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Book Review. A New Insight into Theory of Conceptual Metaphor

Reviewed by: Metaphor in cognitive linguistics: Selected papers from the Fifth International Cognitive Linguistics Conference, Amsterdam, July 1997 ed. by Raymond W. Gibbs, Jr., Gerard J. Steen Kenneth A. McElhanon Metaphor in cognitive linguistics: Selected papers from the Fifth International Cognitive Linguistics Conference, Amsterdam, July 1997. Ed. by Raymond W. Gibbs, Jr. and Gerard J. Steen. (Amsterdam studies in the theory and history of linguistic science. Series IV-Current issues in linguistic theory, 175.) Amsterdam & Philadelphia: John Benjamins, 1999. Pp. viii, 225. $72.00. The book consists of eleven diverse articles on metaphor. Noteworthy articles include Iraide Ibarretxe-Antuñano’s [End Page 605] ‘Metaphorical mappings in the sense of smell’, which rejects suggestions that the sense of smell is mapped metaphorically and proposes a process of property selection within an inherent structure that is similar to the concept of radial structure. Joseph E. Grady, Todd Oakley, and Seana Coulson (‘Blending and metaphor’) argue that conceptual metaphor theory (CMT) and conceptual blending theory (BT) represent complementary approaches that differ mainly in (1) the number of mental representations each allows (CMT—two, BT—more than two); (2) basic unit of cognitive organization (CMT—semantic domain, BT—mental spaces as scenarios structured by given domains); (3) strict directionality (CMT—yes, BT—no); and (4) the kinds of relationships they posit between mental representations (CMT—entrenched and conventional, BT—short-lived and novel). They propose a principle of BT, that a blend is based upon particular connections within the network of input spaces not upon a systematic mapping of one domain onto another. Noticeably absent, however, is a consideration of whether or not such mental spaces are grounded in ICMs (Idealized Cognitive Models) and, if so, how the ICMs might frame the scenes and contribute encyclopedic knowledge. Gerard Steen, ‘From linguistic to conceptual metaphor in five steps’, attempts to develop a procedure for identifying conceptual metaphors in discourse. The primary task of the linguist who wishes to describe and explain the structure and function of language is metaphor analysis, not metaphor understanding—a purely cognitive process. Nevertheless, his procedures are very much grounded in understanding inasmuch as metaphor identification ‘is fundamentally a matter of conceptual analysis’, and an ‘analysis . . . lays bare how metaphors can differ from each other with respect to important dimensions of conceptual structure’ (64–65). The proposed methodology seems complex, perhaps because it is bound to a theory that requires a propositional analysis of literal and nonliteral meaning and is designed to assist an analyst who is apparently not a native speaker of the language under analysis. Joseph E. Grady, ‘A typology of motivation for conceptual metaphor: Correlation vs. resemblance’, explores systematic analyses of conventional and novel metaphorical expressions to discover ‘primary metaphors’, those fundamental, experientially motivated metaphors which serve as the basis for further mappings. Grady suggests two distinct classes of metaphors which differ in terms of directionality, ontology, and conventionality: One is based upon resemblance (rather than similiarity) and the other upon correlation. Four papers address the relationship between cultural metaphors and cultural models and claim that cognition is inextricably culturally-based. Raymond Gibbs, ‘Taking metaphor out of our heads and putting it into the cultural world’, suggests that metaphorical mappings are grounded in embodied behavior which in turn is connected with cultural experience. Zoltán Kövesecs, “Metaphor: Does it constitute or reflect cultural models?’, claims that basic experiences select the appropriate, simple, generic cultural metaphors that constitute the cultural models that structure abstract concepts. Alan Cienki, ‘Metaphors and cultural models as profiles and bases’, adopts Ronald Langacker’s base-profile model and claims that metaphors are profiled against cultural models. Michele Emanation, ‘Congruence by degree: On the relation between metaphor and cultural models’, suggests that a scale of congruence may be useful in accounting for the varying relationships between cultural models and conceptual metaphors. Kenneth A. McElhanon Summer Institute of Linguistics Copyright © 2002 Linguistic Society of America

تعادل زیباییشناختی در ترجمۀ رباعیات خیام با استفاده از نظریات زیباییشناسی دریافت و استعارۀ شناختی

