英语专业 修辞学论文Metaphors in Business English隐喻在商务英语中的应用.docx

英语专业 修辞学论文Metaphors in Business English隐喻在商务英语中的应用.docx

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英语专业修辞学论文MetaphorsinBusinessEnglish隐喻在商务英语中的应用

MetaphorsinBusinessEnglish

隐喻在商务英语中的应用

课程论文提交时间：

2011年9月13日

Abstract

Thispaperintroducessomebasicconceptsandfeaturesofmetaphorssuchasdifferentdefinitionsofmetaphor,howmetaphorswork,andthecommontypesofmetaphor.However,metaphorisnowadaysnotonlyregardedasafigureofspeechbutalsoanimportanttoolinculturecommunication.Asoneofthemostvividrhetoricaldevices,metaphorisusedquitefrequentlyinlanguageusedindifferentfieldsindailylife.Thisstudyalsogivessomeexamplestoprovethatinthefieldofbusinessthereexistmetaphors,whicharevitaltounderstandsomeeconomicknowledgeandcertainphenomenabetter.

KeyWords:

metaphor;sourcedomain;targetdomain;business;

.BackgroundKnowledgeofMetaphor

Theideaofmetaphorcanbetracedbackto Aristotle who,inhis“Poetics”（around335BC）,defines“metaphor”asfollows:

“Metaphoristheapplicationofastrangetermeithertransferredfromthegenusandappliedtothespeciesorfromthespeciesandappliedtothegenus,orfromonespeciestoanotherorelseby analogy.” Tomakeitclear,wecanregardmetaphor asaliteraryfigureofspeech thatusesanimage,storyor tangiblethingtorepresentalesstangiblethingorsomeintangiblequalityoridea.Inclassicaltheoriesoflanguage,metaphorwasseenasamatteroflanguage,andeverydaylanguagehadnometaphor.ButaccordingtoLakoffandJohnson（1993）,theword“metaphor”hascometobeuseddifferentlyincontemporaryresearch,andordinaryeverydayEnglishinvariousfieldsislargelymetaphorical.Wehavefoundthatmetaphorispervasiveineverydaylife,notjustinlanguagebutinthoughtandaction.Thispapergivesmanyexamplestoprovethatintheeconomyfieldthereexistmetaphors,whicharevitaltounderstandrelatedeconomicknowledgeandcertainphenomenabetter.

Acommondefinitionofametaphorcanbedescribedasacomparisonthatshowshowtwothingsthatarenotalikeinmostwaysaresimilarinanotherimportantway.InMetaphorsWeLiveBy,GeorgeLakoffandMarkJohnsonexplainhowametaphorissimplyunderstandingandexperiencingonekindofthingintermsofanother.Theycallthisconcepta‘conduitmetaphor’,whichmeansthataspeakercanputideasorobjectsintowordsorcontainers,andthensendthemalongachannel,orconduit,toalistenerwhotakesthatideaorobjectoutofthecontainerandmakesmeaningofit.Inotherwords,communicationissomethingthatideasgointo.Thecontainerisseparatefromtheideasthemselves.LakoffandJohnsongiveseveralexamplesofdailymetaphorsweuse,suchas“Argumentiswar”and“Timeismoney.”（Johnson,Lakoff,1980）.

Aregularmetaphorcontainsthetenorandthevehicle.Thetenoristhesubjecttowhichattributesareascribed.Thevehicleisthesubjectfromwhichtheattributesarederived.Theyarebroadlyequivalenttothenotionsof target and sourcedomains in conceptualmetaphor theory.Themetaphorcanbealsounderstoodasamapping（inthemathematicalsense）fromasourcedomaintoatargetdomain.（Lakoff,G&Johnson,M.1980）Metaphorbasesonlikenessandassociation:

whenweseesomethingweneverknowbefore,wespontaneouslyassociateitwithaconceptoranobjectwearealreadyfamiliarwithandtrytofindthelikenessbetweenthetwo.Whentheassociationhappens,metaphorhappens.Forexample,

Cashcowsrequirelittleinvestmentandgeneratecashthatcanbeusedtoinvestinotherbusinessunits.

Inone’sregularcognition,cowreferstoananimalwithknownconceptssuchasproducingmilk,multiplicationandhardworking.Fromcows,peoplecangetmuchincomecontinuouslywithlessinvestment.Here,themeaningof“cashcow”changesmetaphoricallyto“aprojectthatgeneratesacontinuousflowofmoney”andsomethingsimilarwith“moneymaker”and“money-spinner”.Therefore,wecanseefromthisexamplethatoneofthekeyaspectsofametaphorisaspecifictransferenceofawordfromonecontextintoanother.

Wecouldalsounderstandmetaphorinaverysimplesense:

inmetaphor,onethingisindirectlycomparedtoanotherknownthing,withoutthewordlikeoras.Thustherelationshipbetweenthemisimpliedorunstated.Thefollowingisanothergoodexample:

You’dbetteroffunderUmbrella.

Thisisanadvertisementforatravelinsuranceagency.Inthisadvertisement,“umbrella”justreferstothistravelinsuranceagency.Wemaynoticethatthevehicleofthemetaphorisnotstated.Infact,thevehicleisthestaffofthe“Umbrella”agency.Ifthecustomerscarryanumbrellawiththem,theumbrellawillbeveryusefultothembothinrainydaysandshiningdays.Inourcognition,theword“umbrella”isalwayslinkedwithsafetyandprotection,whicharetheknownconceptsinourmind.Aslongaspeopleassociatetheseconceptsandfindthelikeness,theywillrealizewhatthisagencycoulddoforthem.Byusingmetaphor,thecorporateimagewillsurelybecomebetterandalsomorevividforcustomers.

