英语习语的隐喻认知理据

论英语习语的意象图式理据[摘要] 英语习语是英语语言的一个重要组成部分,也是语言的精华,对英语习语的语义的理解与诠释是我们学好英语的一个重要组成部分。

意象图式是人们认识周围世界以及事物之间关系的一个重要认知层面,是人们初始的认知结构,可以作为人们理解习语的一个语义理据。

本文拟从意象图式的角度来分析和理解英语中的一些习语。

[关键词]英语习语意象图式习语义认知理据[Abstract] English idiom is an important part and quintessence of English language. The interpretation and understanding of English idioms is the key to learning English well. Image schema is an important cognitive level and cognitive structure as well,which can be used as the cognitive motivation of understanding idioms. The paper attempts to analyze and understand English idioms from the aspect of image schema.[Key words]English idiomsimage schemasidiomatic meaningcognitive motivation一、综述习语的重要性、特点及其研究英语习语是英语词汇不可或缺的重要部分,它具有形式上的固定性和语义上的整体性。

因此,对英语习语的研究往往集中在习语的结构、语义上,有的集中在其用法上。

近年来,随着认知语言学的兴起,它为习语的研究提供了很多启发性的研究视角。

语言是人类社会最重要的交际工具,习语作为最地道和最富于感染力的语言表达手段之一,常常被称为人类智慧的结晶和语言的精华。

摘要本论文围绕英语习语中的隐喻现象展开，先介绍了隐喻的概念和习语的概念，比如隐喻的含义，从古至今，就有不同的人，不同的学派对此做过研究。

至于隐喻和习语之间存在着怎么样的关系，许多学者也对此进行了研究。

本文例举了几位比较有名的学者的研究，比如Lakoff和Gibbs这两位学者。

本文的重点是介绍习语的隐喻特征，这部分是通过3个方面来论证的：本位隐喻，方位隐喻和结构隐喻。

这三方面有其不同的特点，主要是以例子来说明。

通过举例的方式可以让读者能更直接地了解英语习语中的隐喻现象。

关键词：习语；隐喻；派别ABSTRACTThis paper focuses on the metaphorical phenomenon in English idioms, firstly introducing the concepts of metaphor and idiom. Take the definition of metaphor for example, since the old times, many scholars of different schools have different ideas. In terms of relationship between metaphor and idiom, many scholars carried out their own studies. This paper cites the viewpoints of several famous scholars, like Laoff and Gibbs. This paper emphasizes the metaphorical features of idioms from the ontological metaphors, orientational metaphors and structural metaphors. These three kinds of metaphors have different characteristics, which are explained through examples. The way of citing examples enables the readers to get access to the metaphorical phenomenon in English idioms more directly.Keywords：idioms; metaphor; schoolsContents1. Introduction (4)2. The concept of idioms and metaphors (3)2.1The concept of metaphors (3)2.1.1The definition of metaphors (3)2.1.2The classification of metaphors (4)2.2The concept of idioms (4)2.2.1The definition of idioms (4)2.2.2The features of idioms (5)3.Research on the relationship between metaphors and idioms (6)3.1Lakoff's study (6)3.2The Gibbs's study (7)3.3 Other scholars’ study (8)4.Metaphorical features of idioms (8)4.1Ontological metaphors and idioms (8)4.1.1Personification (9)4.1.2 The container metaphor (9)4.1.3.A case study of ontological metaphor (11)4.2Orientational metaphors and idioms (11)4.2.1 The analysis of metaphoric meaning about UP-DOWN (12)4.2.2 The analysis of metaphoric meaning about FRONT-BACK (13)4.2.3 A case study: idioms denoting the concept of love (14)4.3 Structural metaphor and idioms (15)4.3.1 The internal systematicity (15)4.3.2 The external systematicity among the different structural metaphors (16)4.3.3 A case study (18)5. Conclusion (19)6.Acknowledgements (20)7.References (21)1．I ntroductionIn our study of English, we always come across metaphor, which is widely used in English sentences and can indicate vivid meanings. However, we don’t have a clear understanding of this rhetoric. Traditionally, metaphor is a figure in which one thing is compared to another by saying that one is the other. But according to cognitive linguistics, metaphor is defined as understanding one conceptual domain or cognitive domain in terms of another conceptual domain. The study of metaphor has attracted the attention of many scholars. In the West there have been many different approaches to the study of metaphor. In 1457, Aristotle studied metaphor as a transference of name, which was known as Aristotelian Approach.The traditional linguistic approach studies metaphor as a deviant phenomenon in language which produces either a false statement or an ungrammatical sentence. The pragmatic approach takes metaphor as a special speech act and metaphorical understanding asthe interplay between knowledge of the language system, knowledge of context, and background schematic knowledge about the world and the society, and the interaction approach understands metaphor as an interaction between two subject systems. Nietzsche, Shelly, Werner, Cassirer and Reddy all reflects on metaphor as cognitive phenomenon from the perspectives of philosophy, literary criticism, psychology, anthropology and linguistics respectively. The Knowledge and Language was writtenby Ankersmit in 1993,which briefly introduced the theories of metaphor, the research ways to metaphor. Kirsten Malmkjaer compared the constructive theory and replacement theory in The Linguistics Encyclopedia. In The Encyclopedia of Philosophy(1967), Beardsley introduced many kinds of metaphoric theories in particular. In China, the dominant approach over the centuries has been the rhetoricalapproach that studies metaphor as a figure of speech. Lan Chun once said “This approach pays a special attention to distinguishing metaphor from other figures of speech and to dividing metaphor into incessantly increasing sub-groups.” [8]49 Idioms are frequently used in our language, both in English and Chinese. Idioms are special kinds of phrases whose meaning can not be grasped from the superficial perspectives. According to the statistics, an adult uses more than 20 million idioms all over his life, which means 7000 idioms per week. It sounds unbelievable, but it is true. In this way, we may have a better understanding of the important status of idioms in the language. In 1994, the scholar Nunberg divided the idioms into three kinds: decomposable idioms, abnormal decomposable idioms and nondecomposable idioms. In The Comprehensive of Idioms, Cacciari and Tabossi divided the idioms into transparent idioms, opaque idioms according to the degree of transparency. However, in the eyes of Fernando, idioms are composed of pure idioms, semi-idioms and literal idioms. In the understanding of mechanism of idioms, two explanations have been brought up: compositional view and noncompositional view. On the basis of noncompositional view, in 1973, Bobrow and Bell put forward Idiom List Hypothesis, which means the literal meaning of idioms exists prior to the rhetoric meaning. However, Swinney and Cutler were against it, so Lexical Representation Hypothesis came up.On the other hand, on the basis of compositional view, Gibbs and Nayak put forward Idiom Decomposition Hypothesis in cognitive psychology. In China, Zhang Peiji studied the construction and meaning of idioms. In 1998,Chen Daoming issued an article in Foreign Language, talking about the development of understanding idioms. Also, there are many other scholars who contribute to the research of idiom in China, like Hua Xianfa, Lin Weiyan, etc.This study, based on the previous studies, is expected to make clear the definition of idiom and metaphor from different perspectives, what is more, the relationship between them is also the focus of the study.The use of idioms can achieve better communicative effects and are conceived to be a sign of language proficiency. This study has theoretical significance, and it may confirm the learnability of idioms through conceptual metaphor approach. In the process of learning idioms, people can not only remember and imitate, but also get access to its deep constructions, especially the metaphorical significance of the English idioms.2. The concept of idioms and metaphors2.1 The concept of metaphors2.1.1The definition of metaphorsWhen we refer to the study of metaphor, there have been many different approaches in the western countries. Aristotelian approach studies metaphor as a transference of names; the traditional linguistic approach studies metaphor as a deviant phenomenon in language which produces either a false statement or an ungrammatical sentence; the pragmatic approach takes metaphor as a special speech act and metaphorical understanding as the interplay between knowledge of the language system, knowledge of the context, and background schematic knowledge about the world and the society. In the traditional way, we always regard metaphor as a figure of speech, in which one thing is compared to another by saying that one is another. For example, He is a tiger“He”in the sentence is the target, which is the described element while“tiger”is called source, which is the describing elem ent. According to Lan Chun, this approach pays special attention to distinguishing metaphor from other figures of speech and to dividing metaphor into incessantly increasing sub-groups. [8]111The interactionist approach begins to recognize the cognitive value of metaphor, thus paving the way for the emergence of the cognitive theory. The cognitive view of metaphor can provide new insights into how certain linguistic phenomena work. It can also shed new light on how metaphorical meaning emerges. The work which marks the establishment of the cognitive approach to metaphor is Lakoff ＆Johnson’s Metaphor We Live By: metaphor means metaphorical concept. The definition then isexplained in the way: Metaphor refers to understanding one conceptual domain in terms of another conceptual domain. It claims that metaphor is pervasive in everyday life, not just in language but in thought and action and our ordinary conceptual system in terms of the fact that what we both think and act is fundamentally metaphorical in nature. We often talk about life in terms of journey, about time in terms of money, about love also in terms of journey and many others. The concept of JOURNEY(the source domain) is usually used to talk about the concept of LOVE(the target domain).The reason why concept A can be understood in terms of concept B is that there is a set of systematic correspondences between the source and target domain, in the sense that constituent conceptual elements of B correspond to those of A.2.1.2The classification of metaphorsAccording to the view of Lakeoff＆Johnson, metaphor can be divided into three types:(1) Structural metaphor is known as one concept metaphorically structured in terms of another. In structural metaphors, the source domain provides a relatively rich knowledge structure for the target concept. The cognitive function of these metaphors is to enable speakers to understand target A by means of the structure of source B. For example: ARGUMENT IS WAR, in this metaphor, the target domain ARGUMENT is structured in terms of a more familiar domain WAR.