（英语语言文学专业论文）经济新闻语篇中隐喻的使用及其功能.pdf

english abstract ii english abstract for 2000 years or more, metaphor has been a heated topic among philosophers, stylists and linguists. the traditional rhetoricians viewed metaphor as decorative in nature and independent of human cognition. therefore, the study of metaphor is mainly confined to the realm of literary works. however, metaphor studies have gone radical changes in modern times. with the rising of cognitive linguistics, the conceptual metaphor theory emerges in which metaphor is viewed as the product of bodily experience and a main mechanism for human to perform abstract reasoning and comprehend abstract concepts. it is based on the cognitive view of metaphor that this thesis studies metaphors in non-literary texts with special reference to economic news. in this study, a large number of metaphorical expressions from economic news are collected and classified in accordance with their source domains. six types of conceptual metaphors in economic news from china daily and business weekly are classified and analyzed with supporting details, i.e., journey metaphor, war metaphor, human being metaphor, machine metaphor, game metaphor and container metaphor. in the following part, the study shows that metaphor in economic news serves several important functions, such as informative function, culture-reflective function, naming function, and pedagogical function. the present study aims to testify the conceptual metaphor theory, i.e. abstract concept is mainly formulated and comprehended through metaphor, and english abstract iii to further prove that metaphor is multi-functional. this research will contribute to a better understanding of economic news and certain economic activities. key words: conceptual metaphor; economic news；function 湘滞大学 学位论文原创性声明 十自“* # m 十 日m # d x a # m * a 目$ 女 r m 自i i n 十 m 4 # ，自d n i 十h 日* # “ m q * # 目m 自$ t n # 4 9 ，碡扎日肌”6 f 月j 1h 学位论文版权使用授权书 i n 女t * # 目* * 目、* 月 m n i “， d 女 * 目* 自目g 自* 日丁n m 自女* i 日# 自f m ， r * t i * 目自目$ 4 日h # 1 口i 女* 0 自镕* 目* * 镕m 口# 女“月* 目镕目目日 i m # 日4 n n i 。 口* 一n 衅自月a h $ # “* $ * i h f t m * 口 n 目n u 自m _ _ “”) ”f * 岳照札 口一i j i j 2 h chapter 1 introduction 1 chapter 1 introduction metaphor is a common phenomenon in human life and it is used in enormously huge frequency on a daily basis. according to the british rhetorician i. a. richards (1936:98), there will be one metaphor in almost every three sentences in our daily discourse. while the american linguist howard r. pollio and his co-researchers (pollio (b) the structural and semantic study of metaphor, with jackobson, benveniste and black as its chief advocates, approximately from the early 1930s to the early 1970s; (c) the multidisciplinary study of metaphor, exemplified by the conferences organized in north america in the 1970s and the variety of publications on metaphor in recent years. works delivered by ricoeur (1977), ortony (1979), lakoff and johnson (1980), etc greatly broadened researchers vision in the field of metaphor study. with such enlightenment, contemporary scholars have begun to explore this phenomenon from the perspectives of pragmatics, philosophy, phenomenology, psychology, semiotics, semantics, cognitive science, functional grammar and so on. the following section will give a retrospect to development of the studies of metaphor by simply cutting them into two parts: the traditional and the conceptual studies. and the latter will be adopted as the theoretical framework of the present study. 2.1 three traditional theories of metaphor perhaps one of the most persistent linguistic approaches to metaphor is what we call “the comparison theory”. the basic premise of this theory can be traced back at least to aristotle. in poetics (eb/ol), he defines metaphor as “the application of an alien name by transference either from genus to species, or from species to genus, or from species to species, or by analogy, that is, proportion”. according to this definition, metaphor is a type of transference, a movement from one location to another. this definition not only manifests aristotles viewpoint on the nature of metaphor, but also paves a way of interpreting metaphor and thus can be assumed to have attended to the mechanism of metaphor as well. chapter 2 literature review 5 by the comparison theory, metaphor is regarded as implicit comparisons between a metaphorical expression and a literal paraphrase based on underlying analogy or similarity. the basic tenet of this approach is that “metaphors are similes with suppressed or deleted predications of similarity” (levinson, 1983: 198). in other words, a phrase containing a metaphor is actually a phrase containing a simile, with the predication of “like” suppressed or deleted. almost for two centuries, the comparison theory has swayed in understanding the working mechanism of metaphor. in the 18th century, this theory went into extremity. poets juxtaposed entirely unrelated things in the name of “poetic beauty”. “the particulars of resemblance are so perspicuously collected” (richards, 1936: 87) and similarities are over-emphasized. this abuse of metaphor reveals the vulnerability of comparison theory: it focuses too much on the similarities between things, but fails to explain how metaphor works out the so-called poetic beauty, thus it cannot discriminate successful metaphor from far-fetched metaphor. it is quitilian, a famous roman rhetorician, who puts forward the theory of substitution, which regards metaphor as a rhetorical substitution of a literal expression, i.e., a metaphorical expression is used in place of some equivalent literal expression, thus rendering metaphor to no more than a stylistic accessory, a mere rhetoric decoration. obviously, both of the two views take metaphor as a linguistic phenomenon, a deviation of ordinary language and assume a fundamental