SEMANTICS

METAPHOR

Contents of the seminar:

- Metaphor
- The structure of metaphor
- Classes of metaphor

Course instructor : Mr. Ahmed B. Hassan

Prepared by : Zainab Khaleel

 The concepts expressed through language are not isolated from each other.
Rather, they make up a giant network, with many interconnections and
associations among the various subparts. A good example of these
interconnections involves metaphor.

What is metaphor?
Metaphor is a process of understanding one conceptual domain in terms of
another. A typical metaphor is a mapping between a better-known, more
concrete conceptual domain ( the ‘source domain ‘) and the conceptual domain
which it helps to organize ( the ‘target domain’). (Crystal,2008, p.98)

Metaphor is : concepts , notions, models, pictures from one domain ,the

source domain , are borrowed for the description of things in another domain
,the target domain. ( Lobner,2002, P:50).
-Target domain = the topic or concept that you want to describe through the
metaphor.
-Source domain = the concept that you draw upon, in order to create the
metaphorical construction.

Metaphor means the understanding of one concept in terms of another.

Metaphor is not only a literary device used by authors and poets but it has a
prominent place in the conceptual system shared by all human beings. The
effects of this prominence are seen in the way in which we use language to talk
about various abstract notions.
A simple example of this involves the concept of time, which we analyze
metaphorically by treating it as if it were a concrete commodity as the following
examples:
1-You are wasting my time .
2-How do you spend your time these days?
There is no inherent similarity between time and commodities such as gold or
money. What brings these two concepts together is the ‘perception’ based in
part on culture and in part on feeling that all human beings share.
(O’Grady,1997:p.254).

The structure of metaphors

There is a pattern or structure which is common to many individual metaphors.
There is first the so-called “tenor”, the starting point of the metaphor. Then there
is the ” vehicle” ,the image chosen to represent , or stand for, the tenor. Lastly
there is the “ground” of the metaphor , the perceived similarity between tenor
and vehicle. (Cowie, 2009, p: 31)

Examples:
1- The man is a lion.
Tenor = The man.
Vehicle = Lion.
Ground = the ‘vehicle’ of the lion indicates that the tenor “ the man” possesses a
quality that one associate with the lion , such as braveness.

2- She is a shining star.

Tenor = She.

Vehicle = Shining star.

Ground = the ‘vehicle’ of the shining star indicates that the tenor “she” possess a
quality that one associate with the shining star, such as prettiness, attractiveness,
etc.
Classes of metaphors
-Concretive metaphor :
It attributes concreteness or physical existence to an abstraction . i.e , it is the
use of concrete term to talk about abstract thing.

For example:

1- The light of learning.

2- A vicious circle.
3- Room for negotiation.
4- The burden of responsibility.

-Animistic metaphors :
It attributes animate characteristics to an inanimate object.

For example :

1- The wing of an aircraft.

2- The belly of a ship.
3- The leg of the table.
4- Angry sky.

-Humanizing or (anthropomorphic metaphor) :

It attributes characteristics of humans to non-human objects.

For example :

1- The eye of a needle.

2- The heart of the matter.
3- The neck of a bottle.
4- Quiet forest. (Cowie, 2009. P:32)
-Spatial metaphor
It is the use of words that are primarily associated with spatial orientation to
talk about physical and psychological states.

Examples: (Emotions)
1- I am feeling up.
2- You are in high spirits.

Examples: (physical health)

1- He is sinking fast.
2- He is at the peak of health.

The basis for these metaphors appear to lie in our physical experience,
Unhappiness and ill tend to be associated with laziness and inactivity, which
often involve being physically down. In contrast, happiness and good health are
associated with energy and movement, which involve being physically up. Thus
health and happiness are understood in terms of spatial metaphor. (O’Grady,
1997.PP:254,255)
References

O’Grady, W. et . al ,(1997) Contemporary Linguistics: An Introduction. London:

Longman.

Cowie, A.P., (2009) Semantics. Oxford University Press.

Lobner, S., (2002) Understanding Semantics. Hodder Education Press.

Crystal, D., (2008) sixth edition. A dictionary of Linguistics and Phonetics.

Blackwell publishing.