(2) Orientational metaphor does not structure one concept in terms of another but instead organize a whole system of concepts with respect to one another, as they are related to spatial orientation. It concerns about up-down, in-out, on-off, deep-shallow and so on. For example, HAPPY IS UP,SAD IS DOWN.(3) Ontological metaphor is described as a way of viewing events, activities, emotions, ideas as entities and substances. That is to say, our experience of physical objects and substances provide a basis for an extraordinary wide variety of ontological metaphors. For example, THE MIND IS AN ENTITY, the ENTITY refers to something concrete.2.2 The concept of idioms2.2.1The definition of idiomsNo one can give a noncontroversial answer to the question of what idiom is .That is to say, there is no clear-cut definition for the term “idiom” . The traditional view holds that idioms are semantically arbitrary. What is common in the traditional view is that idioms are essentially noncompositional and their meanings are unanalyzable and arbitrary. While the cognitive linguistics provides us a new perspective on idioms. It argues that the parts of an idiom have their individual meanings, and the relationship between the meanings of the parts and the meaning of the idiom is compositional, that is , idioms are regarded to be analyzable semantically.Different dictionaries give the different definitions about it and many linguists hold different opinions.A group of words established by usage as having a meaning not deducible from those of the individual words.(New Oxford Dictionary of English)A special kind of phrase. It is a group of words which have a different meaning when used together from the one it would have if the meaning of each word were taken individually.(Collins Cobuild Dictionary of Idioms)A phrase whose meaning is different from the meaning of each word considered separately. These phrases have a fixed form―they usually cannot be changed―and they are often informal, but they can also be slang, rude slang, or even slightly formal. Many idioms are used in spoken English, but they also appear in newspapers and magazines, in books, and even in academic writing.(Cambridge Dictionary of American idioms)An idiom is an expression which functions as a single unit and whose meaning can not be worked out from its separate parts.(Longman Dictionary of Applied Linguistic)……There are broad sense and narrow sense in defining idioms. In its broad sense, idioms in English refer to set phrases, colloquialism, proverbs and slang expressions. In its narrow sense, idioms in English refer to some special fixed phrases. But not all fixed phrases are idioms. For example, close your eyes is a common fixed phrase, but it is not an idiom because each word in it is used in its standard meaning. Keep yourshirt on, however, is an idiom, because the phrase does not mean not taking off your shirt, but means staying calm.In my thesis, I will focus mainly on the narrow sense of idiom.2.2.2The features of idiomsNow, we have discussed the definition of idioms, we have known there exist different views, as different schools or linguists define idioms from different perspectives. Some may describe it from the semantic perspective, claiming the meaning of idioms are analyzable, however, some point out the semantic properties are the most important to idioms. So, here, it is necessary for us to discuss the semantic characteristics of idioms.According to the view of Luo Shiping, there are five semantic characteristics of English idioms: [19]90(1) The meaning of an idiom is a single unit. That is to say, an idiom must be learned as a whole. Its overall meaning is not a simple combination of each component’s meaning. For example“let the cat out of the bag”means to tell somebody secret information, which seems to have nothing to do with“cat”and“dog” .(2) Most idioms have both literal meaning and figurative meaning, and they are different. For example“bread and butter”refers to two kinds of food literally, while figuratively, the idiom means something that people need in order to live, such as money and jobs.(3) The literal meaning of some idioms are apparently against thinking logic or life logic, such as“eat one’s head off”.(4) New idiomatic meanings can not be obtained by analogy or inference. Take“under the weather”for example, it is incorrect to coin a phrase“above the weather”to mean to feel well, for the phrase means to feel uncomfortable.(5) Figurativeness is an obvious feature of the idiomatic meaning as well as a significant figure of speech employed in idioms. In this sense, they include simile idioms such as“as blind as a bat”,“feel like a fish out of water”and metaphorical idioms ,such as“an old flame”,“carry a torch”.3. Research on the relationship between metaphors and idiomsIn the previous sections, this thesis has discussed the definition of metaphor and idiom from various perspectives. However, they are not independent of each other. The next part is to clarify the relationship between metaphor and idiom, which enables the readers to understand, firstly, what is the relationship between metaphor and idiom, secondly, to what extent the research on the relationship between metaphor and idiom has reached. The thesis elucidates this part by citing the researches made by two important linguists.3.1 Lakoff’s studyIn L akoff’s book Metaphor We Live By, a large amount of idioms were frequently taken as examples of conventional metaphors, implying the facilitating role of conceptual metaphor in the comprehension of idioms. According to the view of Lakoff, the link between conceptual metaphors and idioms was established with the proposition of the conceptual metaphor theory, language is metaphorically structured, idioms, as a constitutive part of language, are supposed to be metaphorically structured. Lakoff criticized the traditional view that the meaning of idioms are arbitrarily formed, and stated“when idioms have been associated with conventional images, it is common for an independently-motivated conceptual metaphor to mapthat knowledge from the source to the target domain.” [16]Lakoff’s analysis also shows conceptual metaphor is helpful in distinguishing idioms similar in meaning. For example,“crack up”and“break down”,both are used to describe people’s psychological state, but it is still confusing to distinguish. “C rack up”is governed by the metaphor THE MIND IS A MACHINE, as if the mind has an on-off state. That is to say, when a machine breaks down, it simply ceases to function. If someone is unable to function for psychological reasons, we would like to say“crack up”,while“break down”is governed by the metaphor THE MIND IS A BRITTLE OBJECT, that is to say, when a brittle object shatters, it flies into pieces that may cause dangerous consequences, such as hurting people around. When someone goes crazy, wild and violent, he or she may hurt somebody else, then we would like to say“break down”.3.2 Gibbs’ studyGibbs’research contributes greatly to the psychological studies on idiom comprehension and offers us valuable inspiration for the study of idioms. Gibbs’ view is similar to Lakoff’s. His research proves that idioms are not dead metaphors and they have more complex meanings that are motivated by conceptual metaphors linking the idiomatic phrases to their figurative interpretations; the meanings of idioms are not arbitrary but motivatedly people’s tacit knowledge of conceptual metaphors as suggested by Lakoff. Gibbs has carried out a series of experiments, the feature of which is the use of mental imagery. The subjects were asked to form and describe their mental images for different idiomatic expressions and then they were asked a series of detailed questions about their images regarding the causes and effects of different events within their images. The result showed that the participants demonstrated great consistency in their responses to the questions for the idioms with similar figurative meanings despite the differences in their surface forms.3.3 Other scholars’ studyLakoff and Gibbs have made great contribution to the studies on the relationship between metaphors and idioms. Also based on Lakoff’s study, Kovecses and Szabo summed up the conceptual metaphors on FIRE, which contributes to the construction and comprehension of the idioms related to fire. These conceptual metaphor serveas a bridge linking two independent domains, a domain of fire and a domain of an abstract concept.ANGER IS FIREHe was spitting fire.LOVE IS FIREThe fire between them finally went out.IMAGINATION IS FIREThe painting set fire to the composer’s imagination.CONFLICT IS FIREThe killing sparked off riots.ENERGY IS FUEL OF FIREHe was burning the candle at both ends.4. Metaphorical features of idioms4.1 Ontological metaphors and idiomsOntological metaphor is one of the three types of metaphors, and is usually described as “ways of viewing events, activities, ideas, emotions, etc, as entities and substances”. [16]As long as we are able to identify our experiences as identities or substances, then we can refer to them, categorize them, group them, and