Conceptual Metaphor Theory is undoubtedly one of the most popular if not the most popular current theory on metaphor. Metaphor is a central theme in Cognitive Linguistics. It involves two conceptual domains: the source domain is the concept that helps to understand a more abstract concept, called the target domain. To explain the poetic effect of metaphors, Pilkington suggests we investigate metaphors in terms of 'range' and 'strength'. Whereas most metaphors have a small range of very dominant mappings, some metaphors have a broad range of equivalent mappings. Furthermore, deliberately used metaphors constitute a natural subcorpus. This metaphor is never as such used deliberately in the book but it is an important characteristic of the author's depiction of Job. Though conceptual metaphor can explain metaphorical linguistic expressions in isolation, it is not by definition equipped to deal with conceptual metaphor in literary texts. Keywords: cognitive linguistics; Conceptual Metaphor Theory; deliberately used metaphor; Hebrew Bible; Hermeneutics; literary texts

1. Introduction The issue of translation equivalence has received increasing attention from translation theorists and translators, but it seems that this issue can be investigated at different levels and from different perspectives. Reception Theory which appeared from the second half of the 20th century as an opposition to New Criticism, was to re-define the author-reader-text relation in different forms. In this theory, the author is de-centralized and unfocused and the reader and his perception based on his historical and sociocultural contexts are at focus. In this regard, Wolfgang Iser developed a branch of Reception Theory, i.e. School of Reception Aesthetics, which per se represents the issue of equivalence in case of translation. Moreover, by presenting Conceptual Metaphor Theory (CMT), Lakoff and Johnson (1980) opened a new window towards equivalence theory and dealt with the problem of equivalence at the conceptual level. Following this theory, diverse cognitive approaches such as Tabakowska’s experiential equivalence (1993) and Mandelblit’s Cognitive Translation Hypothesis (1995) were concerned about translation equivalence. Therefore, the main objective of the present study is to investigate aesthetic equivalence using the two theories of Iser’s Reception Aesthetics (1974) and Conceptual Metaphor Theory of Lakoff and Johnson (1980) in order to promote an integrated model out of Mandelblit (1995) and Tabakowska (1993) with aesthetic equivalence. 2. Methodology The study uses a qualitative approach and the research method is descriptive-analytical. Library research techniques, qualitative content analysis methods, and scientific conceptual metaphor identification methods were employed for collecting data. The sample size includes two quatrains selected in a purposive method from Rubayyat of Khayyam and their English translations by Fitzgerald. The inclusion criterion for selecting these two quatrains was their enrichment in terms of conceptual metaphors which were identified using methods of Pragglejaz Group (2007) and Steen (2007, 2009). 3. Discussion After extracting conceptual metaphors, they were analyzed using cross-domain mapping methods in the source text and target text and then, cultural, cognitive, and aesthetic models were analyzed and compared in the two texts. After that, employing the integrated model presented in the study, metaphorical mappings were investigated and compared in the Persian quatrains and their English translations in order to identify that cross-domain mappings in the two conceptual systems were similar (in case of Similar Mapping Conditions or SMC) or culture-specific (in case of Different Mapping Conditions or DMC). In addition, this issue was investigated that the translator employed which cognitive strategies in case of facing these two situations in translating metaphors. Moreover, aesthetics experiences and conceptualization of sociocultural worlds of Iranian-Khayyamic and Western-Victorian cultures were investigated based on Iser’s definitions and the ideas in relation with aesthetic reception of texts. In investigating quatrains, it seems that Khayyam reveals his ideologies and worldviews regarding the Universe, human destiny, determinism, creation (birth) and death, criticism of the Existence System, etc. in the form of conceptual metaphors. Therefore, he uses conceptual metaphors and metonymies to express his text-world and aesthetics towards humanity and the Universe. It seems that thoughts in these quatrains in the form of conceptual metaphors and metonymies can be based on Khayyam’s sociocultural and historical contexts constructing his cultural and aesthetic models in the form of cognitive schemas. Fitzgerald uses different cultural models such as “chess” instead of “puppetry” to create conceptual-aesthetic equivalence between the two conceptual systems. According to Iser’s reception aesthetics, and Lakoffian CMT, equivalence should be considered at the aesthetic level or the level of understanding texts as well as the conceptual level with regard to cultural and conceptual systems which apply imagination as well. As observed, in the new cultural, experiential, and conceptual system, Fitzgerald tries to create equivalence at the mentioned levels by switching in conceptualizations (conceptual metaphors). In addition, it seems that the translator faces different mapping conditions in conceptualization of these metaphors and metonymies due to differences in cultural models; therefore, these different mapping conditions make him keep equivalence at conceptual and aesthetic levels. As a result, in the framework of Iser’s theory according to which texts should be read in their specific sociocultural systems and via readers’ imagination, Fitzgerald uses the technique of switch of mapping to change conceptualizations. 4. Conclusion According to the results of the study, it can be concluded that in the two analyzed quatrains and their translations, conceptual metaphors have significant roots in cultural models of communities; therefore, production and perception of these metaphors need familiarity with their sociocultural and historical contexts in each discourse community. As a result, the translator changes conceptualization in his conceptual system in case of the DMC caused by differences in cultural models of the two systems to keep conceptual equivalence. Moreover, in case of the SMC, the translator, influenced by similar cultural models in the two cultures, tried to keep original conceptualizations. The results also indicated that aesthetic equivalence in translation can be investigated and aesthetics as a component can be added to the integrated model in the present study.