Therearefourcommontypesofmetaphor:

deadmetaphor,extendedmetaphor,mixedmetaphor,andabsolutemetaphor.A deadmetaphor isoneinwhichthesenseofatransferredimageisabsent.Examples:

“tograspaconcept”and“togatherwhatyou’veunderstood”usephysicalactionasametaphorforunderstanding.Mostpeopledonotvisualizetheaction—deadmetaphorsnormallygounnoticed.An extendedmetaphor （conceit）establishesaprincipalsubject（comparison）andsubsidiarysubjects（comparisons）.A mixedmetaphor isonethatleapsfromoneidentificationtoasecondidentificationinconsistentwiththefirst.Absolutemetaphor denotesafigureoraconceptthatcannotbereducedto,orreplacedwithsolelyconceptualthoughtandlanguage.

.MetaphorsinBusinessEnglish

Aswementionedbefore,metaphorsarenotmerelystylistic,butarecognitivelyimportantinotherfieldsaswell.AccordingtoLakoffandJohnson,metaphorsarepervasiveineverydaylife,notjustinlanguage,butalsointhoughtandaction.Therefore,metaphor,asoneofthemostvividrhetoricaldevices,isusedquitefrequentlyindifferentfieldsincludingbusiness.

Inbusiness,ametaphorcanbeusedinframingadisputeorsituation,orthemeansbywhichbusinessmen\businesswomenaddressorapproachanegotiationproblem.Forexample,themetaphorsusedinbusinessnegotiationscouldbecriticaltoimplyhowapersonperceivesthesituationandtosuggesthowtheymightreactorrespond.Andinbusinesstexts,linguistsfindthatmetaphorsmanilyappearasnounsandverbs.Inthisstudy,wewillmainlyanalyzesomecommonnounandverbmetaphorsinEnglishbusinesstextsinthefollowing.

a.NounMetaphor

Nounmetaphorsmainlybaseonthedirectorindirectcorrelationoftwothings.Theypushustorealizethelinkandthentofigureoutsomethingnewtousaccordingtowhatwearealreadyfamiliarwith.Or,nounmetaphorscouldmakepeopleunderstandsomebusinessconceptsmoreaccuratelybyborrowingsometermsfromotherfields,whichwillbewellillustratedbythefollowingexamples..

（1）Theelectricityfailurecausedthetrainservice’sparalysis.

（2）Hemadeacompletediagnosisofthecompany’sdailyrunning.

Inexample

（1）,thewordparalysisisusedmetaphorically.Paralysis,whichusuallyreferstoadiseaseoflosingtheabilitytomoveabodypart,isatermborrowedfromthefieldofmedicinetoimplythatthetrainserviceisdisrupted.Inexample

（2）,diagnosis,indicatingtheactofdiscoveringoridentifyingtheexactcauseofanillnessoraproblembydoctors,hereimpliesthattheactofdiscoveringandanalyzingtheproblemshappenedinthecompany’srunningisjustlikeadoctormakesadiagnosisofthepatient’sillness.

（3）Mostcentralbankersarehostiletotheideaofpuncturebubbles.

（4）Afterthesale,theybegantosolicitcomment.Theconsumer’sfeedbackwasgenerallyfavorable.

（5）ThepoliticalfalloutfromthegasolineshortagewasspreadinginAmericaatthattime.

Thewordswhichareusedmetaphoricallyintheseexamplesarealsoitalicized.Thewordbubbleiscommonlyusedasaballofairorgasinaliquid,oraballofairinsideasolidsubstancesuchasglass,forinstance,abubbleofoxygen,blowingbubblesintowaterthroughastraw.However,bubbleisalsofrequentlyusedinbusinessEnglish,indicatingagoodorluckysituationthatisunlikelytolast,orthereisasuddenendtoagoodorluckysituation.Oneofthemostcommonlyknowncharacteristicsofbubbleisgoodlookingbutveryfrailandeasytoburstatthesametime.Intheexample（3）,thisfamiliarphenomenonofbubbleisusedtohelpreadersunderstandtheunfamiliarconceptsoneconomicsvividly.

Thewordfeedbackinexample（4）seemstobeusedmorecommonlynowadaysincludinginbusiness,andpeoplemaytakeitforgrantedthatitisnotnounmetaphor.However,feedbackoriginallymeasthattheunpleasantnoiseproducedbyelectricalequipmentsuchasanamplifierwhensomeofthepowerreturestothesystem.Therefore,feedback,usedasthemeaningofadvice,criticismorinformationabouthowgoodorusefulsthorsb’sworkis,isalsousedasnounmetaphor.

Thenounmetaphorinexample（5）isrelativelyusedalittletechnically.Falloutoriginallyindicatesdangerousradioactivedustthatisintheairafteranuclearexplosion.Itissomethingveryharmfultopeople.Inthisexample,falloutjustextendsthemeaningintothebadresultsofgasolineshortagewhichisspreadinglikedangerousradioactivedustintheUS.Bytheuseofmetaphor,theauthorvividlytellsreaderstheurgentsituationwhichisbadlyinfluencingthiscountrynow.

b.VerbMetaphor

Besidesnounmetaphors,verbmetaphorsarealsofrequentlyappliedinbusines