distinction between literal and figurative senses. though the interaction theory of metaphor is commonly associated with max blacks models and metaphors (1962) and more about metaphor (1979), yet its gems can be found in the work of richards (ortony, 1979: 4). richards holds the idea that the functioning of metaphor is to be identified within ordinary utilization of language, contrary to aristotles well-known saying that the mastery of metaphor is a gift of genius and cannot be taught. in his view, language is “vitally metaphorical” (richards, 1936: 90). without metaphor we would not be able to notice any unknown relations between things. in other words, metaphor is not only a deviance from the ordinary operation of language, but also the omnipresent principle of all its free action. to make it more explicit, richards distinguishes the two elements involved, which are termed the “tenor” (the underlying idea which the metaphor expresses) and the “vehicle” (the basic analogy that performs the function of embodying the chapter 2 literature review 6 tenor) respectively. in his further description, he stresses the conceptual incompatibility between these two elements, naming it the “tension”, so that his theory of metaphor is sometimes referred to as “the tension theory”. along with his presumptions, the meaning of metaphor is described as the generation through the interaction between the tenor and the vehicle. black develops the interaction view by specifying the interaction between the two elements of metaphor. he proposes “the principal subject” and “the subsidiary subject” in metaphor. this principle subject is the thing that is talked about; the subsidiary subject is the thing that is applied to the principal subject. later, in his essay metaphor (1962), black refers to these two subjects as the “primary” subject and the “secondary” subject, which respectively refer to the word or words used non-literally and the context. these subjects are regarded as systems rather than isolated words or predicates. for instance, in “a marriage is a sustainable struggle”, what acts as the secondary subject is not just the word “struggle”, but a lot of our general knowledge and conventionally held beliefs about struggle. black treats all these tacit knowledge and beliefs as system of associated commonplaces. furthermore, the system of the secondary subject and that of the primary subject interact with each other: the presence of the primary subject incites the addressee to cull some features out of the secondary subjects implicative complex, invites him or her to fashion a parallel implicative complex that can befit the primary subject, and affects in turn parallel changes in the secondary subject. in this interactional process, the associated commonplaces of the secondary subject organize the primary subject system, selecting, emphasizing, and suppressing features of the latter. to return to the above example, the associated commonplaces corresponding to “struggle” are strenuous, careful in treatment, and engaging in a difficult situation; and the word “sustainable” reinforces the duration of time, etc. all of these features of “struggle” organize our view of “marriage”. along with this process, some features about “marriage”, such as marriage certificate, happiness, tolerance etc are pushed into the background, while other marriage traits, such as dominance, argument etc are rendered to be prominent. in short, the struggle metaphor suppresses some details, gives emphasis on others so as to organize our view of marriage. black also introduces “focus” and “frame” into the interaction theory. “focus” means the chapter 2 literature review 7 metaphorical word in a metaphor, while the remainder of the statement is termed “frame”. focus and frame interplay to create their unique meaning. if the frame is changed, this will cause some alteration in the frame-focus interplay and may produce totally different metaphors. the interaction theory brings much significant progression in elucidating the field of metaphor. by maintaining that metaphor is an omnipresent phenomenon of language and by highlighting the interaction between the two elements of metaphor, the interaction view has already begun to recognize the cognitive value of metaphor and has paved the way for the emergence of the conceptual metaphor theory. 2.2 the conceptual metaphor theory the contemporary theory of metaphor, i.e., metaphor is primarily conceptual, conventional, and part of the ordinary system of thought and language, can be traced back to michael reddy (1979). whereas lakoff and johnsons book metaphors we live by (1980) is widely acknowledged as a significant landmark in the cognitive approach to the study of conceptual metaphor. it is in this book that lakoff and johnson initiate the key concept “conceptual metaphor” (or short for “metaphor”) and persuasively claim, “we have found, on the contrary, that metaphor is pervasive in everyday life, not just in language but in thought and action. our ordinary conceptual system, in terms of which we both think and act, is fundamentally metaphorical in nature” (lakoff if employees view their company engaging in a war with another company, they may be more likely to accept some necessary measures such as streamlining. in the war metaphor, there is a winner, loser, and a clear end to the war. these entailments of the war metaphor link it up with the game metaphor that will be discussed in 3.2.5. 