quantify them, and, by this means, reason about them. The most important characteristics of ontological metaphor is to view abstract things as concrete things. For example:(1)we need to combat inflation (2)That was a beautiful catch. In (1), the abstract noun inflation is regarded as concrete person. In (2), the act of catch is regarded as a concrete thing. The following are the most obvious types of ontological metaphors.4.1.1 PersonificationThe most obvious ontological metaphors are those where the physical object is further specified as being a person. Personification is considered to belong to ontological metaphors.First, let's look at the two examples.A: Life has cheated me.B: Anger has pinned us to the wall.If we look closer to the above two sentences, we are able to find out that both of the two sentences enable us to see nonhuman as human. It allows us to understand a wide variety of experiences with nonhuman entities in terms of human motivation, characteristics and activities. The most obvious ontological metaphor are those where the physical object is further specified as being a person. In the second sentence, anger is personified. It gives us a vivid picture about how anger acts. In this sentence, anger seems to hurt us, attack us and kill us. So we can understand that personification is a general category that covers a wide range of metaphors, which allows us to make sense of phenomena in the world in human terms. This kind of sentences are: Disease finally caught up with him; His religion tells him that he cannot eat pork; Inflation has given birth to a money-minded generation.4.1.2 The container metaphorThe container metaphors are the other representation of ontological metaphors. As we know, rooms and houses can be considered to be containers as they have boundaries, moving from room to room or house to house is moving from one container to another, that is, which is also true to our physical beings. Each of us is a container, with a bounded surface and in-out orientation. A clearing in the woods is seen as having a boundary surface, and we can view ourselves as being in the clearing or out of the clearing, in the woods or out of woods. There are different kinds of boundaries: concrete or abstract; definite or indefinite, surface, line or point.1) The boundary of the tenor is a surface.a. The boundary is clear and concrete.This kind of tenor, which can be understood as the target in a sentence, is concrete, such as the human body, which we can actually see with our eyes. Let's look at the following examples:(1)I was filled with anger.(2)He poured out his hatred on us.(3)She is a warm and caring person inside.The human body can be regarded as a container, so can every part of human body:(1) Her eyes filled with tears.(2) My stomach is empty.(3) Your head is full of good ideas.b. The boundary is obscure or abstract.In this way, the boundary of the tenor is generally unseen or untouchable, such as water, light and air; a type of society or culture; the ideas or feeling of a human. There are some phrases in English, such as "in the air", "jump into water" and "read in the sun".(1) He was lost in thoughts.(2) He fell into depression.(3) I didn't t ake this responsibility into account.2) The boundary of tenor is a line.Some objects with plane structure can also be mapped onto containers, for they also have boundaries which are made of lines.(1) There is a lot of land in Kansas.(2) What can you see in this picture?(3) The boundary of tenor is two points.The concept of container is pervasive. It can be mapped into a three-dimensional space, two-dimensional plane and even one-dimensional line. The concept of one-dimensional is mostly seen in the concept of time, for the time is durable and going to the future constantly. The time can be viewed as container because time has the boundary, that is ,the beginning and ending. The beginning and ending are definite in special times.(1) He is trapped in his past.(2) He did it in three minutes.4.1.3. A case study of ontological metaphorBoth Lakoff and Johnson paid attention to the role of the body in Linguistic expressions and maintained that these expressions reflect and influence our thought in many ways. A group of English idioms containing "finger" contribute to different meanings, and the finger in English is frequently conceptualized as the actual "doer of thing". If one is doing something or participates in something, one's fingers must be "IN" the matter, or one's fingers should function and make contact with the matter:(1) get one' s finger into something(participate in something)(2) have a finger in something(take part in something)(3) get one's finger burnt(suffer after a foolish act or mistake)(4) work one' s finger to the bone(work very hard)(5) cross one's finger(wish for good luck or success)(6) twist somebody around one's finger(persuade somebody without difficulty; dominant somebody completely)(7) get one's fingers out(begin work in earnest; hurry up)Ontological metaphor deals with the physical experience in the objective world. We have mentioned above that ontological metaphors allow us to “view events, activities, emotions, etc as entities and substances. In (1), we can view get one’s finger into something as an activity, what can be figured out is more than that. Just as the idiom conveys “if one is doing something or participates in something, one's fingers must be "IN" the matter, or one's fingers should function and make contact with the matter”.4.2 Orientational metaphors and idiomsAccording to Lakoff and Johnson, orientational metaphors give the concept of a spatial orientation by "mapping a spatial structure onto a non-spatial concept". Most of them have to do with spatial orientation:up-down,in-out,front-back,on-off,deep-shallow,central-peripherical.These spatial directions arise from the fact that we have bodies of the sort we have and that they function as they do in our physical environment. Metaphorical orientation is not arbitrary. They have a basis in our physical and cultural experiences. This section will focus on the directions of up-down and front-back.4.2.1 The analysis of metaphoric meanings about UP-DOWNIn English we usually use up, above, over, and the verb rise, climb to denote the concept of UP. The adjectives are upper, high, superior, etc. On the other hand, the prepositions denoting the concept DOWN are down, under or below; the verbs are drop, sink, fall, etc.1) More is up; Less is down .If you add more of a substance or of physical objects to a container or pile, the level goes up―Lakoff [16](1) If you are too hot, turn the heat down.(2) Now he has realized that he's already up to his ears in debt.2) Good is up; Bad is down .Happiness, health, life, and control―the things that principally characterize what is good for a person―are all up―Lakoff[16](1) We hit a peak last year, but it's been downhill ever since.(2) Things are looking up.(3) High status is up;Low status is down.Status correlated with social power and physical power is up.―Lakoff[16](1) He's climbing the ladder.(2) He has a lofty position.(3) They work under a kind leader.(4) Having control or force is up; Being subject to control or force downPhysical size typically correlates with physical strength, and the victor in a fight is typically on top.―Lakoff [16](1)I am on top of the situation.(2)He is low man on the totem pole.(3)The director presides over the meeting.5)The metaphors about time in English are expressed by up and down.Normally our eyes look in the direction in which we typically move(ahead, forward).As an object approaches a person(or the person approaches the object),the object appears larger. Since the ground is perceived as being fixed, the top of the object appears to be moving upward in the person's field of vision.―Lakoff [16](1) What's up?(2) I'm afraid of what's up ahead of us.But there are exceptions in English. TOWARD A LATER or TIME IS DOWN is also seen in English. For example, this story was handed down to him by his father.4.2.2 The analysis of metaphoric meaning about FRONT-BACKThe words and expressions denoting the concept of "FRONT-BACK" are frontand back, before and after, in front of and behind, forward and backward, etc…1) THE OPEN IS FRONT and THE HIDDEN IS BACKAccording to the normal condition, the front persons in a line are easier to be seen and the back persons are blocked and not easier to be seen.-----Lakoff(1) He is behind the plan.(2) The case is now before the judge.2) THE IMPORTANT IS FRONT and THE LESS IMPORTANT IS BACKThe important person is always in the front of a line and the important thing is firstly dealt with.----Lakoff(1)I think quality must come before quality.(2)The prince is before his brother in the line of succession.3)THE DEVELOPED IS FRONT and THE LESS DEVELOPED IS BACKThe fast runners will be in the front and the slow runners will be in the back.----Lakoff(1) The child was backward in learning to walk.(2) You company is ahead in developing the new technology.4) The concept of FRONT-BACK is complex in denoting time. When the observer is standing at the road of time, the conceptual metaphor is:a. THE FUTURE IS BACK and THE PAST IS FRONTwhile the observer is marching facing the future, the conceptual metaphor is:b. THE FUTURE IS FRONT and THE PAST IS BACKAs for (a) let's look at the examples:(1) The plane was behind schedule.(2) Let's move the appointment forward from Friday to Thursday.The above metaphor views time as a road with different points and judges from the perspective of the road, thus the past is in front and the future is at the back.As for (b) Let's look at the examples:(1)I am looking forward to seeing you again.(2)He looked backwards forty years.4.2.3 A case study: idioms denoting the concept of love(1) LOVE IS A JOURNEY。

