X哥”在近几年频频出现，并以强大的构词能力迅速风靡网络、电视、报刊等新闻媒体。例如新词“凤姐”、“犀利哥”已经成为人们热议的话题。“X姐”、“X哥”作为网络新词，具有其能产性、定位性、和类化性的特点。“姐”、“哥”由最初表示一种亲属关系的身份，到如今人们对社会当中的某些比较特殊的或是比较突出的个人冠以的一种或调侃或戏谑的称呼。在这种词义的变化中，隐喻思维的影响不容置疑。据统计，语言中70%的词义是隐喻或源于隐喻。随着社会的发展，人们不断认知和创造这新事物，事物范畴也不断扩大。当人的思维发展到一定阶段，最初的概念范畴已不能满足对具体事物的认识和表达。这时，人们并不是无止境的创造新词语，而是将新认识的抽象概念与已知的事物相联系，找到它们的相似性，从而用对已知的事物的认识来处理，即隐喻认知过程。可见，隐喻对认知和词语意义的发展有重要意义。本文从认知语言学的视角出发，对“姐”、“哥”的语义转化进行隐喻认知方面的考察，以揭示“姐”、“哥”语义转化的隐喻认知过程，为新词语流行推广的原因提供借鉴。 二、隐喻 对隐喻的研究可追溯到两千年前，亚里士多德的传统隐喻论把隐喻看作是一种修辞格，是一种语言常规的违反和偏离。在新近的二十几年崛起的认知语言学研究中，隐喻不再被看作是...
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...Conceptual analysis and specification of Morgan’s metaphors using the CAST method Taken from: Gazendam, Henk W.M. (1993). Variety Controls Variety: On the Use of Organization Theories in Information Management. Groningen: Wolters-Noordhoff. 400 pp. ISBN 90-01-32950-0. 4.2. An overview of Morgan's metaphors Morgan (1986) distinguishes eight metaphors for organizations: machine, organism, brain, culture, political system, psychic prison, flux and transformation, and instrument of domination. Each metaphor highlights other aspects of organizational life (see Figure 4.1.). For further analysis, the metaphors can be grouped into three groups: the machine group, the organism group, and the mind group. The machine group only contains the machine metaphor (Paragraph 4.3.). The organism group focuses on the dynamic relationship of organization and environment and contains the organism metaphor and the flux and transformation metaphor (Paragraph 4.4.). The mind group (Paragraph 4.5.) contains two subgroups. The first mind subgroup concentrates on the relationship between the minds of persons and the organization as a social construct; it contains the brain metaphor, the culture metaphor, and the psychic prison metaphor. The second mind subgroup focuses on coordination mechanisms and power plays, and encompasses the political system metaphor and the instrument of domination metaphor. metaphor machine highlights efficiency, quality, and timeliness of production processes in a machine...
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