This paper attempts to explain convergence and divergence of Arabic and English idioms in view of the Conceptual Metaphor Theory (CMT) as set forth by Lakoff and Johnson (2003), one of the landmarks in cognitive linguistics which holds that our conceptual system is based on a group of mental metaphorical images that determine our way of thinking and influence our experience of the world. The paper specifically focuses on idioms related to patience in both languages. It has been found out that patience idioms in both languages emanate from very similar conceptual metaphors: PATIENCE IS HARDNESS, PATIENCE IS A FLUID IN A CONTAINER, and PATIENCE IS SPACIOUNESS; multiple differences, however, have been found to originate basically from cultural/linguistic variance. This study also explores how analyzing Arabic and English ‘patience’ idioms within CMT framework can have significant implications for L2 language learning.

New Directions in Cognitive Grammar and Style

In this paper, four conceptual metaphors very frequently used in the Montenegrin language are analyzed. These are conceptual metaphors: <i>Negotiation is Boxing Match, Stone is Weak, Bad, Low-Quality, Humorous is Bloody and Capital is a Woman (During Intercourse, with an Intention for Procreation)</i>. The mentioned conceptual metaphors have entered the focus of our scientific interest because they reveal some very important facts about the Montenegrin mentality. We can say that these facts are immanent to the way of thinking of the average resident of Montenegro to the extent that they are firmly woven into the linguistic expression. These conceptual metaphors can be found in all functional styles of the Montenegrin language, and, most importantly, they are most often used in everyday language. The conceptual metaphors we deal with in this paper, however, are not only related to the way of thinking of the inhabitants of Montenegro, but are, potentially, also part of the universal way of functioning of the human mind. In the explication of the mentioned conceptual metaphors, we will apply the methodology of cognitive linguistics, and above all, we will focus on the theory of conceptual metaphor. The literature on the phenomenon of conceptual metaphor in contemporary world and domestic linguistics is extremely large and diverse. In our research and theoretical foundation of the concept of conceptual metaphor, we will start, of course, from the now classic book by Lakoff and Johnson "Metaphors We Live By", and then we will add to this classical study in the continuation of the paper the insights that individual (cognitive) linguists have gained about conceptual metaphor in the last twenty years.

The aim of the study is to explore the metaphorical expressions in AyiKweiArmah'sThe Beautyful Ones Are Not Yet Born using the conceptual theory of metaphor (CMT) by Lakoff&amp; Johnson (1980) and Idealized cognitive models (ICMs) by Radden&amp;Kovecses (1999) as its framework. The research objectives include identifying metaphorical expressions, exploring cognitive mechanisms and highlighting the function of idealized cognitive models (ICMs) in the text. A qualitative approach was employed, involving a descriptive analysis of linguistic expressions in the text. The data collection process involved reading the text multiple times, highlighting linguistic expressions and categorizing them according to structural metaphors using CMT. The study identifies 42 metaphorical expressions grouped under 14 conceptual metaphors The study found 14 conceptual metaphors. The findings also revealed the extensive use of structural metaphors in the text, supporting the universality of conceptual metaphors (Lakoff&amp; Johnson, 1980; Kovecses, 2010). Additionally, 6 idealized cognitive models (ICMs) were identified as playing a role in the creation of these conceptual metaphors. This research contributes to the understanding of cognitive metaphorical expressions in literary texts, highlighting the significance of CMT in analyzing conceptual metaphors and ICMs. The findings also support the claim of the universality of metaphors, demonstrating how metaphorical expressions are extensively exploited in literary text.