英语隐喻的理解与翻译英语隐喻的理解与翻译：一、英语隐喻的定义及构成英语隐喻（metaphor）为英语辞格（figure of speech）用法之一。

与明喻（simile）不同的是，隐喻不用诸如like或as之类的功能词，是一种广为使用、普遍存在的将一物比作另一物的一种表达方法。

西方研究者对隐喻做了深入探讨，将其大致界定如下：隐喻：希腊语的“转换”（meta意为“跨越”，phor意为“运送”），将某物转运过去。

故隐喻将某物视为另一物。

1隐喻：一种蕴含的类比（an implied analogy），它以想象方式，将某物等同于另一物，并将前者的特性施加于后者或将后者的相关情感与想象因素赋予前者。

2英语隐喻的构成要素是：本体tenor、喻体vehicle和喻底ground。

所谓本体the tenor，亦即被表述的概念或者被比较的主体，the idea being expressed or the subject of the comparison；所谓喻体，亦即此概念传递的意象或者此主体传达的意象，the image of which this idea is conveyed or the subject communicated。

3而本体和喻体之间的类似及/或类比之处则是喻底ground，亦即the similarities and/or analogies involved are the Grounds。

41. 本体和喻体同时出现：Mr. Wangle has an angel of a wife. 王先生有位天使般的妻子。

隐喻的本体是wife，喻体是angel，同时出现。

2. 本体未现，喻体出现：He pitied the plumage and forgot the dying bird. 他哀怜鸟儿的翅膀，却忘记了濒死的鸟儿。

隐喻的本体和喻体，各有两个。

第一个本体是法国贵族，喻体是plumage；第二个本体是受苦受难的大众，喻体是the dying bird。

概念隐喻与英语习语意义探究作者：薛艳来源：《科教导刊》2009年第15期摘要英语习语具有表层的非组合特点,但其意义并不是不可分析的,概念隐喻是大多数英语习语的意义理据,这给习语的学习和教学提供了新的视角。

关键词概念隐喻英语习语意义理据中图分类号:H31文献标识码:A1 引言任何语言都有大量的习语,对习语的理解又与对一般语言的理解不同,这是因为习语是非组合的(non-compositional),即人们无法根据组成习语的各部分词语的意义相加来理解它们。

例如,我们无法通过对“kick the bucket”或“hit/strike home”等各个词的词义,来理解整个习语的意义。

依照传统的看法,习语是约定俗成的习惯用法,是一种“死喻”,从字面意义上是不可分析的。

学习者学习习语时只能靠死记硬背。

认知语言学则认为,习语作为深藏在人们概念系统中的隐喻概念的表层现象,是可分析、可活用的。

在习语教学中应注意分析习语的隐喻概念。

2 概念隐喻理论概念隐喻理论认为隐喻不仅是语言中的修辞现象,而且是人类认知活动的工具和结果,在人类的范畴化,概念结构,思维推理的形成过程中起着十分重要的作用。

隐喻本质上是一种认知现象,具有重要的认知功能。

L&J(指出:隐喻的基本功能是以某一领域的经历来理解另一领域的经历。

从认知的角度来看,隐喻是源域(source domain)向目标域(target domain)结构的映现,是不同领域内一个范畴向另一个范畴的语义延伸。

认知语义学认为,概念经验的两类结构:基本类结构和图像图式结构,是人类认识和理解抽象概念的基础和必要条件,是抽象概念域的隐喻性扩展和从基本类范畴扩展的基础。

Lakoff(1987)基于人类对空间的经验总结出了六种动觉意象图式,“容器”图式、“部分-整体”图式、“连接”图式、“中心-边缘”图式、“前-后”图式、“上下”图式等。

它们有助于我们更好的理解概念隐喻。

认知语义学自诞生以来,对传统语义学无法很好解释的一些语言现象进行了令人信服的分析;Gibbs等对习语的理解进行了心理语言学的试验,为揭示人类的认知隐喻性本质提供了有力的实验证据。

四十个英语习语典故来源1. a wolf in sheep’s clothing此语源自<<伊索寓言>>,直译为“披着羊皮的狼”,也可表示这些意义“伪装成朋友的敌人;貌善心毒的人,伪君子”等. 该成语涉及这样一则故事:一只狼披着羊皮混到羊群里去了,欺骗了羊羔,并把羊羔吃了.又见<<新约.马太福音>>第七章有如此一说: “你们要防备假先知.他们到你们这里来,外面披着羊皮, 里面却是残暴的狼.”例句：Mrs Martin trusted the lawyer until she realized that he was a wolf in sheep’s clothing.马丁太太原来很信任那个律师，后来才认清他是个披着羊皮的狼。

Mr Black was fooled by the salesman’s manner until he showed that he was really a wolf in sheep’s clothing，by selling Mr Black a car that was falling apart.布莱克先生被推销员愚弄了，后来才发现原来推销员貌善心毒的人。

