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- Volume 9, Issue, 2011
Review of Cognitive Linguistics. Published under the auspices of the Spanish Cognitive Linguistics Association - Volume 9, Issue 1, 2011
Volume 9, Issue 1, 2011
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Recent developments in metaphor theory: Are the new views rival ones?
Author(s): Zoltán Kövecsespp.: 11–25 (15)More LessSeveral scholars have proposed alternative views to conceptual metaphor theory (see, for example, Ortony, 1993; Barnden, 2006; Wilson and Carston, 2006, 2008; Vega, 2007; Gibbs, 2008). How are the modified, refined, and alternative theories related to each other and standard conceptual metaphor theory, and which theory provides the best account of the phenomenon of metaphor? The particular approaches I will consider in this paper include the theory of metaphor as categorization, standard conceptual metaphor theory, blending theory, the neural theory of metaphor, conceptual metaphor theory as based on the idea of main meaning focus, and relevance theory. I will present the various theories through the analysis of a single metaphorical sentence: This surgeon is a butcher. I will propose that conceptual metaphor theory as based on the idea of the main meaning focus gives us a good way of characterizing the emergence of the sentence’s meaning. This characterization consists of a four-stage process. First, there exist two independent conceptual categories: BUTCHERY and SURGERY. Second, due to the similarity between the two, a metaphorical relationship is established between them. Third, the property of incompetence emerges in the concept of BUTCHERY in light of and against the background of the concept of SURGERY. Fourth, this property is projected into the blend, in which the property will now characterize the surgeon. I will point out that this approach is compatible with several other views, such as Ruiz de Mendoza’s Combined Input Hypothesis and with aspects of relevance theory.
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The contemporary theory of metaphor — now new and improved!
Author(s): Gerard J. Steenpp.: 26–64 (39)More LessThis paper outlines a multi-dimensional/multi-disciplinary framework for the study of metaphor. It expands on the cognitive linguistic approach to metaphor in language and thought by adding the dimension of communication, and it expands on the predominantly linguistic and psychological approaches by adding the discipline of social science. This creates a map of the field in which nine main areas of research can be distinguished and connected to each other in precise ways. It allows for renewed attention to the deliberate use of metaphor in communication, in contrast with non-deliberate use, and asks the question whether the interaction between deliberate and non-deliberate use of metaphor in specific social domains can contribute to an explanation of the discourse career of metaphor. The suggestion is made that metaphorical models in language, thought, and communication can be classified as official, contested, implicit, and emerging, which may offer new perspectives on the interaction between social, psychological, and linguistic properties and functions of metaphor in discourse.
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Awareness in metaphor understanding: ‘The Lingering of the Literal’
Author(s): Hanna Stöverpp.: 65–82 (18)More LessThis paper argues that a cognitive account of metaphor comprehension needs to include awareness of metaphoricity in order to fully explain the processes involved. In Relevance Theory as well as in other cognitively oriented approaches, much can be gained by making explicit the difference between conscious and subconscious processing: whether a communicator is aware of an expression’s metaphoricity or not may have an impact on the type of cognitive processing involved. A theoretical investigation is offered which explores the potential role of reflective reasoning in metaphor understanding. The discussion is based on the relevance-theoretic account, which explains the subconscious inferential processes involved. However, it leaves open the question of the potential impact of conscious availability of the tension between literal and figurative meaning, which is reminiscent of domain mappings in Cognitive Linguistics. Within metaphor research, a focus on awareness offers valuable findings for cognitively oriented schools of thought.