The Conceptual Metaphor Theory (CMT) established the pervasiveness of metaphor in thought and language and provided evidence that metaphor is, in fact, deeply embedded in our conceptual system. Contrary to the original claim that conceptual metaphors are largely universal, in almost four decades after its inception, the CMT researchers including George Lakoff and Mark Johnson have advanced the idea of cultural influence on metaphorical conceptualisation. In recent years, the trend in metaphor research has been to study how metaphor behaves in naturally occurring discourse. It is in this context that the current study explores conceptual metaphors in India's rich cultural context. The main objectives of the current study are, (i) to examine conceptual metaphors of womanhood found in English literary works set in India's three culturally diverse linguistic regions, and (ii) to compare and contrast them across literary works of the three regions.�The data of linguistic metaphors was collected from 21 literary works, seven in each linguistic region. This data was tested for metaphoricity using the Metaphor Identification Procedure, Vrije University, Amsterdam (MIPVU) developed by the PRAGGLEJAZ Group, after which it was analysed using the CMT. The CMT enabled the identification of the source domain used in each linguistic metaphor and subsequently, the uncovering of conceptual metaphors through the establishment of cross-domain mappings between the source and target domains. The framework of the Cognitive Dimension of Metaphor Variation by Zoltan K?vecses has been used to analyse the metaphors for similarities and variations across the three regions. The Great Chain of Being metaphor or the GCB model has guided the understanding of the negative and positive conceptualisation of the metaphors of womanhood.�The analysis revealed that a total of 30 source domains have been utilised by the authors across the three regions. Of these, 21 in the Indo-Aryan, 27 in the Dravidian and 23 source domains in Tibeto-Burmese literary works. Of these, the source domains, ANIMALS, OBJECTS, SUPERNATURAL ENTITIES, PLANTS, and ELEMENTS OF NATURE are the most frequently used. The source domain, ANIMALS tops in the aggregate with approximately 25% of total metaphors across the three regions conceptualising women in terms of animals. The next most frequently used source domain is OBJECTS with 22% of the total metaphors conceptualising women in terms of objects.�In terms of the target domains of womanhood, the Indo-Aryan works focus more on the conceptualisation of motherhood, the Dravidian works focus more on the conceptualisation of wifehood and metaphors found in the Tibeto-Burmese literary works focus more on the women's physical attributes and beauty. Lastly, the conceptualisation of womanhood in the Indo-Aryan and Dravidian literary works is more negative than positive, with the negative conceptualisation of womanhood being the higher in the Dravidian literary works. In the Tibeto-Burmese literary works, the percentage of positive and negative metaphors was found to be proportionate. The main implication of this research is that it is the first comprehensive study of literary metaphors ever conducted. The study analysed 708 linguistic metaphors of womanhood from 21 literary works across India.

In traditional rhetoric, metaphor is simply a rhetorical device used to make the mentioned things more understandable. It was not until 1980 that two cognitive linguists, George Lakoff and Mark Johnson (1980) argued in Metaphors We Live By that the essence of metaphor is the cognitive mechanism by which abstract things are explained through concrete things, shifting the study of metaphor from the linguistic level to the cognitive level. Later on, Lakoff (1996) analyzed political metaphor from a cognitive perspective for the first time in Moral Politics, which drives the upsurge of research on conceptual metaphor in political discourse. Political discourse usually uses metaphor to conceptualize the political ideas and issues it aims to disseminate, and the use of conceptual metaphor is closely related to national culture, so the translation of conceptual metaphor has become the key to the overseas publicity of political discourse. On March 5, 2023, Premier Li Keqiang delivered Chinese Government Work Report at the opening meeting of the first session of the 14th National People&amp;rsquo;s Congress. After reading the official translation on www.china.org.cn, the authors find that the Report contains a wealth of conceptual metaphors, and whether the translation of these metaphors is appropriate or not will affect the accuracy of people&amp;rsquo;s understanding of the Report. Based on Lakoff and Johnson&amp;rsquo;s (1980) conceptual metaphor theory and Group&amp;rsquo;s (2007) metaphor identification procedure, this paper takes the 2023 Chinese Government Work Report and its English translation version on www.china.org.cn as the research corpus. Through manual screening, classification and statistics of conceptual metaphors, this paper explores ten types of conceptual metaphor models, namely human metaphor, journey metaphor, war metaphor, cultural metaphor, architecture metaphor, water metaphor, animal and plant metaphor, machine metaphor, line metaphor as well as object metaphor. Based on Xiao&amp;rsquo;s (2005) cognitive strategy of metaphor translation, this paper also analyzes the translation of ten types of conceptual metaphors. This paper attempts to explore the following three research questions: (1) What are the types of metaphorical patterns in the Report? (2) How are the conceptual metaphors used in the Report and what cultural connotations and images are conveyed by them? (3) How to effectively translate conceptual metaphors in the Report to achieve a better understanding of the target audience? Microsoft Office (Word and Excel) is used as a statistical tool and a mapping tool to count specific conceptual metaphor categories and record typical metaphor keywords, and visualize the data of the proportion of various types. This paper tries to summarize and analyze the cultural connotations and images conveyed by the conceptual metaphors, so as to provide help for the English translation of Chinese political discourse and promote the international dissemination of Chinese political ideas. Through the analysis of conceptual metaphors, we can judge that although the political concepts in the Report is abstract, conceptual metaphors can express them more concretely and more easily understood by the audience through the mapping from the source domain to the target domain.

