Хорижий филология
№2, 2018 йил
106
COGNITIVE THEORY OF METAPHOR
Sapayeva Sokhiba,
Teacher of USWLU
Key words:
metaphor, cognitive metaphor, concepts, conceptual metaphor, cultural
experience, comparison and categorization.
The study of metaphor originated from
ancient Greece, basically Aristotle, who
looked at metaphor as implicit comparison
which is centered at analogy [1,3]. Aristotle
suggested that the main function of metaphor
is stylistic and ornamental [2,79]. Metaphor is
used for artistic reasons, mainly in poetry, to
definite a thought in an eloquent style.
Aristotle also pointed out the believable
function of metaphor, seeing it as an active
rhetorical figure to be employed in political
discourse [2, 80].
His opinion of metaphor develops the
basis of the so-called comparison theory of
metaphor. This advance sees metaphor as “a
type of comparison, a shortened simile”
established on likeness [2, 90]. Therefore, let
us consider these metaphors:
You are the light
in my life
is observed as a reduced variety of:
You bring happiness to my life.
The downside of the viewpoint is that it
disregards the significant difference between
a comparison and a categorization: whereas a
simile stresses probable likenesses between
two conceptions, a metaphor creates the two
concepts as having “in common something
more than modest similarities in that they
belong to the same class sharing pertinent
features” [4, 135]. Furthermore, the
comparison theory realizes metaphor as
comparing two concepts, which have been
seen as similar by the author prior to the use
of
metaphor,
somewhat
making
the
likenesses. This one suggests that metaphor is
narrowed to phenomena deep-rooted in actual
or possible experience [4, 90]. The second
main theory is the substitution theory of
metaphor. This approach says “metaphor is a
way of saying what may perhaps be supposed
accurately” [4, 90]. One can exchanges
metaphor with a synonymous expression. As
a consequence, the metaphor:
He trumpeted
out the news
can be replaced by:
He told to
anyone who wanted to listen
[3, 15].
Max Black initiated the next approach
of metaphor in the second half of the
twentieth century called the interaction
theory. Comparing the two theories above, it
does
not
need
metaphor
as
simply
maintaining
symbolically
something.
Metaphor
contains
the
principal
and
subsidiary subjects, conforming to the
metaphorical emphasis and the adjoining
literal frame in turn.
According to G.Lakoff, “the creator of a
metaphorical statement selects, emphasizes,
suppresses, and organizes features of the
primary subject by applying to it statements
isomorphic with the members of the
secondary subject’s implicative complex” [4,
29]. This approach suggests that the
interaction theory does not assume it is only
the lesser issue, which has influence on the
main subject. For example, in the metaphor
‘man is a wolf’, we have enough knowledge
and connotations about a man and wolves,
e.g., knowing that they are wild and ruthless
[2, 95]. Vitally, the interaction theory does
not mean metaphor only as a matter of
language but also shows its cognitive
measurement. The three theories does not
have much currency in modern investigation
on metaphor, which mainly uses the cognitive
theory of metaphor.
A
conceptual
metaphor,
that
is,
cognitive metaphor, is considered one of the
basic mental processes, a way of cognizing,
structuring and explaining the world around
us; the connection of knowledge about one
conceptual area in another conceptual area.
Remains of the experience are formed and
reproduced in a particular cultural society.
The formulation of the question of the
conceptual metaphor gave impetus to research
in the sphere of human thought processes.
Хорижий филология
№2, 2018 йил
107
This helped to conclude that the metaphor is
primarily the reception of thinking about the
world, translated into a verbal form. Linguists
A. Khili, R. Harris, A. Ottoni, R. Reynolds
and others who lived in the 70's - 80's
involved in this issue. G. Lakoff and M.
Johnson formulated the conceptual theory of
metaphor most noticeably. They described a
conceptual metaphor as the connection of
knowledge about one abstract zone in another
abstract zone in their work "Metaphors We
Live” [4, 64].
