隐喻机制与转喻机制在英语新词语形成中的重要作用

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3.0 周伟光 2024-09-20 7 4 364.45KB 56 页 150积分

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ABSTRACT

Metaphor and metonymy has been treated in the western tradition as linguistic

devices used in rhetoric and literature. On the contrary, George Lakoff and Mark

Johnson claim that metaphor is not just a matter of language, but that it governs our

ordinary conceptual system. According to their view, human thought processes are

largely metaphorical, and the human conceptual system is metaphorically structured

and defined. Since then, research on metaphor and metonymy has headed towards a

new direction, and the basic ideas of Lakoff and Johnson have been developed as the

Conceptual Metaphor Theory.

To Lakoff and Johnson, metaphors are not just matters of language, but are used

extensively in reasoning and understanding. Typically, an abstract domain is

understood metaphorically in terms of a more concrete domain. To a large degree, they

argue, the human conceptual system is metaphorical. This is very different from the

classical model of metaphor, which claims that metaphors are artifacts of language use,

and have nothing to do with meaning or understanding.

In Metaphors We Live By, Lakoff and Johnson do not directly and precisely say

what metonymy is but spare only one chapter for it. They just claim:

Metonymy, on the other hand, has primarily a referential function, that is, it allows us to use

one entity to stand for another, but metonymy is not merely a referential device, it also serves the

function of providing understanding.

(Lakoff and Johnson, 1980: 36).

Metaphor and metonymy play a central role in human’s thought, understanding

and reasoning in the creation of our social, cultural, and psychological reality.

Metaphorical and metonymical languages arise from the basic bodily experience of

human beings. This notion of embodiment clearly distinguishes the cognitive linguistic

view from traditional ones. Metaphor as well as metonymy is property of concepts, and

not of words. The main function of metaphor is to understand one thing in terms of

another, while the main function of metonymy seems to be to provide mental,

cognitive access to a target entity that is less readily or easily available. Metaphor is

based on similarity, and metonymy is based on contiguity that is on elements that are

parts of the same domain. Metaphor and metonymy are used effortlessly in everyday

硕士学位论文

life by ordinary people, not just by specially talented people. They are far from being

stylistic devices, and are inevitable processes of human thought and reasoning. In the

formation of neologisms, mechanisms of metaphor and metonymy also play an

important role. They are reflected in domains closely related to people’s daily life:

technology and science, politics and economy and internet.

As the most active factor of language, lexicon is very sensitive to the changes in

social life. As development of science and technology, tremendous changes have taken

place in the fields ranging from science ，technology, economy, politics, internet and

other fields of our society. Neologisms emerge once new things and new concepts

appear in social life. The lexicon of present-day English is changing rapidly and

regularly, and a description and explanation of this change is necessary for both

theoretical development and practical meaning. However, the definition of neologism is

of controversy. Different scholars give different definitions from different perspectives.

This thesis defines neologism from two main perspectives of neologism: one is from the

perspective of time, and other is from the perspective of semantics. So neologism in this

thesis is defined as: “neologism is a recently-coined word, and it can imply the use of

old words in a new sense (i.e., giving new meanings to existing words or phrases).

Neologisms are especially useful in identifying new inventions, new phenomena, or old

ideas which have taken on a new cultural context.”

This thesis aims to explore formation of neologism from perspective of working

mechanisms of metonymy and metaphor, which are basic modes of thinking and

powerful and efficient tools with which people conceptualize the world. Besides, the

sources of neologisms, choice of neologisms, differences of metaphor and metonymy as

rhetoric devices and cognitive mechanisms and other topics related will be introduced.

The author gives an elaboration of working mechanisms of metaphor and metonymy

with the help of cognitive theory proposed by George Lakoff and Mark Johnson.

Key Words: English neologism; metaphor; metonymy; mechanism

硕士学位论文

III

摘要

传统西方语言学认为，隐喻与转喻只是修辞与文学当中的纯语言现象。然而，

George Lakoff 与 Mark Johnson 提出，隐喻，并不仅仅作为一种纯语言现象，

它对我们的概念体系还起着支配作用。他们的观点指出：人类的思维大部分是隐

喻性的；人类的概念系统是由隐喻结构支配，进而定义的。此后，有关隐喻与转

喻的研究转向了另一个阶段。Lakoff 与 Johnson 关于隐喻的一些的基本观点，也

逐渐发展成为概念隐喻理论。

Lakoff 与Johnson 认为，隐喻不是单纯的语言现象，而是用于广泛推理与

理解的手段。隐喻的典型特征是把抽象的概念具体化。更宽泛地说，人类的概念

系统本身是隐喻性的。这种观点与声称隐喻为修辞美学手段的传统隐喻观大相径

庭。在 Metaphors We Live By 一书中，Lakkoff 与Johnson 并没有直接、确切地给

出转喻的定义，但是却用了一章的篇幅来详述转喻。他们在书中提到：“转喻最初

的指称功能，使我们能用一个实体指代另一个实体，但是转喻并不仅仅是用于指

称的工具，它为我们理解客观世界提供了便利”

