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THE USE OF METAPHOR IN SCIENTIFIC TECHNICAL TEXTS
Nafisa Ochilova
Navoi State University
Annotation:
The article explores the use of metaphors in scientific writing. The metaphor has
been reconceived in a way that suggests a cognitive approach to the research, which highlights
the dynamic nature of metaphors. Researchers in the fields of philosophy and linguistics study
how thinking and metaphor interact. The noun is highlighted among metaphors in the lexical
paradigm of nominations. Terminological structure of a scientific text is mostly formed by nouns.
In the course of thinking, a live metaphor emerges while in language use, a dead metaphor
comes to life.
Key words and phrases:
metaphor; scientific text; cognitive approach; lexical paradigm; live
metaphor; dead metaphor
Introduction
Metaphor, as a linguistic device, is critical in developing new ideas and broadening our
perspective of the world. Metaphor helps us make sense of abstract thoughts and complex
situations by contrasting two seemingly unrelated things. It acts as a link between the known and
the unknown, allowing us to understand unexpected concepts by connecting them to existing
ones.
Metaphor can alter our view and impact our thinking. It provides a tangible and concrete frame
of reference for us to make sense of the intangible and abstract. When we say "time is money,"
for example, we are not literally equating time with money, but rather comparing their value.
Metaphor is not restricted to language; it pervades our daily lives. Metaphors are used in our
talks, our ideas, and even our actions. They are firmly embedded in our cultural and social fabric,
molding our worldview and influencing our conduct.
Metaphor also plays a significant role in scientific and technological advancements. Scientists
often use metaphors to explain complex theories and phenomena to the general public. By using
familiar metaphors, they make these concepts more accessible and comprehensible to a wider
audience.
However, it is important to use metaphors judiciously in technical texts. While they can enhance
understanding, they can also introduce ambiguity or confusion if not used carefully. Metaphors
should be chosen thoughtfully, ensuring that they accurately represent the underlying technical
concepts and do not oversimplify or mislead the reader.
Scientific technical discourse is not an exception to the widespread usage of metaphors that may
be found in practically any speech or literature. The language of scientific and technological
communication has been impacted by the development of new technology. The use of metaphor
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is now ubiquitous in scientific discourse.
Metaphor has evolved into an interdisciplinary academic topic in recent years. Many scientists
from many disciplines have diverse perspectives on metaphor in scientific texts. On the one hand,
metaphor is a linguistic technique that allows us to express ourselves more effectively. Metaphor
is a decorative element that offers functional value to our talks while also helping to lexically
expand the article's language. On the other hand, this text decorating position casts the metaphor
in an overly positive light. Metaphors, some argue, are an unwelcome addition that divert the
reader from correct information and breach the purity of language use inherent in scientific texts.
The final idea is that metaphor is a type of thinking in and of itself.
The aim of this article is to demonstrate the use of metaphor in scientific technical texts and to
call attention to the changes that have occurred in this field as a result of the advent of new
technologies that have altered the writing style of scientific publications.
Our research is based on scientific texts from many scientific and popular journals in the field of
mechanical engineering. The primary focus of this research is metaphor in scientific and
technical publications, as well as metaphor-terms.
Theoretical basis
Metaphor is viewed differently by philosophers and linguists. Consider Richards' definition of
metaphor: " two thoughts of different things active together and supported by a single word, or
phrase, whose meaning is a result of their interaction".[1, p. 95] According to J. Ortega y Gasset,
metaphor is a necessary tool of the intellect, a type of scientific thinking. [2] Metaphor,
according to E. S. Kubryakova, is a vivid manner of portraying information in language form by
viewing one item through the prism of another. [3, p. 245]
Metaphor is a fundamental component of technical specialities theories. Because engineers'
scientific and technical texts and technological findings of researchers are linked to everyday
experience and each person's social existence, it may be argued that the theories and hypotheses
advanced constitute part of speech. The emergence of a metaphor is intimately tied to conceptual
systems of native speakers, with their typical views about the world, with a system of judgments
that exist in the world on their own and are only verbalized in language. We can deduce that a
metaphor in a scientific text is a model of inferential knowledge, a model of putting forward
hypotheses, because a scientific text comprises many theories and hypotheses.
According to H. Ortega y Gasset, metaphor in science is utilized when a scientist discovers a
new phenomenon, or constructs a new concept and seeks a label for it. Because the new word
has no meaning to people around him, he is compelled to resort to everyday verbal use, where
each word already has a meaning written down. For the sake of clarity, the scientist eventually
selects a word that has a similar meaning to the constructed notion. As a result, the term gains a
new semantic connotation while retaining past connotations. This is a simile [2]. Cognitive
science has provided a new viewpoint on the study of metaphor. The cognitive paradigm of
knowledge impacted attitudes of linguists toward metaphor in scientific and technical texts, as
well as readers' perceptions of it. This shift in attitude toward metaphor in scientific and
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technical texts reflects a new understanding of language's function in all human speech and
mental activity. Metaphor has progressed from being a "figure of embellishment" to being
appropriate for any scientific work, including scientific and technical ones.
