Metaphor of External BodyParts.docx

Metaphor of External BodyParts.docx

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MetaphorofExternalBodyParts

MetaphorofExternalBody-Parts

Writer:

WangZhiwen

Class:

2014

Number:

142050211017

Wordcount:

3008

SchoolofForeignLanguages,LanzhouUniversityofTechnology

Abstract:

Fromtheperspectiveofsemantics,externalbody-metaphoris,toacertainextent,afundamentalrhetoric,whichhasbeenmakingparamountroleinbeautifying,simplifyinglanguage,itisindeedaninteractionbetweentwodifferentsemanticdomain.Metaphoris,formostpeople,mainlyemployedforpoeticimagination,inconsiderationofthispoint,wecouldregardmetaphorasanextraordinaryratherthanordinarylanguage.Primarilyonthebasisoflinguisticevidence,Ihavefoundthatmostofourordinaryconceptualsystemismetaphoricalinnature,includingtheemploymentofexternalbody-parts.

KeyWords:

Metaphor,SemanticDomain,ExternalBody-Metaphor

摘要：

从语义学角度来看，在一定程度上可以说，人体隐喻是一种基本的修辞手法，在美化、简化语言方面发挥着中流砥柱的作用，事实上，这种隐喻是两个不同语义领域之间的互动。

对大多说人来说，隐喻主要用于诗歌意向的表达，考虑到这一点我们姑且可以把隐喻视为一种特殊语言。

基于语言学证据，我已经察觉到我们的日常概念系统在本质上都具隐喻性，人体隐喻亦是如此。

关键词：

隐喻，语域，人体隐喻

TableofContents

Chapter1Introduction............................................................................1

Chapter2ComprehensiveDefinitionofMetaphor................................2

Chapter3TheOperationalMechanismofMetaphor...........................4

Chapter4MetaphorofExternalBody-Parts........................................6

4.1ComprehensiveAnalysisofExternalBody-partsMetaphor

4.2ReasonsthatResultintheExternalBody-partsMetaphor

Chapter5Conclusion.............................................................................13

References................................................................................................14

1.Introduction

Fromtheperspectiveofetymology,theterm“metaphor”isderivedfromheancientlexicon,whichcanbedecomposedintwomorphemes“meta”and“phor”inordertoelucidatetheessenceof“metaphor”,thefirstonehasthemeaningof“across”withthesecondmeaning“carry”,whichindicatesthefundamentalconditionofmetaphoristwodiverseobjects,oneistheorigin,theotherisdestination.Toacertainextent,wehumanbeingarethemostdynamicandparamountpartinthenatureandtheappearanceandexistenceofexternalbodymetaphorisnotonlyacomplicatedsocialphenomenonbutalsoalinguisticphenomenon.Inthisthesis,Ihavebeentryingtopursuetheessenceofbodymetaphoranddemonstratethedefinitionandtheoperationalmechanismofmetaphor,analyzethevividexamplesinordertomakeacomprehensiveandelaborateanalysisofthecausationthatresultsinthelinguisticphenomenon,thatistosay,thereasonsthatresultinbodymetaphor.

2.Comprehensivedefinitionofmetaphor

FromtheepochofAristotle,themetaphorhasshownupprominently,recentlytheacademicstudyofithasbeenahot-spot,whichillustratestousthatthedevelopmentalhistoryofmetaphorislong.A metaphor isa figureofspeech thatidentifiesonethingasbeingthesameassomeunrelatedotherthing,thusstronglyimplyingthesimilaritiesbetweenthetwo（fromWikipedia）;metaphorreferstoawordorphraseusedtodescribesomebodyorsomethingelse,inawaythatisdifferentfromitsnormaluse,inordertoshowthatthetwothingshavethesamequalitiesandtomakethedescriptionmorepowerful（fromOED）;metaphoris a figureofspeech inwhichawordorphraseliterallydenotingonekindofobjectorideaisusedinplaceofanothertosuggestalikenessor analogy betweenthem（fromMerriamWebster’sDictionary）.Fromthethreedefinitions,wecoulddrawtheconclusionslikethat:

thefirstismetaphorisoneofthefigures,nextistheconditionistwodifferentthings,lastis,tosomeextent,thereare,undoubtedly,abundantsimilaritiesbetweenthetwoparts,asaconsequence,theestablishmentofmetaphorisbasedon“likeness”and“association”.Fromthisperspective,wecoulddrawaconclusionthatmetaphorinvolvestwodistinguishingsubjectswhichhavelikenessandassociation,thelikenessisnotapre-existentelement,whichindicateslikenesscouldbeestablishedbyourcognitionandcouldbenamedsimilarity-creatingmetaphorsornovelmetaphors;onthecontrary,thesimilarity-basedmetaphorsorconventionalmetaphorsreferstothesimilaritythatispre-existent.