How does conceptual metaphor theory handle mixed metaphors? Several metaphor scholars argue that mixed metaphor is a phenomenon that conceptual metaphor theory cannot handle. Their argument is that, given the claims of conceptual metaphor theory, mixed metaphors should not occur at all. This is because once a conceptual metaphor is activated in discourse by means of a linguistic metaphor, that conceptual metaphor should lead to and support the use of further linguistic examples of the same conceptual metaphor. However, in real discourse, the argument goes, most metaphors are mixed, which indicates that conceptual metaphors are not activated and thus do not lead to further consistent linguistic metaphors of the same conceptual metaphor. In the paper, I will argue that the idea of the production of consistent and homogeneous linguistic examples does not necessarily follow from conceptual metaphor theory and that, as a matter of fact, the opposite is the case: given conceptual metaphor theory, we should expect the use of mixed metaphors in natural discourse.

This study is entitled (Analysis of the idioms of (head) in Kurdish language, from the perspective of cognitive linguistics). Language is one of the most important human achievements and occupies a large space in human life. Therefore, since the ancient times, humans have paid attention to it and tried to understand its secrets. Idioms are an important part of any language, and studying them helps us to understand the relationship between idioms and metaphors. The school of cognitive linguistics looks at idioms differently from all other linguistic schools. Other linguistic schools have studied the syntactic, semantic and pragmatic aspects of idioms and viewed them as fixed and inseparable structures and expressions. However, the cognitive linguists have a completely different view; they see idioms as conceptual metaphors and interpret every conceptual metaphor in terms of the conceptual matching and interaction between the source and target fields. Our study is an interpretation of the idioms of (head) from the school of cognitive linguistics’ perspective, in light of the theory of conceptual metaphor, the interpretation of idioms has been conducted. In general, the study consists of the introduction, two chapters, the results and the list of references. The first chapter discusses the perception of both schools of ancient and cognitive linguistics for idioms as well as the theory of conceptual metaphor, types of conceptual metaphors and metaphorical interaction between the source and target fields. In the second chapter, the idioms of (head) have been analyzed according to the theory of conceptual metaphor, followed by the results and a list of references.

This book contains a selection of refereed and revised papers originally presented at the 5th ICLC. After an introduction by the editors, the book opens with a long-needed chapter on historical precedents for the Cognitive Linguistic theory of metaphor. Two chapters demonstrate the method of lexical analysis of linguistic metaphors and how it can be fruitfully applied to a characterization of the conceptual domains of smell and economics. Three chapters deal with theoretical aspects of conceptual metaphor, one of which is a commissioned chapter on the relation between conceptual metaphor theory and conceptual blending. Finally there are five chapters presenting novel theoretical issues and empirical findings about the relation between conceptual metaphor and culture. This book is hence a wide-ranging sample of current approaches to metaphor in Cognitive Linguistics, with some chapters breaking new grounds for future research.

This paper is an attempt to make a comparison between Lakoff and Johnson’s conceptual metaphor theory and Chomsky’s transformational generative grammar, and to demonstrate a Chomskyan postulation in the former. Although Lakoff and Johnson regard Chomsky’s linguistics as a modern representative of traditional Western philosophies of language that tend to highlight the a priori assumptions rather than empirical findings, the cognitive theory of metaphor contains a Chomskyan metaphysical assumption as its most important notion, i.e. the assumption of conceptual metaphors. Thus, what the present paper wants to argue with ample evidence is that Lakoff and Johnson’s conceptual metaphor theory resembles Chomsky’s logic and that their notion of conceptual metaphors is very much a Chomskyan postulation. What the present study tries to further demonstrate is that the abovementioned two theories actually have many points in common, which also implies that Lakoff and Johnson have failed to avoid the paradigm that they believe is conflicting with their own.