(Lakoff and Johnson, 1980: 36)。在

人类社会、文化与心理现实的创造活动中，隐喻与转喻在思维活动的理解与推理

过程中起着重要的作用。隐喻与转喻的语言与思维来源于人本身的实践活动，这

种观点很明确地划分了传统隐喻观与认知隐喻观。隐喻与转喻是概念化的结果。

隐喻以相似性为基础。转喻是用突显、易感知、易记忆、易辨认的部分代替整体

或其他部分，或用具有完形感知的整体代替部分的认知过程。词汇隐喻与转喻的

产生源于人类的身体体验和日常生活经验。在日常生活中,人们常常参照熟悉的、

有形的、具体的概念来认识、思维、经历和表达无形的、难以定义的概念,从而形

成了语言中的跨领域的思维认知方式与同一认知域内互相转换的认知思维方式,

这两种思维方式基本上是在概念隐喻与转喻的基础上进行的。人类在语言的最初

使用过程中,创造并使用的第一批词汇大多是表明具体的事物。当人类从这些具体

的概念之中逐渐获得了抽象思维能力的时候,往往会借助这些具体事物的词汇来

表达抽象的概念,这就构成了人类的思维体系。本文将与人类生活密切相关的三个

领域内的英语新词语作为研究对象，分别为：科技新词语、政治经济新词语、网

络新词语。

作为语言之中最活跃的因素，词汇非常敏感于社会生活的变化。随着科学技

术的发展、科学、技术、经济、政治、网络等各个领域发生着日新月异的变化。

硕士学位论文

新词语伴随着新观念，新事物的诞生，不断融入人们生活中的各个层面。今天，

快速、有规律增长的英语词汇需要人们运用科学的手段加以描述阐释，此种科学

的描述与阐释，不仅满足了理论发展的需要，更加深化了研究的实际意义。然而

对于英语新词语的定义，一直成为人们争议的焦点。不同学者对英语新词语从不

同的研究方面，给予出不同的定义。本文从新词语的两个主要描写层面，即时间

层面与意义层面入手，对英语新词语的定义为：用来反应新发明创造、新现象的

新造词语，以及旧词赋予新义的词语。

认知语言学中，隐喻与转喻既是基本思维模式，又是强而有效的概念化工具，

本篇论文拟从隐喻与转喻的工作机制入手，主要运用 Lakoff 与 Johnson 的认知

语言学理论，探究在新词语形成过程中，隐喻与转喻的工作机制与此种工作机制

如何促成新词语形成的问题做进一步的探讨。另外，关于新词语的来源、新词语

的选择、隐喻与转喻作为认知手段与传统的修辞手段的差异等一系列相关问题也

会在本文中一一阐述。

关键词：英语新词语；隐喻；转喻；工作机制

硕士学位论文

Contents

Introduction…………………………………………………………………….…....1

Chapter 1 Literature Review………………………………………………….….....5

1.1 The Studies of Neologisms at Home………………………………………...5

1.2 The Studies of Neologisms Abroad……………………………………….....6

Chapter 2 Neologism…………………………………………………………….…..9

2.1 Definition of Neologism………………………………………………….….9

2.2 Sources of Neologism………………………………………………………12

2.3 Means of Word Formation………………………………………………….16

Chapter 3 How Metaphor Works in the Formation of Neologisms……………...21

3.1 Difference between Rhetoric Metaphor and Conceptual Metaphor………...22

3.2 The Mechanism of Metaphor in Semantics Development………………….24

3.3 The Mechanism of Metaphor in Neologism Formation…………………….26

Chapter 4 How Metonymy Works in the Formation of Neologisms…………….35

4.1 Difference of Rhetoric Metonymy and Conceptual Metonymy…………….36

4.2 The Mechanism of Metonymy in Semantics Development………………...37

4.3 The Mechanism of Metonymy in Neologism Formation…………………...38

Conclusion…………………………………………………………………………...45

Bibliography………………………………………………………………………....49

硕士学位论文

１

Introduction

1. Significance of the Study

With the development of modern science and technology, as well as the change of

political, economic and social life, many new things, new concepts and new ideologies

are springing up. According to the statistics of The Barnhart Dictionary Companion,

there are about 1,500—1,600 English neologisms and meanings are collected into their

data base every year. Neologisms come into being with a process of recognition, and are

fruits of cognitive conceptualization and categorization of human beings. Cognitive

linguist 赵艳芳 (2001) holds that language itself is not a close system, and language

competence is one part of general cognitive competence. As two main cognitive

mechanisms of cognitive linguistics, metaphor and metonymy are the center problems

of linguistics and poetics. Structuralists are trying to account for meaning by means of a

componential model of clearly defined semantic elements (Roman Jakobson, 1959).

“Metaphor” originated from Latin word “metaphora”, which means “a figure of

speech which concisely compares two things by saying that one is the other.”(Tom

Mcarthur, 2001: 374) In Metaphors We Live by, cognitive linguists George Lakoff and

Mark Johnson define “metaphor” differently from previous point of view. They claim

that “metaphor is pervasive in everyday life, not just in language but in thought and

action”, (Lakoff and Johnson, 2003:8) “the essence of metaphor is understanding and

experiencing one kind of thing in terms of another”, (Lakoff and Johnson, 2003:9)

therefore, “metaphor is not just a matter of language, that is, of mere words. We shall

argue that, on the contrary, human thought processes are largely metaphorical.” (Lakoff

and Johnson, 2003:10) In this thesis, metaphor is explained or defined as “a form of

conceptual projection involving mapping or correspondences holding between distinct

conceptual domains”(Vyvyan Evans, 2007:136).

Just as metaphor, metonymy is traditionally considered as “a figure of speech

which designates something by the name of something associated with it”.(Tom

Mcarthur, 2001:377) However, as the development of cognitive science and cognitive

linguistics, there is a great change of people’s idea about metonymy. Metonymy is

considered as “a conceptual operation in which one entity, the vehicle, can be

employed in order to identify another entity, the target, with which it is

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摘要：

IABSTRACTMetaphorandmetonymyhasbeentreatedinthewesterntraditionaslinguisticdevicesusedinrhetoricandliterature.Onthecontrary,GeorgeLakoffandMarkJohnsonclaimthatmetaphorisnotjustamatteroflanguage,butthatitgovernsourordinaryconceptualsystem.Accordingtotheirview,humanthoughtprocessesarelargelymetaphoric...

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