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Productivity of Spanish verb–noun compounds: Patterns of metonymy and metaphor
Author(s): Jiyoung Yoonpp.: 83–106 (24)More LessThis study examines Spanish verb–noun compounds in terms of the role played by, and the relationship between, metonymy and metaphor in generating them. After exploring different referent types denoted by Spanish verb–noun compounds such as instrument, agent, place, plant, animal/insect, and causer event, sample examples are analyzed in each referent type for their conceptualization patterns. The analytical tools are based on the notion of domain-internal and domain-external conceptual mappings for metonymy and metaphor, respectively, as well as on the model proposed in the Combined Input Hypothesis for the analysis of metaphors involving multiple inputs. The analysis of the data shows that there are at least four metonymic and metaphoric patterns involved in Spanish verb–noun compounds and that these patterns are productive. The four patters are: (i) only metonymy is involved; (ii) target-in-source metonymy is derived from metaphor; (iii) metaphor is derived from target-in-source metonymy, and (iv) metonymy is derived from a metaphor which is derived from metonymy. This study proposes that these four types of metonymic and metaphoric patterns mediate the production of novel Spanish verb–noun compounds. The implication of this finding is that the more complex the cognitive operations involved in verb–noun compounds, the less predictable the meaning of the compound will be for the language users who first hear them; but once learnt, the meaning of the compound is stored as a whole unit in their mental lexicon. An analysis of a larger corpus of data in future studies will reveal a more comprehensive picture of the relational patterns involved in Spanish verb–noun compounds.
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Motion metaphors in discourse construction
Author(s): Joaquín Garridopp.: 107–129 (23)More LessMotion metaphors occur at different levels, from prepositional phrases to discourse, including theoretical metaphors. After reviewing Relevance Theory as a bottom-up approach, and Cognitive Linguistics and Segmented Discourse Representation Theory as top-down ones, an integrated approach to metaphor in discourse construction is developed, based on a cognitive operation of connection of lower units into higher ones, similar to subsumption in the Lexical Constructional Model and to chunking in the Usage-Based Approach.In discourse construction, as the analysis of press and poetry examples show, either a motion metaphor may contribute to the discourse structure, or it may result from it. Discourses are packed into text structures; live discourse metaphors develop into text-type metaphors on their way to conventionalization. Metaphor and discourse construction are bottom-up processes, since they result from connection of lower units, but they are also top-down, based on properties of higher units, domains in metaphor and relations in discourse.
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The adaptation of metaphors across genres
Author(s): Elena Seminopp.: 130–152 (23)More LessIn this paper I consider the ways in which a metaphor that was first introduced in an article on pain mechanisms published in Science has been adapted and developed in a selection of texts that can be broadly described as ‘educational’: a neuroscience website aimed at children, a self-help guide for chronic pain sufferers, and a book aimed at medical professionals. In the course of the discussion I point out both the advantages and potential disadvantages of these developments. As such, this paper aims to make a contribution to a growing body of research on metaphor in actual contexts of use, and particularly on variation in the use of metaphor across genres that are aimed at different audiences.
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Multimodal metonymy and metaphor as complex discourse resources for creativity in ICT advertising discourse
Author(s): Laura Hidalgo Downing and Blanca Kraljevic Mujicpp.: 153–178 (26)More LessIn this paper we carry out a study of multimodal metaphors in a corpus of 52 ICT advertisements published in English-speaking magazines during the period 1999–2002. The general theoretical framework adopted for this purpose is a combination of text world theory and of a multimodal approach to metaphor in discourse, which in turn draws from the principles of conceptual metaphor theory and of discourse theories. The main argument presented in this study is that metaphor is a key instrument in the presentation and negotiation of conventional and creative meanings in advertising discourse as a type of public discourse. More specifically, ICT advertisements during the time period 1999–2002 are particularly interesting for the study of metaphor because of the combination of conventional and innovative underlying concepts which are grounded in the specific socio-cultural context of recent advances in new technologies. In this sense, metaphor contributes to the discourse functions of display, by inviting the receiver to identify with fantasy worlds which are rooted in assumed patterns of socio-cultural behaviour and which are presented in the ad, and to the functions of persuasion and of cognitive change. First, we have identified and classified multimodal metaphors in the corpus according to their cognitive-functional type, then, following Semino (2008) we have identified predominant discourse patterns of metaphorical occurrences. Finally, we have identified the main resources for creativity in the advertisements. We have also studied how the combinations of individual micro-propositional metaphors give rise to extended metaphors which revolve around the megametaphor LIFE IS A CYBERSPACE JOURNEY. This megametaphor invites the receiver to reinterpret the more conventional metaphor LIFE IS A JOURNEY in terms of the new advances and experiences in society regarding IC technologies.