Recognizing cognitive analogies in scientific material can be difficult. This is determined by the
individual style of the author, which began to be utilized while writing scientific publications, as
well as the changes between sections of the text when presenting new theories and hypotheses. It
is impossible to say whether the type of scientific article influences the use of metaphors in
scientific text. It is also difficult to discern whether such behaviours are influenced by the style
of speech.
Engineers use metaphors to explain technical components to non-experts (akin to how a doctor
communicates with a patient or a teacher interacts with a student). Metaphors are used to help
readers understand the text. They are a common method for conveying the author's evaluations
and attitudes, as well as for expressing thoughts and conceptualizing the researcher's experience.
Metaphor can be used as a conceptual tool to solve new complicated problems in mechanical
engineering, such as engine advancements, cryotechnology and freezing issues, and
environmental health and safety concerns. In this scenario, metaphor is an organic manifestation
of a method of thinking and cognition rather than a decoration of the text style.
According to E.McCormack, metaphors serve as cognitive processes via which we enhance our
understanding of the world and generate new hypotheses. When a new concept is processed by
comparison with an old, already known one, metaphor is a particularly strong technique of
cognition. [4, p. 418-420]
Cognitive metaphor serves a cognitive (epistemological) purpose. According to V. G. Gak,
metaphor is an inevitable phenomenon of human thinking and human language, which has the
most important function in cognition and description of the world. [5, p. 13]
H. Ortega y Gasset believes that metaphor is the only technique to capture and adequately define
high-level abstraction objects seen in scientific texts. Metaphor not only shapes an object's idea,
but it also shapes the approach and style of thinking about it. "...we need it [metaphor] not just so
that, having found a name, we can draw others' attention to our thoughts - no, we need it for
ourselves: without it, it is impossible to think about some special, difficult for the mind subjects.
It is not simply a means of expression, but also one of the primary cognitive tools... Metaphor is
a mental action that allows us to comprehend what is beyond the power of concepts... Few
people grasp that metaphor is the truth, that it penetrates reality...". [ 2, с. 68]
M. Black demonstrates that using additional figurative meaning through metaphor is a unique
intellectual operation that necessitates simultaneous awareness of both topics while avoiding
drawing parallels between them. Metaphors allow us to establish new connections and see things
in new ways.
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M. Black doubts that Kelvin's mechanical models, Rutherford's radioactive phenomena, and
Bohr's atomic model could bear fruit without the use of metaphor, because metaphor is a feature
of excellent theoretical physicists' work. [6]
According to Mark Coeckelbergh, metaphors are not a veil behind which beauty is hidden, but
rather the foundation of introspection. They are the building blocks of thought /...they are the
foundation of reflection. They are not paint, but rather building elements for the development of
ideas. [7]
Discussion
We feel that if metaphors are not used, our ability to communicate ourselves will be severely
limited. We not only learn new things about the world through metaphors, but we also teach new
things and give new information to others. A study of the style of scientific and technical
publications revealed that metaphor exists in scientific speech to the same amount that it does in
language as a whole.
All metaphors, as well as all significant lexical classes, are united by the lexical paradigm of
nomination– paradigmatic series (noun – verb – adjective – adverb). [8, p. 31]
The noun is given specific attention since it is fundamental to the lexical paradigm of nomination.
The noun reflects the primary function of the word, and its nominative capabilities predict the
noun's high degree of neogenicity.
The noun metaphor is becoming more widespread in mechanical engineering vocabulary used in
scientific and technical writings. New terms are created by the use of roots. (
conductor
- a
material which contains movable electrical charges;
exciter
-
a source of the power to the field
winding of an electrical machine;
stator
- the stationary portion of a machine.) [9]
The majority of the terms in scientific text are nouns from which other parts of speech can be
constructed. Many of the terms evolve into metaphors. As an example,
food chain
- the chain of
eating and getting nutrition which starts from a small herbivores animal and ends up at a big
carnivorous organism;[10]
brainstorm
-
try to solve a problem by thinking intensely about it;[11]
raw material
- material suitable for manufacture or use or finishing;
horsepower
- unit of power.
1hp = 746W)[12]
Many technical phrases originated in normal language and found their way into scientific and
technical literature. Some of these nouns are:
cookie
- a small piece of information left on a
visitor's computer by a website, via a web browser;[13] (E.g. These sites may also set their
own cookies or use web storage on your machine.)
net
- in mathematics and science, the
net
is
sometimes used as a sum or mean of a set of data or as a pattern that can be folded to form
a 3D shape.[14]
stakeholders
- group or individual affected by the outcome of a decision;
cascade
- array of possible actions to take in response to a problem: protocol;[15]
folder
– a type of file
that contains other files inside it which makes them easier to manage because you can then use
one folder as a container for additional folders. [16]
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Terminological metaphors are derived not just from human experience, but also from human
physiology and anatomy. According to Lakoff and Johnson, the human div in its spatial
interaction with the environment is the primary source of metaphors [17, p. 242]. All sections of
this study contain metaphor terminology linked to human physiology.
Technical texts often use metaphors with:
- human div parts: eyes, neck, nose, ribs, belly, throat, tongue, finger, jaw
For example:
Every few years, the minute
hand
shifted, either forwards or backwards.
