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Inheritance of Features in Metaphoric Mappings in English

by Michal Janowski (Author)
©2009 Thesis 148 Pages

Summary

The book is devoted to conceptual metaphors in English according to the level of abstraction in their target domains. The findings reveal a striking difference between mappings onto concrete domains and mappings onto abstract ones. In metaphors with concrete target domains, a preexisting similarity between the source and target concepts can be revealed or highlighted. In contrast, when the target domain is abstract, the similarity between the source and target concepts is created rather than merely revealed or highlighted. To some degree, creation of similarity is possible even with concrete domains, but in abstract ones it is necessary, not optional. This is because abstract concepts have little or no schematic structure in the first place. Since abstract concepts are classified in language as kinds of physical objects, they inherit rudimentary physical properties, such as density, weight, temperature, etc. Looking at metaphors from this perspective allows us to refine the existing theories of metaphor.

Details

Pages
148
Publication Year
2009
ISBN (Softcover)
9783631590898
Language
English
Keywords
abstraction Englisch Metapher Theorie Kognitive Linguistik metaphor noun image schema
Published
Frankfurt am Main, Berlin, Bern, Bruxelles, New York, Oxford, Wien, 2009. 148 pp., 2 fig., 2 tables

Biographical notes

Michal Janowski (Author)

The Author: Michał Janowski is a Senior Lecturer at Kazimierz Wielki University Bydgoszcz (Poland). His main research interests include cognitive linguistics, the English language, studies of meaning and metaphor, and theories of the mind and consciousness. He received his Ph.D. Degree from Adam Mickiewicz University Poznań (Poland) in 2007.

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Title: Inheritance of Features in Metaphoric Mappings in English