3.Theoperationalmechanismofmetaphor

Whenwerefertotheoperationalmechanismofmetaphor,itisunavoidabletothinkaboutI.A.Richards,whohasbeentheprominentandmostinfluentialfigureinthehistoryofNewCriticismandmakesgreatcontributiontotheenlargementofmetaphorvision,andemphasizethemethodofmetaphorproductionandprocess.Inconsiderationofthedefinitionofmetaphor,itisuncomplicatedtodrawtheconclusionthatthemetaphormustinvolvetwoparts,intheviewofI.A.Richards,theformerisnamedvehicleandthelattercalledtenor,whichhedescribesinhismasterpieceThePhilosophyofRhetoric.Thetenoristhesubjecttowhichattributesareascribed.Thevehicleistheobjectwhoseattributesareborrowed;GeorgeLakoffregardstheformerassource,thelatterastarget,thetargetdomainistheexperiencebeingdescribedbythemetaphorandthesourcedomainisthemeansthatweemployinordertodescribetheexperience.IaminclinedtoRichards’sperspective,whichmeansthatIamunwillingtomakeanalysisofLakoff’sstandpoint:

Childrenaretheflowersofthecountry.

Inthissentence,onRichards’sstandpoint,thesubjectChildrenistenor,thepredicativeflowersisvehicle.Undoubtedly,therearesufficientsimilaritiesbetweenChildrenandflowers:

childrenareagroupofpeoplewhoaredynamic,kindheartedandhaveaardententhusiasmforknowledge-seekingandpatriotism;flowersarethecoloredpartofaplantfromwhichtheseedorfruitdevelops,whichindicatestheharvestandprosperity.Thesimilaritiesbetweenthemarethatbothofthemareanimatedandhaveagrowthprocesstoblossomandbearfruit,whichindicatesthatchildrengrowtoadult,achievegoalsandliveaprosperousandbeatificlife.IntheLakoff’sview,thesubjectchildrenistargetdomain,withthepredicativeflowersbeingthesourcedomain.

Marriageisagamewithoutwinnersandlosers.

Fromtheviewofsemantics,thesentencecanbeclassifiedintothefollowingmeanings:

A“game”isacontest;

betweentwocompetitors;

inwhichoneplayercanwinonlyattheexpenseoftheother.

Therefore,thecomprehensionofmarriageshoulddependontheanalysisofcontest,competitors,andespeciallywinning.Thefollowingsaresomeunderstandingofthismetaphor:

Amarriageisasustainedstruggle.

Thewinnercontrolsthegameattheexpenseoftheother.

Asuccessfulmarriageis,toacertainextent,alittletoachieve.

Ametaphorsentenceseemstobeordinary,ifwe,however,paymoreattentiontoanalyzeitfromdifferentaspects,itisnotdifficulttofindmoresemanticmysteries.Someontologicalmetaphorcanbeexpanded,forexample,themetaphorthemindisabrittlestuffcanbeexpandedintothemindisamachineandthemindisabrittleobject.

themindisamachine.

a.Mymindjustisn’toperating.

b.I’malittlerustytoday.

c.We’restilltryingtogrindoutthesolutiontothisequation.

themindisabrittlestuff.

a.Hisself-respectisveryfragile.

b.Thatterribleexperiencescatteredherfeeling.

c.Hecan’tendurethecross-examination.

Theontologicalmetaphorisverycommonandprevalentinourlogicandthinking,itisalwaystobespokenwithouttoomuchhesitation,therefore,itisregardedadirectdescriptionofbrain.

4.MetaphorofExternalBody-Parts

OurChineseculturepossessadistantoriginandlongdevelopment,whenwedatebacktotheprimitiveculture,wecouldfindthecelebrateddictum“近取诸身，远取诸物”,theancientGreekphilosopherProtagorascarriesthemottoof“manisthemeasureofallthings”,whichelucidatesthecognitiveprinciple:

inconsiderationofhumanbeing’ssituation,advantage,understandingetc.Wearealwaysintheprocessofacknowledgingthedistant,complicated,strangeandabstractstuffstoapperceive,imageandexpresstheouterworld.Intheprimitiveperiod,almostallofthethingsthathumanbeingacknowledgesisusuallytangibleandconcrete,includingthehumanbody,organ;whenthecognitionisintheadvancedprocess,weemploythebody-parttoacknowledge,experienceanddefinetheabstract,complicatedandintangibleobjects.Brieflyspeaking,theexternalbody-partsarethefundamentalandparamountelementsintheprocessofcognition.

4.1Comprehensiveanalysisofexternalbody-parts

Generallyspeaking,headreferstopartofbodyontopoftheneckcontainingtheeyes,nose,mouthandbrain（fromOED）,whichindicatesthetoporhighestpartofthing,therearecollocationalphrasessuchastheheadofacane,theheadofanarrow,theheadofabed,headofamatch、headofapage、headofaqueue、headofaflower、headofstairsetc.Inallthosephrases,theheadrepresentsthefrontpartofobjectsandthesyntacticstructureis“The+Head+A+Noun”;besides,headmeanslife,withouthead,theanimatecreatureisgoingtopassaway,forexample:

Itcosthimhishead（Hedidsomethingincostoflife）.

GuanYuisbeheadedbySunQuan（SunQuankillsGuanYu）.

Headalsoindicatesthethought,thatistosay,itrepresentsthebrainormind.ThereareabundantphrasesaboutheadinEnglish,suchaskeepone’sheadscrewedontherightway（keepwiseandneverdosomethingstupid）；haveagoodheadforsomething（somebodyhasfabulousself-controlcapacity）；alevelhead（someoneisdispassionate）；scratchone’shead（heisbewilderedaboutsomething）；gooffone