By strengthening up the
div
frame and the parts, the
jaw
crusher is much more reliable and its
range of use is extended.
Instead of a cap, cylinders commonly have a protective collar or
neck ring
around the service
valve assembly.
The network acts as a
backbone
for the entire infrastructure.
- characteristics inherent to the human div: exhaust, fatigue, feeding strain-aging, attack,
(un)lock etc.
For example:
The new algorithm is a powerful tool in
unlocking
insights from big data.
The defect was caused by metal fatigue, a phenomenon not fully understood at the time.
Their materials must be able to withstand oxidation (
ageing
), wear and chemical attack over a
wide temperature range.
Additional functions - e.g.
feeding
calibrating gasses - may be required depending on the
application.
- items of human clothing: protective collar; ice cap; clamp sleeve; remove the bonnet, insulator
sleeve.
The
ice cap
in this region is now about a mile thick.
The metal
sleeve
has a detachable connecting piece made of ceramic or of the moulding
compound.
Together with the
bonnet
, the fenders define the front design part of your vehicle.
Bootstrap
utilities are small programs that help the computer get started and load the operating
system.
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Metaphors are quite dynamic and are linked to the author's cognitive activity. Many artistic
elements, including metaphors, involve an element of surprise, according to E. V. Anashkina. As
a result, they must be updated on a regular basis in order to function properly [18, p. 22].
Lexicon of a scientific text may contain several "dead" (hackneyed) metaphors. A trite metaphor
has a consistent personality and does not elicit any further imagery or emotionally charged
situations in the reader (crown with success, shed great light on, catch a glimpse of electricity)
[28].
In a scientific text, metaphor is the primary unit of emotional expression. When describing a
scientific process or theory, the term "emotion" in scientific publications denotes feelings or
human moods.
Metaphors are not only a means of communicating emotions and feelings; they are also one
method of linguistically implementing abstract nominations.
An emotional appraisal is always coupled with some kind of emotional drive, represented in the
form of a word, most typically figurative [19, p. 215]. Metaphor is a particularly efficient (if not
the only) technique of creating imagery that connects the emotional (sensual) and intellectual
(mental) spheres of human perception; it does not detract from scientific knowledge, but is part
of the text, and no text can exist without it. Metaphor is the primary unit of emotional expression
in a scientific writing, conveying the author's knowledge, vision (point of view), and feelings.
Results
The study found that metaphor is a frequently employed stylistic element in scientific technical
texts and represents a novel use of language for us. Metaphor is a linguistic method of language
utilized in figurative meaning, as well as an instrument of cognition, without which no scientific
discovery can occur. The style of writing scientific publications has been altered by new
technologies. Many living metaphors have appeared, improving scientific article language. A
live metaphor adds freshness to the material and prompts a new metaphorical meaning. A dead
metaphor comes to life through linguistic use. The impact of emotions on human brain activities
is undeniable, thanks to advances in cognitive research.
List of used literature:
1.
Richards I. A. The Philosophy of Rhetoric. Oxford University Press, 1965
2.
Ортега-и-Гассет X. Две великие метафоры // Теория метафоры / пер. с англ., общ.
ред. Н. Д. Арутюновой
3.
Краткий словарь когнитивных терминов / под общ. ред. Е. С. Кубряковой. М.: Изд-
во МГУ, 1996. 245 с.
4.
Maccormac, Earl R. (1985). A Cognitive Theory of Metaphor. Journal of Aesthetics and
Art Criticism 45 (4):418-420.
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5.
Гак В. Г. Метафора: универсальное и специфическое // Метафора в языке и тексте /
отв. ред. В. Н. Телия. М.: Наука, 1988. С. 11-26.
6.
Black M. Metaphor. Proceedings of the Aristotelian Society, New series, Vol.55, pp.273-
294. Blackwell Publishing. 2010
7.
Coeckelbergh M. Engineering Good: How Engineering Metaphors Help Us to
Understand the Moral Life and Change Society // Science and Engineering Ethics. 2010. № 16
(2). June. P. 371-385 (also published on-line)
8.
Блох М. Я. Теоретическая грамматика английского языка. М.: Высш. шк., 2008. 421
с.
9.
Mechanical Engineering Terms with Meanings - A to Z - EnglishBix
10.
Glossary of biology - Wikipedia
11.
List of business terms - Wikipedia
12.
Engineering Terms Vocabulary with Meanings - A to Z - EnglishBix
13.
https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Glossary/Cookie
14.
Net | Definition & Meaning (storyofmathematics.com)
15.
List of business terms - Wikipedia
16.
Computer Terminologies (A-Z) - Glossary of Computer Terms | TL Dev Tech
17.
Lakoff G., Johnson M. Metaphors We Live by. Chicago: University of Chicago Press,
1980. 276 p.
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Анашкина Е. В. Прагматически обусловленные семантические приращения в
рамках стилистического приема
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Тулепбергенова Д. Ю. Экспрессивность в науке // Альманах современной науки и
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Iskanova N.P., Ochilova. N.U. Integrating Culture and Language Through Foreign
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