3.2.3 human being metaphors the ancient greek philosopher progtagoras claims, “man is the measure of all things” (qtd in wang yin, 2001: 181). the belief in the centrality of man in the universe makes us attribute human features to the non-human to understand what we dont know. in a way, personification sheds light on the things described, thus making it manageable by applying human characteristics to it. the metaphorical expressions realizing this human being metaphor can be recognized by the following words: infant, perform, guide, heart, home, health(y),recovery, harm, hurt, bleeding, dead, pain, painful, ailing, cripple, paralyze, unhealthy, overweight, calm, lean, slim down, fear, jittery, nervous, nerve, etc. human beings go through different phases in life: birth, growth, maturation and death. mapped onto the economic domains, this process of life manifests itself by terms such as infancy, birth, and maturation. these words are used to talk about the different stages of economic organization, industry, business and the economy: (1) seo promotion plays an important role in publicizing a website during its infancy, industry insiders say. (business weekly, 2005-08-08) (2) the yangtze river delta, led by shanghai, is well-positioned to give birth to such brands. (business weekly, 2005-05-30) chapter 3 the uses of metaphor in economic news 19 (3) which will help the emergence of a mature gold market (china daily, 2006-02-10) (4) the entry of shanghai-based shanda interactive entertainment may accelerate the sectors maturity. (business weekly, 2005-01-20) in the economic world, economists show great concern about how economy works and develops. in order to understand this phenomenon, the economy is personified as an actor who is performing on the stage and his performance is assessed by economists. this is evidenced by a high frequency of this word “perform” and its derivatives. also see the following examples: (1) the tsinghua acl is the first research organization to perform crash tests in china, and has the highest industry standards. (china daily, 2005-09-26) (2) shanghais service industry will go through a paradigm shift in the next five years. (business weekly, 2005-08-08) (3) encouraged by its success in the rechargeable battery business, byd is determined to aggressively push its car business. (business weekly, 2005-08-29) we human beings exhibit different characters and certain abilities. these attributes are also mapped onto those abstract economic concepts. therefore, like a human being, those abstract economic concepts such as economies, market, and economic organization have certain human abilities and attributes and demonstrate different modes of behaviors. this is illustrated by the following examples: (1) “. it may be good idea to wait and see how their economies behave in a longer period, which i think is fair.” (business weekly, 2004-03-30) (2) the economic slowdown-both in britain and globally-will likely be one of the factors that will prompt the boe to cut rates in early 2005. (business weekly, 2004-10-26) (3) zheng said cnooc ltd wants to hang on to the gas-rich trough because chapter 3 the uses of metaphor in economic news 20 it is the only firm authorized by the government to co-operate with foreign companies in chinas waters. (business weekly, 2006-06-26) in the above examples all those words that derive from the source domain of human beings provide us with greater familiarity of the abstract economic phenomena and processes. health is essential to human beings, because health is associated with life expectancy and life quality. and good health can guarantee continuity of our daily activities. when we get ill, our bodily experience of illness becomes more salient in our daily life. therefore, the bodily experience of health is more likely to become a source domain of metaphorical conception of some economic activities. as the findings show, this bodily experience of health becomes a rich metaphorical source domain to describe the abstract economic domain. therefore, an extension of the conceptualization of the economy as a human being is the metaphor that the economy is a patient. healthy people tend to be active and energetic. illness is associated with pain and death. this association is preserved in the economic domain to describe the state of the economy. this is illustrated by a number of health-related lexis characterizing patient: (1) the country still appeared feeble in terms of improving its long-term strategy when confronted with the sophisticated international situation. (business weekly, 2003-01-14) (2) “those measures are intended to stop the bleeding, to keep the pc business from declining further. ” (business weekly, 2004-01-16) (3) the government-led rescue of the ailing stock market is helping to lift investors spirits, if not share prices. (business weekly, 2005-01-20) (4) “china should set up an e-commerce credibility system to ensure healthy development of the industry,” song says. (business weekly, 2005-09-19) physical injuries are also extended to conceptualize the state of the market and the economy: (1) “on the other end of the spectrum, ive seen far too many companies paralyze their pr efforts for months attempting to craft global messaging” chapter 3 the uses of metaphor in economic news 21 (business weekly, 2001-07-17) (2) the paralysis, albeit temporary, of the us credit system and the closure of us financial markets will cause many to reassess the security of their investments. (business weekly, 2001-09-18) having a slim and strong body has become a token of physical health and fitness. being slim and athletic is valued positively, while being fat and weak is generally valued negatively. mapped onto the economics domain, the fat and overweight economy or economic organizations should be slimmed. the expression “slim down” has become common euphemism for downsizing bankrupt enterprises or excessive workforce. (1) oita has started to slim down its workforce, cut back on public works and merge small municipalities to reduce costs. (business weekly, 2003-07-22) (2) liaoningis facing a serious unemployment problem as money-losing or inefficient state-owned enterprises slim down or go bust. (china daily, 2001-1