他卖给布莱克先生的是一辆要垮的小汽车。

2. a dog in the manger此成语源自<<伊索寓言>>,含贬义.该成语涉及这则故事:一只狗躺在马槽里,马或牛来吃食时,它却不让,但狗自己又不能吃.LDC认为该成语指“自己不能享用又不让别人享用的人”. 我们一般选择此译法: “占着茅坑不拉屎(的人)。

例句：I’d like to ask you to consider it again and not to be a dog in the manger .我劝你还是再考虑考虑，不要干那既损人又不利己的事。

3. to carry coals to Newcastle此语与法国谚语“运水入河”相当,可译为“多此一举”.纽卡斯尔(Newcastle)是英国的产煤基地.例句：It would be like carrying coals to Newcastle if another bank opened in this street ; there are three here now .如果再在这条街上开一家银行，那可真是多此一举，因为这条街目前已经有三家银行了。

英语习语中的隐喻现象摘要本论文围绕英语习语中的隐喻现象展开先介绍了隐喻的概念和习语的概念比如隐喻的含义从古至今就有不同的人不同的学派对此做过研究至于隐喻和习语之间存在着怎么样的关系许多学者也对此进行了研究本文例举了几位比较有名的学者的研究比如Lakoff和Gibbs这两位学者本文的重点是介绍习语的隐喻特征这部分是通过3个方面来论证的本位隐喻方位隐喻和结构隐喻这三方面有其不同的特点主要是以例子来说明通过举例的方式可以让读者能更直接地了解英语习语中的隐喻现象关键词习语隐喻派别ABSTRACTThis paper focuses on the metaphorical phenomenon in English idioms firstly introducing the concepts of metaphor and idiom Take the definition of metaphor for example since the old times many scholars of different schools have different ideas In terms of relationship between metaphor and idiom many scholars carried out their own studies This paper cites the viewpoints of several famous scholars like Laoff and Gibbs This paper emphasizes the metaphorical features of idioms from the ontological metaphors orientational metaphors and structural metaphors These three kinds of metaphors have different characteristics which are explained through examples The way of citing examples enables the readers to get access to the metaphorical phenomenon in English idioms more directly Keywordsidioms metaphor schoolsContents1 Introduction 12 The concept of idioms and metaphors 321The concept of metaphors 3com definition of metaphors 3com classification of metaphors 422The concept of idioms 4com definition of idioms 4com features of idioms 53Research on the relationship between metaphors and idioms 631Lakoffs study 632The Gibbss study 733 Other scholars study 84Metaphorical features of idioms 841Ontological metaphors and idioms 8comsonification 9com The container metaphor 9comA case study of ontological metaphor 1142Orientational metaphors and idioms 11com The analysis of metaphoric meaning about UP-DOWN 12com The analysis of metaphoric meaning about FRONT-BACK 13com A case study idioms denoting the concept of love 1443 Structural metaphor and idioms 15com The internal systematicity 15com The external systematicity among the different structuralmetaphors 16com A case study 185 Conclusion 196Acknowledgements 207References 21IntroductionIn our study of English we always come across metaphor which is widely used in English sentences and can indicate vivid meanings However we dont have a clear understanding of this rhetoric Traditionally metaphor is a figure in which one thing is compared to another by saying that one is the other But according to cognitive linguistics metaphor is defined as understanding one conceptual domain or cognitive domain in terms of another conceptual domain The study of metaphor has attracted the attention of many scholars In the West there have been many different approaches to the study of metaphor In 1457 Aristotle studied metaphor as a transference of name which was known as Aristotelian Approach The traditional linguistic approach studies metaphor as a deviant phenomenon in language which produces either a false statement or an ungrammatical sentence The pragmatic approach takes metaphor as a special speech act and metaphorical understanding as the interplay between knowledge of the language system knowledge of context and background schematic knowledge about the world and the society and the interaction approach understands metaphor as an interaction between two subject systems Nietzsche Shelly Werner Cassirer and Reddy all reflects on metaphor as cognitive phenomenon from the perspectives of philosophy literary criticism psychologyanthropology and linguistics respectively The Knowledge and Language was written by Ankersmit in 1993which briefly introduced the theories of metaphor the research ways to metaphor Kirsten Malmkjaer compared the constructive theory and replacement theory in The Linguistics Encyclopedia In The Encyclopedia of Philosophy 1967 Beardsley introduced many kinds of metaphoric theories in particular In China the dominant approach over the centuries has been the rhetorical approach that studies metaphor as a figure of speech Lan Chun once said This approach pays a special attention to distinguishing metaphor from other figures of speech and to dividing metaphor into incessantly increasing sub-groups [8]49Idioms are frequently used in our language both in English and Chinese Idioms are special kinds of phrases whose meaning can not be grasped from the superficial perspectives According to the statistics an adult uses more than 20 million idioms all over his life which means 7000 idioms per week It sounds unbelievable but it is true In this way we may have a better understanding of the important status of idioms in the language In 1994 the scholar Nunberg divided the idioms into three kinds decomposable idioms abnormal decomposable idioms and nondecomposable idioms In The Comprehensive of Idioms Cacciari and Tabossi divided the idioms into transparent idioms opaque idioms according to the degree of transparency However in the eyes of Fernando idioms are composed of pure idioms semi-idioms and literal idioms In the understanding of mechanism of idioms two explanations have been brought up compositional view and noncompositional view On the basis of noncompositional view in 1973 Bobrowand Bell put forward Idiom List Hypothesis which means the literal meaning of idioms exists prior to the rhetoric meaning However Swinney and Cutler were against it so Lexical Representation Hypothesis came upOn the other hand on the basis of compositional view Gibbs and Nayak put forward Idiom Decomposition Hypothesis in cognitive psychology In China Zhang Peiji studied the construction and meaning of idioms In 1998Chen Daoming issued an article in Foreign Language talking about the development of understanding idioms Also there are many other scholars who contribute to the research of idiom in China like Hua Xianfa Lin Weiyan etc This study based on the previous studies is expected to make clear the definition of idiom and metaphor from different perspectives what is more the relationship between them is also the focus of the study The use of idioms can achieve better communicative effects and are conceived to be a sign of language proficiency This study has theoretical significance and it may confirm the learnability of idioms through conceptual metaphor approach In the process of learning idioms people can not only remember and imitate but also get access to its deep constructions especially the metaphorical significance of the English idioms2 The concept of idioms and metaphors21 The concept of metaphorscom definition of metaphorsWhen we refer to the study of metaphor there have been many different approaches in the western countries Aristotelian approach studies metaphor as a transference of names the traditional linguistic approach studies metaphor as a deviant phenomenon in language whichproduces either a false statement or an ungrammatical sentence the pragmatic approach takes metaphor as a special speech act and metaphorical understanding as the interplay between knowledge of the language system knowledge of the context and background schematic knowledge about the world and the society In the traditional way we always regard metaphor as a figure of speech in which one thing is compared to another by saying that one is another For example He is a tigerHein the sentence is the target which is the described element whiletigeris called source which is the describing element According to Lan Chun this approach pays special attention to distinguishing metaphor from other figures of speech and to dividing metaphor into incessantly increasing sub-groups [8]111 The interactionist approach begins to recognize the cognitive value of metaphor thus paving the way for the emergence of the cognitive theory The cognitive view of metaphor can provide new insights into how certain linguistic phenomena work It can also shed new light on how metaphorical meaning emerges The work which marks the establishment of the cognitive approach to metaphor is Lakoff ＆Johnsons Metaphor We Live By metaphor means metaphorical concept The definition then is explained in the way Metaphor refers to understanding one conceptual domain in terms of another conceptual domain It claims that metaphor is pervasive in everyday life not just in language but in thought and action and our ordinary conceptual system in terms of the fact that what we both think and act is fundamentally metaphorical in nature We often talk about life in terms of journey about time in terms of money about love also in terms of journey and many others The concept of JOURNEY the source domain is usually used to talk aboutthe concept of LOVE the target domain The reason why concept A can be understood in terms of concept B is that there is a set of systematic correspondences between the source and target domain in the sense that constituent conceptual elements of B correspond to those of A com classification of metaphorsAccording to the view of Lakeoff＆Johnson metaphor can be divided into three1 Structural metaphor is known as one concept metaphorically structured in terms of another In structural metaphors the source domain provides a relatively rich knowledge structure for the target concept The cognitive function of