英语专业论文举.docVIP

英语专业论文 Introduction In the long history of studies on metaphor since Plato and Aristotle, metaphor has been identified as the deviated use of words and expressions outside their normal, conventional meanings. It is traditionally defined as a form of trope, the use of a word or phrase in a figurative sense. However, there is no single definition that captures the full range of metaphor. Within the domain of verbal metaphors, the distinctions between so-called literal and metaphorical uses of language have always been uncertain. Metaphor is conceptual rather than merely a device of poetic imagination and rhetorical decoration to language. On the contrary, metaphor is grounded in our everyday life and structures our understanding of our world. Much of our knowledge about the world is achieved by means of metaphor, without which we cannot live. Conceptual metaphor is a milestone in metaphor research. Lakoff analyzed the metaphorical concepts in English, so it is necessary to map the metaphorical thought of non-western people. It is only through comparative studies that it can be revealed whether there are cognitive universals across cultures and languages. 1 Definitions of Metaphor Theories of metaphor have come and gone without shedding much light on their roles in cognition and communication until recently when the study of metaphor has moved from primarily literary and philosophical territory to the realms of cognitive linguistics, and other cognitive disciplines. As more and more about human conceptual system have been learned, the essential roles played by metaphorical thought have become more evident. The idea of the abstract concepts such as love, time or the meanings of scientific observations are found to be conveyed by calling upon language and conceptions normally used in speaking and thinking about more concrete experiences.（常宗林，英汉隐喻文化学） 1.1 Traditional and new definitions In traditional rhetoric, metaphor is defined as the comparison of dissimilar th