The classification of metaphors is actually a relatively complex problem. Many scholars have categorized metaphors for their own studies. In this part, only Lakoff and Johnson’s classification is given a brief account.
Based on the cognitive functions they act, Lakoff and Johnson (1980) put forward three kinds of conceptual metaphors: structural metaphor, orientational metaphor, and ontological metaphor. All of them will be discussed and give examples in this section.
Firstly, structural metaphor is the metaphor themes (e. g. ARGUMENT IS WAR) in which “the source domain provides a relatively rich knowledge structure for the target concept” (Kovecses, 2002:33), namely one concept is structured metaphorically in terms of another (Lakoff & Johnson, …show more content…
But how does this metaphorical process work in the realm of human perception and cognition? In answering this question, the working mechanism of conceptual metaphor is elaborated in this section.
According to Lakoff (1993:43), the working mechanism of metaphor is a cross-domain mapping, i.e. mapping between the source domain and the target domain. Specifically, source domain, usually physical or concrete, is the conceptual domain from which we draw metaphorical expressions to conceptualize another concept; while target domain, typically intangible or abstract, refers to the conceptual domain we try to understand through the metaphorical link with the source domain, namely mapping. With regard to the concept of mapping, it is a systematic set of correspondences existing in the constituent elements of the source domain and the target domain. Therefore, to comprehend a conceptual metaphor is to comprehend a set of mappings between a given source-target domain.
With the purpose of casting a clear light on how the cross-mapping works, the conceptual metaphor LOVE IS A JOURNEY is given as an example as showed in the following.
Table 2.1 The cross-mapping process of LOVE IS A
Based on the cognitive functions they act, Lakoff and Johnson (1980) put forward three kinds of conceptual metaphors: structural metaphor, orientational metaphor, and ontological metaphor. All of them will be discussed and give examples in this section.
Firstly, structural metaphor is the metaphor themes (e. g. ARGUMENT IS WAR) in which “the source domain provides a relatively rich knowledge structure for the target concept” (Kovecses, 2002:33), namely one concept is structured metaphorically in terms of another (Lakoff & Johnson, …show more content…
But how does this metaphorical process work in the realm of human perception and cognition? In answering this question, the working mechanism of conceptual metaphor is elaborated in this section.
According to Lakoff (1993:43), the working mechanism of metaphor is a cross-domain mapping, i.e. mapping between the source domain and the target domain. Specifically, source domain, usually physical or concrete, is the conceptual domain from which we draw metaphorical expressions to conceptualize another concept; while target domain, typically intangible or abstract, refers to the conceptual domain we try to understand through the metaphorical link with the source domain, namely mapping. With regard to the concept of mapping, it is a systematic set of correspondences existing in the constituent elements of the source domain and the target domain. Therefore, to comprehend a conceptual metaphor is to comprehend a set of mappings between a given source-target domain.
With the purpose of casting a clear light on how the cross-mapping works, the conceptual metaphor LOVE IS A JOURNEY is given as an example as showed in the following.
Table 2.1 The cross-mapping process of LOVE IS A