these metaphors is to enable speakers to understand target A by means of the structure of source B For example ARGUMENT IS WAR in this metaphor the target domain ARGUMENT is structured in terms of a more familiar domain WAR2 Orientational metaphor does not structure one concept in terms of another but instead organize a whole system of concepts with respect to one another as they are related to spatial orientation It concerns about up-down in-out on-off deep-shallow and so on For example HAPPY IS UPSAD IS DOWN3 Ontological metaphor is described as a way of viewing events activities emotions ideas as entities and substances That is to say our experience of physical objects and substances provide a basis for an extraordinary wide variety of ontological metaphors For example THE MIND IS AN ENTITY the ENTITY refers to something concrete22 The concept of idiomscom definition of idiomsNo one can give a noncontroversial answer to the question of what idiom is That is to say there is no clear-cut definition for the term idiom The traditional view holds that idioms are semantically arbitrary What is common in the traditional view is that idioms are essentially noncompositional and their meanings are unanalyzable and arbitrary While the cognitive linguistics provides us a new perspective on idioms It argues that the parts of an idiom have their individual meanings and the relationship between the meanings of the parts and the meaning of the idiom is compositional that is idioms are regarded to be analyzable semanticallyDifferent dictionaries give the different definitions about it and many linguists hold different opinionsA group of words established by usage as having a meaning not deducible from those of the individual words New Oxford Dictionary of EnglishA special kind of phrase It is a group of words which have a different meaning when used together from the one it would have if the meaning of each word were taken individually Collins Cobuild Dictionary of IdiomsA phrase whose meaning is different from the meaning of each word considered separately These phrases have a fixed form―they usually cannot be changed―and they are often informal but they can also be slang rude slang or even slightly formal Many idioms are used in spoken English but they also appear in newspapers and magazines in books and even in academic writing Cambridge Dictionary of American idioms An idiom is an expression which functions as a single unit andwhose meaning can not be worked out from its separate parts Longman Dictionary of Applied LinguisticThere are broad sense and narrow sense in defining idioms In its broad sense idioms in English refer to set phrases colloquialism proverbs and slang expressions In its narrow sense idioms in English refer to some special fixed phrases But not all fixed phrases are idioms For example close your eyes is a common fixed phrase but it is not an idiom because each word in it is used in its standard meaning Keep your shirt on however is an idiom because the phrase does not mean not taking off your shirt but means staying calmIn my thesis I will focus mainly on the narrow sense of idiomcom features of idiomsNow we have discussed the definition of idioms we have known there exist different views as different schools or linguists define idioms from different perspectives Some may describe it from the semantic perspective claiming the meaning of idioms are analyzable however some point out the semantic properties are the most important to idioms So here it is necessary for us to discuss the semantic characteristics of idioms According to the view of Luo Shiping there are five semantic characteristics of English idioms [19]901 The meaning of an idiom is a single unit That is to say an idiom must be learned as a whole Its overall meaning is not a simple combination of each components meaning For examplelet the cat out of the bagmeans to tell somebody secret information which seems to have nothing to dowithcatanddog2 Most idioms have both literal meaning and figurative meaning and they are different For examplebread and butterrefers to two kinds of food literally while figuratively the idiom means something that people need in order to live such as money and jobs3 The literal meaning of some idioms are apparently against thinking logic or life logic such aseat ones head off4 New idiomatic meanings can not be obtained by analogy or inference Takeunder the weatherfor example it is incorrect to coin a phraseabove the weatherto mean to feel well for the phrase means to feel uncomfortable5 Figurativeness is an obvious feature of the idiomatic meaning as well as a significant figure of speech employed in idioms In this sense they include simile idioms such asas blind as a batfeel like a fish out of waterand metaphorical idioms such asan old flamecarry a torch3 Research on the relationship between metaphors and idiomsIn the previous sections this thesis has discussed the definition of metaphor and idiom from various perspectives However they are not independent of each other The next part is to clarify the relationship between metaphor and idiom which enables the readers to understand firstly what is the relationship between metaphor and idiom secondly to what extent the research on the relationship between metaphor and idiom has reached The thesis elucidates this part by citing the researches made by two important linguists31 Lakoffs studyIn Lakoffs book Metaphor We Live By a large amount of idioms werefrequently taken as examples of conventional metaphors implying the facilitating role of conceptual metaphor in the comprehension of idioms According to the view of Lakoff the link between conceptual metaphors and idioms was established with the proposition of the conceptual metaphor theory language is metaphorically structured idioms as a constitutive part of language are supposed to be metaphorically structured Lakoff criticized the traditional view that the meaning of idioms are arbitrarily formed and statedwhen idioms have been associated with conventional images it is common for an independently-motivated conceptual metaphor to map that knowledge from the source to the target domain [16] Lakoffs analysis also shows conceptual metaphor is helpful in distinguishing idioms similar in meaning For examplecrack upandbreak downboth are used to describe peoples psychological state but it is still confusing to distinguish Crack upis governed by the metaphor THE MIND IS A MACHINE as if the mind has an on-off state That is to say when a machine breaks down it simply ceases to function If someone is unable to function for psychological reasons we would like to saycrack upwhilebreak downis governed by the metaphor THE MIND IS A BRITTLE OBJECT that is to say when a brittle object shatters it flies into pieces that may cause dangerous consequences such as hurting people around When someone goes crazy wild and violent he or she may hurt somebody else then we would like to saybreak down32 Gibbs studyGibbs research contributes greatly to the psychological studies on idiom comprehension and offers us valuable inspiration for the studyof idioms Gibbs view is similar to Lakoffs His research proves that idioms are not dead metaphors and they have more complex meanings that are motivated by conceptual metaphors linking the idiomatic phrases to their figurative interpretations the meanings of idioms are not arbitrary but motivatedly peoples tacit knowledge of conceptual metaphors as suggested by Lakoff Gibbs has carried out a series of experiments the feature of which is the use of mental imagery The subjects were asked to form and describe their mental images for different idiomatic expressions and then they were asked a series of detailed questions about their images regarding the causes and effects of different events within their images The result showed that the participants demonstrated great consistency in their responses to the questions for the idioms with similar figurative meanings despite the differences in their surface forms33 Other scholars studyLakoff and Gibbs have made great contribution to the studies on the relationship between metaphors and idioms Also based on Lakoffs study Kovecses and Szabo summed up the conceptual metaphors on FIRE which contributes to the construction and comprehension of the idioms related to fire These conceptual metaphor serve as a bridge linking two independent domains a domain of fire and a domain of an abstract concept ANGER IS FIREHe was spitting fireLOVE IS FIREThe fire between them finally went outIMAGINATION IS FIREThe painting set fire to the composers imaginationCONFLICT IS FIREThe killing sparked off riotsENERGY IS FUEL OF FIREHe was burning the candle at both ends4 Metaphorical features of idioms41 Ontological metaphors and idiomsOntological metaphor is one of the three types of metaphors and is usually described as ways of viewing events activities ideas emotions etc as entities and substances [16] As long as we are able to identify our experiences as identities or substances then we can refer to them categorize them group them and quantify them and by this means reason about them The most important characteristics of ontological metaphor is to view abstract things as concrete things For example 1 we need to combat inflation 2 That was a beautiful catch In 1 the abstract noun inflation is regarded as concrete person In 2 the act of catch is regarded as a concrete thing The following are the most obvious types of ontological metaphorscom PersonificationThe most obvious