Semantics: a coursebook, second edition
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particular expression Dr Jones is a butcher (perhaps something like A DOCTOR IS A TRADESMAN) is also quite isolated and apparently limited to this one example. A further idiosyncratic aspect of this example is that it’s not clear why knowledge about being a butcher (from the source domain) is construed negatively, since butchers are typically quite skilled at what they do. Apparently, there is more to the understanding of an idiomatic expression, even one that might be partly metaphorical in nature, than can be explained just by directly mapping aspects of the source domain to the target domain. Idiomatic expressions often take on a life of their own. (See Taylor 2002: Chapters 24 and 27 for more discussion about metaphors and idiomatic language.) Expressions such as My car is a lemon and Dr Jones is a butcher now function essentially as idioms in the language, but as idioms that originally re flected metaphorical relationships which have become fixed (or frozen) over time. LJ refer to them as ‘isolated instances of metaphorical concepts’ or, U N I T 2 7 Non-literal meaning: idioms, metaphor, and metonymy 333 in other words, as ‘idiosyncratic metaphorical expressions that stand alone and are not used systematically in our language or thought’ (LJ 1980: 54). It should now be apparent that many of the examples in the preceding practices also evoke essentially frozen metaphors of various kinds, which we will give you the opportunity to explore in the exercises at the end of this unit. A major contribution of LJ’s work was their demonstration that our language is su ffused with a large number of metaphorical expressions that are not frozen, but which re flect large-scale metaphorical systems which they divide into several subtypes. The first subtype we will examine here are structural metaphors. Definition STRUCTURAL METAPHORS are abstract metaphorical systems in which an entire (typically abstract) complex mental concept is structured in terms of some other (usually more concrete) concept. They typically involve multiple individual linguistic expressions that evoke some aspect of the metaphor (as opposed to more restricted frozen metaphors which usually occur in only one expression). Another way of thinking about structural metaphors is that ‘they allow us . . . to use one highly structured and clearly delineated concept to structure another’ (LJ 1980: 61). Example Consider such expressions as the following: (1) Her point of view is indefensible. (2) They attacked everything we said. (3) I finally won/lost the argument. (4) She defended her claim that the moon is habitable. (5) We demolished their argument. (6) My strategy against their argument was weak. (7) Our criticism of his claim was right on target. According to LJ, the language in these everyday expressions is neither exceptional nor particularly figurative in nature, but reflects the usual way we talk about intellectual argument. But it is couched in the concrete language of warfare (i.e. actual physical combat), using such words from this area of experience as defend, attack, win, lose, etc. LJ suggest that such language provides evidence that we actually conceptualize argument in terms of war, and therefore that English has the structural metaphor ARGUMENT IS WAR. Comment Notice that in expressing the metaphor in written terms, we state the more abstract domain (ARGUMENT) first, followed by a form of the verb to be, and then the concrete domain (WAR), with all parts in upper-case letters. Practice Each item below contains several everyday English expressions that evoke a particular structural metaphor. Try to identify this metaphor using the format described above. (1) Metaphor: ....................................................................................................... (a) John and Mary have come a long way together (b) Our lives have taken di fferent paths PA RT S I X Interpersonal and non-literal meaning 334 (c) I think she will go far in life (d) We have come to a crossroads in our life (2) Metaphor: ....................................................................................................... (a) Stop wasting my time (b) We can save time by taking this shortcut (c) This delay will cost us at least two hours (d) She always spends too much time shopping (3) Metaphor: ....................................................................................................... (a) Jane put in her two cents’ worth (b) John is rich in ideas (c) That book is a treasure trove of ideas (d) Mary has a wealth of new ideas Feedback (1) LIFE IS A JOURNEY. (2) TIME IS MONEY. (3) IDEAS ARE MONEY. Comment We see in this practice that both the abstract TIME and IDEA domains are at least partially structured in terms of the more concrete MONEY domain. LJ observe that it is not unusual to find more than one abstract knowledge domain structured in terms of the same basic source domain. This probably occurs because some source domains, such as the MONEY domain, are very central and fundamental to our everyday experience as human beings. As such, our understanding of these basic domains makes them highly useful in helping us comprehend more abstract domains. We also sometimes find the opposite situation in which a particular important abstract knowledge domain is structured by means of more than one structural metaphor. In other words, more than one concrete source domain may be used to structure various aspects of a more abstract target domain, if that domain is important enough in the conceptual system of the language. This is illustrated in the following practice. Practice Each set of sentences below evokes one particular structural metaphor in which a particular abstract target domain has been structured by means of a tải về 1.74 Mb. Chia sẻ với bạn bè của bạn:
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