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1、TheContemporaryTheoryofMetaphorGeorgeLakoff(c)CopyrightGeorgeLakoff,1992ToAppearinOrtony,Andrew(ed.)MetaphorandThought(2ndedition),CambridgeUniversityPress.Donotgogentleintothatgoodnight.-DylanThomasDeathisthemotherofbeauty...-WallaceStevens,SundayMorningIntroductionThesefamouslin
2、esbyThomasandStevensareexamplesofwhatclassicaltheorists,atleastsinceAristotle,havereferredtoasmetaphor:instancesofnovelpoeticlanguageinwhichwordslikemother,go,andnightarenotusedintheirnormaleverydaysenses.Inclassicaltheoriesoflanguage,metaphorwasseenasamatteroflanguagenotthought.M
3、etaphoricalexpressionswereassumedtobemutuallyexclusivewiththerealmofordinaryeverydaylanguage:everydaylanguagehadnometaphor,andmetaphorusedmechanismsoutsidetherealmofeverydayconventionallanguage.Theclassicaltheorywastakensomuchforgrantedoverthecenturiesthatmanypeopledidn'trealizeth
4、atitwasjustatheory.Thetheorywasnotmerelytakentobetrue,butcametobetakenasdefinitional.Thewordmetaphorwasdefinedasanovelorpoeticlinguisticexpressionwhereoneormorewordsforaconceptareusedoutsideofitsnormalconventionalmeaningtoexpressasimilarconcept.Butsuchissuesarenotmattersfordefinit
5、ions;theyareempiricalquestions.Asacognitivescientistandalinguist,oneasks:Whatarethegeneralizationsgoverningthelinguisticexpressionsreferredtoclassicallyaspoeticmetaphors?Whenthisquestionisansweredrigorously,theclassicaltheoryturnsouttobefalse.Thegeneralizationsgoverningpoeticmetap
6、horicalexpressionsarenotinlanguage,butinthought:Theyaregeneralmappingsacrossconceptualdomains.Moreover,thesegeneralprincipleswhichtaketheformofconceptualmappings,applynotjusttonovelpoeticexpressions,buttomuchofordinaryeverydaylanguage.Inshort,thelocusofmetaphorisnotinlanguageatall
7、,butinthewayweconceptualizeonementaldomainintermsofanother.Thegeneraltheoryofmetaphorisgivenbycharacterizingsuchcross-domainmappings.Andintheprocess,everydayabstractconceptsliketime,states,change,causation,andpurposealsoturnouttobemetaphorical.Theresultisthatmetaphor(thatis,cross-
8、domainmapping)isabsolutelycentral