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How patent can patents be?: Exploring the impact of figurative language on the engineering patents genre
Author(s): Carmen Sancho and Ismael Arinas Pellónpp.: 179–197 (19)More LessThis paper examines the import of figurative language (specifically of conceptual and grammatical metaphors) in the discourse of engineering patents, a genre hardly researched for stylistic and pedagogical purposes and traditionally regarded as highly impersonal. To that end, a corpus of over 300 US electro-mechanical patents has been analysed with the aid of a concordancing tool and applying a threefold convergent framework that gathers the metafunctions of Systemic Functional Linguistics (Halliday, 1978, 1985), the Applied Linguistic Approach to Metaphor (Low, 2008) and the Metadiscursive Approach (Hyland, 2000, 2005). Findings reveal a complex network of metaphorical schemata, most non-deliberate, which constitute a tripartite choice dependent on the legal culture, the discipline and, to a lesser extent, on the authorial voice. It also binds patent writers into a community of practice (Wenger, 1998) sharing a phraseological repertoire basically acquired by imitation and whose creative and confident use requires explicit instruction.
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Euphemistic conceptual metaphors in epitaphs from Highgate Cemetery
Author(s): Eliecer Crespo Fernándezpp.: 198–225 (28)More LessDeath is a timeless taboo in which psychological, religious and social interdictions coexist. In consequence, human beings feel reluctant to deal with the subject of death using straightforward terms and therefore tend to soften the effect of what they really wish to communicate. With this in mind, it is the aim of this paper to explore the euphemistic language on a sample of epitaphs from the Eastern Highgate Cemetery in London. As figurative language constitutes a potent source for death-related euphemism, the present study proceeds to trace an account of the different conceptual metaphors in epitaphs within the framework of Lakoff and Johnson’s Conceptual Metaphor Theory. The results obtained support the idea that most of the conceptualizations of death observed in the gravestones imply a positive value-judgment of human mortality and aim at assisting those left alive in coping with the pain of loss and the fear of dying.
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Cognitive Semantic ways of teaching figurative phrases: An assessment
Author(s): Frank Boerspp.: 227–261 (35)More LessIn this article I review studies published between 1996 and 2010 in which the effectiveness of Cognitive-Semantics informed second language pedagogy was put to the test. Altogether, the published evidence is manifestly favourable, although questions remain as to the scope of application of the approach and the precise properties that produce its positive effects. It must also be recognised that Cognitive Semantic ventures into language pedagogy stand a lot to gain from a closer collaboration with ‘mainstream’ applied linguistics, not only with regard to general insights into the nature of second language acquisition but also with regard to this type of research methodology.
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Translation Studies and the cognitive theory of metaphor
Author(s): Eva Samaniego Fernándezpp.: 262–279 (18)More LessAlthough metaphor has always been a main concern in TS, little has been done to apply a far-raging cognitive theory of metaphor and metonymy to translation. As a rule, the few authors that have tried to deal with it are eclectic in their cognitive approach and show a prescriptive bias as concerns translation theory. However, thanks to the influence of disciplines like Cognitive Linguistics, among others, Descriptive Translation Studies (DTS) can undertake a more realistic study of metaphor translation which reflects the true nature of metaphor and the underlying regularities of its interlinguistic transfer, including cases excluded a priori by traditional studies for being ‘unfaithful’, ‘anomalous’ or ‘incorrect’ renderings.
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Distinguishing near-synonyms and translation equivalents in metaphorical terms: Crisis vs. recession in English and Spanish
Author(s): Ana María Rojo Lópezpp.: 280–314 (35)More LessThis paper aims to study the applications of Metaphorical Pattern Analysis (MPA) to contrastive analysis and translation by researching the differences in the metaphorical mappings instantiated by the English words ‘crisis’ and ‘recession’ and their translation equivalents in Spanish crisis and recesión. Since no translation or comparable corpora for this type of study are available for English and Spanish, the search engine Webcorp is used to research the occurrences of these terms in news texts via the web sites of a number of different English and Spanish newspapers. Our data reveal language-specific differences in the way in which both the synonyms and their respective translation equivalents participate in the metaphorical mappings found in each language.
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Surprise as a conceptual category
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