ontological metaphors are those where the physical object is further specified as being a person Personification is considered to belong to ontological metaphorsFirst lets look at the two examplesA Life has cheated meB Anger has pinned us to the wallIf we look closer to the above two sentences we are able to find out that both of the two sentences enable us to see nonhuman as human It allows us to understand a wide variety of experiences with nonhuman entities in terms of human motivation characteristics and activities The most obvious ontological metaphor are those where the physical object is further specified as being a person In the second sentence anger is personified It gives us a vivid picture about how anger acts In this sentence anger seems to hurt us attack us and kill us So we can understand that personification is a general category that covers a wide range of metaphors which allows us to make sense of phenomena in the world in human terms This kind of sentences are Disease finally caught up with him His religion tells him that he cannot eat pork Inflation has given birth to a money-minded generationcom The container metaphorThe container metaphors are the other representation of ontological metaphors As we know rooms and houses can be considered to be containers as they have boundaries moving from room to room or house to house is moving from one container to another that is which is also true to our physical beings Each of us is a container with a bounded surface and in-out orientation A clearing in the woods is seen as having a boundary surface and we can view ourselves as being in the clearing or out of the clearing in the woods or out of woods There are different kinds of boundaries concrete or abstract definite or indefinite surface line or point1 The boundary of the tenor is a surfacea The boundary is clear and concreteThis kind of tenor which can be understood as the target in a sentence is concrete such as the human body which we can actually see with our eyes Lets look at the following examples1 I was filled with anger2 He poured out his hatred on us3 She is a warm and caring person insideThe human body can be regarded as a container so can every part of human body1 Her eyes filled with tears2 My stomach is empty3 Your head is full of good ideasb The boundary is obscure or abstractIn this way the boundary of the tenor is generally unseen or untouchable such as water light and air a type of society or culture the ideas or feeling of a human There are some phrases in English such as "in the air" "jump into water" and "read in the sun"1 He was lost in thoughts2 He fell into depression3 I didnt take this responsibility into account2 The boundary of tenor is a lineSome objects with plane structure can also be mapped onto containers for they also have boundaries which are made of lines1 There is a lot of land in Kansas2 What can you see in this picture3 The boundary of tenor is two pointsThe concept of container is pervasive It can be mapped into a three-dimensional space two-dimensional plane and even one-dimensional line The concept of one-dimensional is mostly seen in the concept of time for the time is durable and going to the future constantly The time can be viewed as container because time has the boundary that is the beginning and ending The beginning and ending are definite in special times1 He is trapped in his past2 He did it in three minutescom A case study of ontological metaphorBoth Lakoff and Johnson paid attention to the role of the body in Linguistic expressions and maintained that these expressions reflect and influence our thought in many ways A group of English idioms containing "finger" contribute to different meanings and the finger in English is frequently conceptualized as the actual "doer of thing" If one is doing something or participates in something ones fingers must be "IN" the matter or ones fingers should function and make contact with the matter1 get one s finger into something participate in something2 have a finger in something take part in something3 get ones finger burnt suffer after a foolish act or mistake4 work one s finger to the bone work very hard5 cross ones finger wish for good luck or success6 twist somebody around ones finger persuade somebody without difficulty dominant somebody completely7 get ones fingers out begin work in earnest hurry upOntological metaphor deals with the physical experience in theobjective world We have mentioned above that ontological metaphors allow us to view events activities emotions etc as entities and substances In 1 we can view get ones finger into something as an activity what can be figured out is more than that Just as the idiom conveys if one is doing something or participates in something ones fingers must be "IN" the matter or ones fingers should function and make contact with the matter42 Orientational metaphors and idiomsAccording to Lakoff and Johnson orientational metaphors give the concept of a spatial orientation by "mapping a spatial structure onto a non-spatial concept" Most of them have to do with spatial orientationup-downin-outfront-backon-offdeep-shallowcentral-peripheri calThese spatial directions arise from the fact that we have bodies of the sort we have and that they function as they do in our physical environment Metaphorical orientation is not arbitrary They have a basis in our physical and cultural experiences This section will focus on the directions of up-down and front-backcom The analysis of metaphoric meanings about UP-DOWNIn English we usually use up above over and the verb rise climb to denote the concept of UP The adjectives are upper high superior etc On the other hand the prepositions denoting the concept DOWN are down under or below the verbs are drop sink fall etc1 More is up Less is downIf you add more of a substance or of physical objects to a container or pile the level goes up―Lakoff [16]1 If you are too hot turn the heat down2 Now he has realized that hes already up to his ears in debt2 Good is up Bad is downHappiness health life and control―the things that principally characterize what is good for a person―are all up―Lakoff[16]1 We hit a peak last year but its been downhill ever since2 Things are looking up3 High status is upLow status is downStatus correlated with social power and physical power is up ―Lakoff[16]1 Hes climbing the ladder2 He has a lofty position3 They work under a kind leader4 Having control or force is up Being subject to control or force downPhysical size typically correlates with physical strength and the victor in a fight is typically on top ―Lakoff [16]1 I am on top of the situation2 He is low man on the totem pole3 The director presides over the meeting5 The metaphors about time in English are expressed by up and downNormally our eyes look in the direction in which we typically move ahead forward As an object approaches a person or the person approaches the object the object appears larger Since the ground is perceived as being fixed the top of the object appears to be moving upward in the persons field of vision―Lakoff [16]1 Whats up2 Im afraid of whats up ahead of usBut there are exceptions in English TOWARD A LATER or TIME IS DOWN is also seen in English For example this story was handed down to him by his fathercom The analysis of metaphoric meaning about FRONT-BACKThe words and expressions denoting the concept of "FRONT-BACK" are front and back before and after in front of and behind forward and backward etc1 THE OPEN IS FRONT and THE HIDDEN IS BACKAccording to the normal condition the front persons in a line are easier to be seen and the back persons are blocked and not easier to be seen-----Lakoff1 He is behind the plan2 The case is now before the judge2 THE IMPORTANT IS FRONT and THE LESS IMPORTANT IS BACKThe important person is always in the front of a line and the important thing is firstly dealt with----Lakoff1 I think quality must come before quality2 The prince is before his brother in the line of succession3 THE DEVELOPED IS FRONT and THE LESS DEVELOPED IS BACKThe fast runners will be in the front and the slow runners will be in the back----Lakoff1 The child was backward in learning to walk2 You company is ahead in developing the new technology4 The concept of FRONT-BACK is complex in denoting time When the observer is standing at the road of time the conceptual metaphor isa THE FUTURE IS BACK and THE PAST IS FRONTwhile the observer is marching facing the future the conceptual metaphor isb THE FUTURE IS FRONT and THE PAST IS BACKAs for a lets look at the examples1 The plane was behind schedule2 Lets move the appointment forward from Friday to ThursdayThe above metaphor views time as a road with different points and judges from the perspective of the road thus the past is in front and the future is at the backAs for b Lets look at the examples1 I am looking forward to seeing you again2 He looked backwards forty yearscom A case study idioms denoting the concept of love1 LOVE IS A JOURNEYThe expressions such as we can turn back now and we are spinning our wheels were considered to reflect entirely different and mostly dead metaphors before Yet these expressions do reflect different aspects of our ordinary metaphorical concept of love as a kind of physical journey Each expression listed above reflects a particular entailment of the mapping of journeys onto love a metaphorical mapping in which our knowledge of a concrete domain of experience journey help us better structure our understanding of a more abstract concept love。

