Abstract
Different from traditional linguistics which views metaphor as a means of rhetoric, cognitive linguistics holds that metaphors, instead of being a deviant phenomenon of normal language, are a way of thought and a powerful instrument of cognition. In Metaphors We Live By, Lakoff and Johnson claim that “metaphor is primarily a matter of thought and action, and only derivatively a matter of language” (Lakoff & Johnson, 1980:62). This means that metaphors are not just a way of expressing ideas by means of language, but a way of perceiving, thinking and acting. Traditional theories of metaphor view metaphor as a figure of speech or the variation at the lexical or sentential level. While Halliday recognizes variation at the lexical grammatical level and introduces the theory of grammatical metaphor that approaches metaphor form a different perspective. After Halliday’s deconstruction of scientific discourse by grammatical metaphor, his theory of grammatical metaphor is applied to deconstructing various types of discourses ranging from scientific discourse, news discourse to legal discourse.
Nowadays, more and more attention has been drawn to the study of English contract. At the same time, interest in Grammar metaphor has been on the rise. Contract is one of the most important types of legal document and plays a critical role in dispute solving in both commercial and social life. The study of the language of contract thus attracts extensive attentions, but most of the study is confined to the lexical and syntactical features of contract; very few explore at the grammatical level. Based on the previous studies of the language of contract and taking Halliday’s reclassification of 13 types of grammatical metaphor as the general frame, this thesis attempts to analyze the language of contract by grammatical metaphor and summarize functions of grammatical metaphor in the language of contract. Four types of most commonly used contracts are selected as the data to be analyzed. In the course of data analysis, both quantitative and qualitative approaches are adopted.
The result of the research indicates that grammatical metaphor is pervasive in the language of contact. Nominalizing metaphors play a predominant role in forming the features of contract. When working together, grammatical metaphors make a contract more condensed, objective and authoritative.
Keywords: cognitive linguistics metaphor Grammar metaphor English contracts
传统语言学把隐喻当作一种修辞手段，认为它是正常语言的一种偏离。然而，20世纪70年代以来逐渐发展起来的认知语言学却把隐喻看作一种思维方式、一种有力的认知工具。1980年，George Lakoff和Mark Johnson发表了《我们赖以生存的隐喻》 （Metaphors We Live By）一书，标志着认知观的隐喻探讨开始了。在George Lakoff和Mark Johnson的隐喻理论基础上，本文主要应用韩礼德的语法隐喻理论为探讨框架，研讨和略论了合同语言中的语法隐喻现象。传统隐喻理论将隐喻看成修辞手法或是词汇和句子层面上的转换。韩礼德则认为隐喻是在词汇语法层面上的转换，并由此提出了语法隐喻的概念，从不同的角度诠释隐喻。
现在，在当今社会中有越来越多的人开始对英语合同进行探讨，同时关于语法隐喻的兴趣也是有所增长。合同是最重要的法学文书之一，在各种商务和社会活动中起到重要的法学保障影响。因此，关于合同语言的探讨一直以来都引起各界学者广泛关注。但当前的探讨大多是集中在合同措辞、用语、句子结构等方面，而鲜有从合同语言的词汇语法层面进行研讨。所以本文以其他学者对合同语言的探讨为基础，以韩礼德对语法隐喻的重新分类为框架，对合同语言进行语法隐喻略论并总结语法隐喻在合同语言中所起到的影响。本文采取定性和定量相结合的措施，以四类最常见的合同文本为语料进行略论。然后对上述概念语法隐喻现象在商务合同语篇中的分布、出现频率、影响进行较为全面的略论和论述。商务合同语篇中的名词化现象主要表现为动词、形容词、介词和连词的名词化。最后提出概念语法隐喻、尤其是名词化在商务合同语篇中的影响。语法隐喻现象能够充分体现商务合同语言特征，用最简练的语言涵盖复杂的内容，并用以表明抽象思维的逻辑性和概念化，突出了商务合同语言简洁明了，语意严谨，即突出其庄重文体特征。
本文略论结果显示，语法隐喻在合同语言中是普遍存在的。名词性隐喻对合同语言特点的形成起到最为重要的影响。语法隐喻使得合同语言具有凝练，英语毕业论文，英语论文，客观和权威的特点。语法隐喻的影响可以让商务合同中能带有明确交际概念和信息目的的交流方式。
关键词： 认知语言学 隐喻 语法隐喻 商务合同
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