Previous scientists had recognized the
cognitive
measurement
of
metaphor
beforehand knowing that the cognitive theory
of metaphor is likely to be described as
completely new.
The cognitive theory can be defined by
three main features:
First of all, metaphor is not only viewed
as a matter of language, but also as a matter of
thought as well in the cognitive approach.
Cognitive theorists argue that the metaphor is
a significant device with the help of which we
conceptualize reality. This can actually
influence the way we behave and act.
Secondly, if it is compared with the
substitution and the comparison theories that
view metaphor as extraordinary and artistic,
the cognitive theory gives emphasis that
metaphor is a matter of ordinary, everyday
language. Any people can realize a range of
predictable metaphorical ideas in the language
because we use them every day to express our
experience, including abstract concepts, such
as love and time.
Thirdly, metaphor is defined as a
mapping of structure from one conceptual
domain, the source domain, to another
conceptual domain, the target domain. This
mapping is not based on likeness between the
two concepts, as believed by the comparison
theory of metaphor, but rather on the
correlation of our experience in these two
domains and our ability to structure one
concept in terms of the other [4, 117].
According
to
cognitive
theorists,
language serves as an evidence for the
existence of conceptual metaphors since it is
through everyday linguistic expressions that
conceptual metaphors are realized [3, 57].
Therefore, by analyzing discourse, metaphors
can be arrived at by which we conceptualize
aspects of discussed reality. Lakoff and
Johnson distinguish three main types of
metaphors:
structural,
orientational
and
ontological. We can recognize structural
metaphors as metaphors in which one concept
is systematically structured in terms of
another, for example, in the classic example
of the conceptual metaphor ARGUMENT IS
WAR, where “ARGUMENT is partially
structured, understood, performed, and talked
about in terms of WAR” [4, 5]. This
predictable abstract metaphor is realized in
expressions such as
he always wins an
argument
or
she attacked my argument
.
Orientational metaphors support a spatial
orientation to a concept (up-down, front-back,
etc.) – e.g., HAPPY IS UP versus SAD IS
DOWN, realized in
she is in high spirits
versus
I feel low
(this metaphor has a physical
basis as we are in an erect posture when we
feel happy and in a drooping posture when we
feel sad). We are made to look at ontological
metaphors as aspects of our experience in
terms of entities and substances. A typical
example is constituted by personification,
which allows us to comprehend physical
objects in terms of human characteristics and
actions.
Conceptual metaphors arise within the
limits of the standard system of the values
based on traditional concepts and rules for the
given society. They represent significant
interest for studying of culture of certain
language community as they often hand over
the most significant cultural information. The
most important conceptual metaphors are
born with certain prevailing feeling; they have
the through character formed in cumulative
“the culture thesaurus” and designate space of
information interaction of members of the
given community. A metaphor, becoming the
general cultural symbol and fixing important
at a certain stage language community, the
phenomenon
does
not
disappear,
and
continues to exist, change and grow in a
context.
Хорижий филология
№2, 2018 йил
108
References:
1.
Arutyunova N.D. Metaphor // Linguistic Encyclopaedic Dictionary. – M.: Soviet
Encyclopedia, 1990. - P.296-297.
2.
McCormack E. Cognitive theory of metaphor // Theory of metaphor. – M., 1990.
3.
Johnson, Mark (1987)
The Body in the Mind
. – Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
4.
Lakoff, George & Mark Johnson (1980)
Metaphors We Live By
. – Chicago: University of
Chicago Press.
Сапаева С. Метафораларнинг когнитив назарияси.
Ушбу мақола метафоралар
тадқиқотига когнитив ёндошувни кўрсатади. Муаллиф қатор олимларнинг когнитив
метафоралар ҳақидаги назарияларини ўрганади ва ўз нуқтаи назарини ушбу тадқиқот
мавзуси бўйича баён этади.
Сапаева С. Когнитивная теория метафор.
Данная статья демонстрирует
когнитивный подход к исследованию метафор. Автор изучает теории нескольких учёных о
когнитивных метафорах и представляет собственную точку зрения по теме исследования.
