3. Metaphor
3.1 Definition of metaphor
“The word ‘metaphor’ derives from the Greek word ‘metaphora’, which means ‘transference, carrying over’. It is a very common figure of speech in English.”[12] Metaphor, whose basic constituents are tenor, vehicle and ground, uses words to indicate something different from their literal meaning-----one thing is described in terms of another so as to suggest a likeness or analogy between them.
On the definition of metaphor, different scholars and academic works give their different opinions. Next the author is going to list some of them:
(a) A figure of speech containing an implied comparison, in which a word or phrase ordinarily and primarily used of one thing is applied to another. (Webster’s New World Dictionary)[13]
(b) A figure of speech in which one thing is described in terms of another. The basic figure in poetry. A comparison is usually implicit; whereas in simile it is explicit. (A Dictionary of Literal Terms)[14]
(c) The use of one reference to a group of things that are related in a particular way in order to discover a similar relation in another group. (I.A.Richards, 1936: 89-90, The Philosophy of Rhetoric)[15]
(d)The figure of speech in which a name or descriptive term is transferred to some object different from, but analogous to, that to which it is properly applicable; an instance of this, a metaphorical expression. (Oxford English Dictionary, Second Edition, 2002)
(e) A Textbook of Translation (Peter Newmark, 1988:104) defines metaphor as follows: “By metaphor, I mean any figurative expression: the transferred sense of a physical word; the personification of an abstraction; the application of a word or collocation to what it does not literally denote, i.e., to describe one thing in terms of another. All polysemous words (a ‘heavy’ heart) and most English phrasal verbs are potentially metaphorical. Metaphors may be ‘single’-viz. one- word——or ‘extended’ (a collocation, an idiom, a sentence, a proverb, an allegory, a complete imaginative text)”[16]
(f)A figure of speech in which a word or phrase that ordinarily designates one thing is used to designate another, thus making an implicit comparison, as in “a sea of troubles” or “ All the world’s a stage”(Shakespeare) (The American Heritage of the English Language, Fourth Edition,2000)[17]
(g)A figure of speech in which a term or phrase is applied to something to which it is not literally applicable in order to suggest a resemblance, as in “A mighty fortress in our God”. (Random House Compact Unabridged Dictionary, Special Second Edition, 1996)[18]
Each of the above-quoted definitions points out more or less the essence of metaphor. The common feature of these definitions is that all of them think that metaphor is a figure of speech, containing an implicit comparison. Among the seven definitions of metaphor, the first is very concise; the second makes a contrast between simile and metaphor to point out the fundamental difference between these two rhetorical devices; the third points out that in metaphor, the tenor and the vehicle are related through their similarity in a particular way; the fourth is abstract for it provides no concrete examples to help the reader better understand the notion it intends to convey; the fifth seems to be the most comprehensive and the most specific of the above-quoted definitions as it includes several ways of manifestations which all belong to metaphor; the sixth is somewhat clear with two examples provided; the last one is quite similar with the first one.
But this thesis is mainly based on the view of George Lakeoff and Mark Johnson. “They claim in Metaphors We Live by, ‘…… metaphor is pervasive in everyday life, not just in language but in thought and action.’ They point out, ‘Our ordinary conceptual system, in terms of which we both think and act, is fundamentally metaphorical in nature.’”[19] This point of view is very consistent with I.A.Richards’ “metaphor is omnipresent principle of language” mentioned in Introduction.
3.2 Characteristics of metaphor
From the seven definitions on metaphor above and according to our knowledge of metaphor, we may conclude that metaphor possesses at least the following four characteristics:
(a) Unlike simile, metaphor doesn’t contain such linking words as “as” and “like”, so the comparison is implicit rather than explicit.
(b) In a metaphor, the tenor is compared to the vehicle because they share an abstract quality, which functions as a tie connecting the two together. In other words, the tenor and the vehicle possess a similar abstract feature or quality, which serves as the basis of their comparison.
(c) The tenor and vehicle are by nature different from each other, though they possess something abstract in common on which their comparison is based.
(d) The vehicle in a metaphor creates a specific image, which is usually vivid and impressive. By comparing the tenor to the vehicle, we not only get a concrete image of the tenor but also make its typical quality or feature stand out.
To sum up, the author would rather believe that metaphor is not just a matter of language, a figure of speech, which implies a resemblance between one object and another, but a cognitive mode from the perspective of cognitive linguistics, which helps people understand the world.
So far as now, this thesis has thoroughly illustrated some major factors of metaphor. In the next part, the author will pay special attention to discuss the translation of metaphor from English to Chinese from the perspective of cultural differences between Chinese and English. |