摘要：英语习语是英语民族长期社会实践积累下来的一种约定俗成的特殊语言形式，像镜子一样折射出它的历史和文化。

这些习语也蕴藏着大量的隐喻。

隐喻不仅仅是一种语言现象，而且还是一种认知现象。

本文从英语习语的角度探讨隐喻研究的相关理论及隐喻的本质。

关键词：英语习语；隐喻；概念隐喻；本质语言作为人类社会的一个重要组成部分，集中地反映了其所属民族的生产生活、社会习俗、宗教信仰和价值观念，是该民族文化的组成部分和载体。

每门语言都有大量的习语，习语是语言中文化内涵积淀最深厚的部分，集中了语言和语言使用者的历史和文化，是语言的精华。

隐喻无处不在，我们日常的口头交际中平均每三句话就会出现一个隐喻[1]。

作为语言精华的习语也蕴藏着大量的隐喻。

研究习语中的隐喻就是要从跨文化的角度、语用语境的深度以及思维认知的角度来了解、认识和把握习语的本质和特征，以便恰如其分地理解和得体应用习语。

一、传统修辞学中的隐喻及其相关理论在传统修辞学中，隐喻是一个非常重要的辞格，因为其他辞格均可看作隐喻性语言(Metaphorical language)。

亚里士多德(Aristotle)对隐喻广义的定义正是如此；其他辞格，如换喻、提喻和反语等都可纳入隐喻的范畴进行讨论，莱考夫(G．Lakoff)等人正是这样做的。

亚里士多德在《修辞学》和《诗学》中说到，隐喻通过把属于别的事物的词给予另一个事物而构成，即从“属”到“种”，或从“种”到“属”或是通过类比。

几个世纪以来，人们对隐喻作了这样的确认：隐喻与诗学和修辞学相关，是在话语成分层面上及在名称层面上与它相关。

名称的转移是诗学和修辞学的共核，也是隐喻的重要特征。

1．隐喻是一种隐含着比喻的修辞格在传统的修辞学中，隐喻只是一种隐含着比喻的修辞格，与它同类的还有明喻、提喻、换喻、拟人、寓言和象征等。

既为比喻，就是“以此喻彼”，涉及到名称的转移。

比喻的基础就是思想上的想象、联想和类比。

这一过程的产生基于不同事物之间的相似点。

英语中包含“眼”和“⽿”的习语中的隐喻和转喻2019-09-25摘要：认知语⾔学家认为，语⾔是⼈类认知能⼒的⼀部分，反映了⼈类的思维模式。

⼈们对事物的定义和概念化基于不同的感知模式、情感体验模式及其所处的⽂化模式。

⼈体是语⾔和⽂化中形象化语⾔表达的主要来源，这尤其体现在以隐喻和转喻为理据的表达中。

考察英语中包含“眼”和“⽿”的习语的认知机制和概念模式，既有助于揭⽰其使⽤理据及意义建构，⼜可以洞察⼈们是如何参照视觉和听觉来理解抽象概念的。

关键词：眼；⽿；习语；隐喻；转喻认知语⾔学的基本观点是把语⾔看作⼈类认知能⼒的⼀部分，认为语⾔同⼈脑其它的功能是建⽴在相同的原则基础之上的。

Evans 和Green指出，语⾔反映⼈类的思维模式。

因此，研究⼀种语⾔⽆异于研究⼀系列的概念化模式。

[1]认知语⾔学的⼀个基本假设是，⼈们对周围事物的定义和概念化基于不同的感知模式、情感体验模式及其所处的⽂化模式。

我们对事物的⼤多数定义和概念在本质上是抽象的。

⼀⽅⾯，它们帮助我们把经验和物理世界联系起来；另⼀⽅⾯，它们⼜是我们的认知机制。

隐喻和转喻都是通过语⾔来实现的。

在隐喻和转喻的表达中⼈体是最常⽤的源域之⼀。

⼈体之所以被频繁⽤作源域是因为它是具体有形的且可划分的。

更重要的是，它是说话者众所周知的，说话者⽆时⽆刻不在对其进⾏着体验。

这样，⼈体⾃然就成了各种语⾔和⽂化中形象化语⾔表达的主要来源。

⼈体的许多部位被⽤在习语中，并表现出很强的⽣成性，包括头、腿、⼿、背、⼼、脸、肩、⾻头等。

本⽂的语料由⼀百个习语组成，分别来⾃于《⽜津习语词典》和《柯林斯习语词典》。

我们将考察英语中包含“眼”和“⽿”的习语的认知机制和概念模式，着重揭⽰其使⽤理据及其意义建构，试图表明通过确认涉及“眼”和“⽿”的习语的概念模式，可以洞察⼈们是如何参照视觉和听觉来理解抽象的概念的。

出于讨论之便，本⽂将选择使⽤频率较⾼和⽣成性较强的习语进⾏列举和分析。

⼀、认知语⾔学的习语观作为⼀种语⾔表达⽅式，习语的语⽤功能主要是以⼝语和书⾯语的形式表达⼀种态度。

英语习语翻译中的隐喻应用论文•相关推荐英语习语翻译中的隐喻应用论文【内容摘要】英语习语是英汉翻译中经常遇到的一只拦路虎，因为英语习语在翻译时往往涉及到的并不是它们的字面意思，如果直译，就是按字面意思逐字翻译，那么容易让母语是英语的人感到不知所云。

而倘若按外国人的同义说法，中国人又感到难以理解。

这其中就常常涉及到隐喻的运用。

本文主要以语言学中的隐喻认知功能为理论框架，以典型的英语习语为实例，重点分析英语习语翻译过程中隐喻应用的机制及其效果。

【关键词】英语习语翻译隐喻应用一、理论综述习语是英语中一块重要而又特殊的组成部分。

说其重要，是因为其历史悠久，有的习语可以追溯到莎士比亚时代，还有的甚至可以追溯到古希腊或古罗马的时代。

再者，它的内容包罗万象，英语中随处可见，使用范围极其广泛。

因此，无论从历时的角度看，还是从共时的角度看，习语都是英语不可或缺的部分。

而之所以说它特殊是因为对于英语为非母语的人很难理解或容易犯错，往往字面意思和它们的实际意义大相径庭，似是而非。

而要突破理解和运用的瓶颈，有个环节引起人们的重视，这就是隐喻。

正如束定芳所说，隐喻无处不在，我们日常的口头交际中平均每三句话就会出现一个隐喻(束定芳，2000：1)。

译者(认知主体)首先要面对源语符号，而这个符号是以隐喻方式生成的，具有特定的媒介域或对象域，认知主体必须对此进行确认。

确认过程也是理解过程，因为两者都是自主结构，认知主体必须寻求语符的常规所指和隐喻所指。

对一个对象域的描写，既可以用常规概念网络投射到对象域，也可以用非常规方式。

但是由于常规关系是凭借隐喻关系建立的，在一个民族看来是常规的，在另一个民族看来却是非常规的或新颖的隐喻，如“milky way”和“银河”。

(谢之君，2001：3-4)隐喻使用如此之广泛，如此之频繁，而出现习语理解困难的原因是中国人和母语为英语的人在观察或描述事物时的角度不同，正如小学课本中提到的一个普通鸡蛋，达芬奇却画出了美轮美奂，形态各异的素描，原因就在于视角即角度不同。