2.7 CONCEPTUAL METAPHOR THEORY
2.7.2 Understanding and experiencing one kind of thing in terms of another
Although in agreement with some of Gumpel's criticism, especially regarding confusing and metaphorically fabricated terminology, it seems to this researcher a fact that some Aristotelian principles cannot be avoided. Analogy, similarity, imagery, as well as tension, and controversies in terms of semantic clashes, play an important role in the invention and interpretation of metaphor. The question regarding the 'how?' is however the creator of differences among the major proponents. Nevertheless, metaphor is now lifted out of the showcase by the Interactionists, and placed on the playing field of creative and meaningful language as well as that of our imaginative cognitive processes. This fact indeed constitutes a vital difference.
argument; Okay, shoot!; He shot down all my arguments. This clearly indicates that an underlying metaphorical concept namely ARGUMENT IS WAR operates in the structuring of how we understand things, do things and how we formulate ideas when we reason. Although no physical war takes place in the argument, a verbal war is reflected in the way in which the argument is structured, understood, performed, and verbalised.
According to Lakoff and Johnson (1980:5) an appropriate definition for metaphor would therefore be: understanding and experiencing one kind of thing in terms of another. "
Metaphors are indeed 'concepts we live by.'!
2.7.3 Metaphorical types
To demonstrate and explain their thesis of the vital role of metaphor in our understanding of things as expressed in our everyday language, Lakoff and Johnson distinguish three of the basic metaphorical types namely structural, orientational and ontological (physical).
2.7.3.1 Structural metaphors
Structural metaphors are defined as the kind of metaphorical concept where one concept is metaphorical structured in terms of another. The following properties are noticed:
2.7.3.1.1 Metaphorical systematicity and coherence
An important part of their point of departure in the study consists of the perceived fact that there exists a definite systematicity and coherence in which metaphorical expressions in our language usage are tied to metaphorical concepts. Therefore, "we can use metaphorical linguistic expressions to study the nature of metaphorical concepts to gain an understanding of the metaphorical nature of our activities." (Lakoff and Johnson 1980:7). A metaphorical concept such as TIME IS MONEY and its resultant metaphorical expressions in everyday English, can give us insight into the metaphorical nature of such a concept that structures our everyday life. For instance, when we say: You're wastingmy time; This gadget can save you hours; How do you spend your time these days; I've investeda lot of time in her; You need to budgetyour time; You're running outof time; I lost a lot of time when I got sick; it shows that time in our Western culture is valuable,
1The title of their first chapter, pp 3-6.
limited, in fact, money in terms of production and constructive use of time etc. From the main metaphorical concept TIME IS MONEY, systematic related sub-categories follow, characterising entailment relationships between metaphors. Examples include TIME IS A LIMITED RESOURCE (This gadget can save you hours), TIME IS A VALUABLE COMMODITY (You're wasting my time). That is due to the fact that in our society we act as if money is time, valuable, limited and therefore understand, experience and evidently express time metaphorically in terms of money spent, wasted, saved, and invested. These values are relatively new in the history of the human race and part and parcel of our culture, but not of all cultures. Nevertheless, when we talk about a concept or an aspect thereof, whether it is ARGUMENT or TIME for instance, our thoughts usually follow patterns, which shape our language. "Because the metaphorical concept is systematic, the language we use to talk about that aspect of the concept is systematic. "
(Lakoff and Johnson 1980:7). Furthermore, "metaphorical entailments can characterize a coherent system of metaphorical concepts and a corresponding coherent system of metaphorical expressions for those concepts. "(P9).
2.7.3.1.2 Highlighting and hiding
However, Lakoff and Johnson (1980: 13), in their thesis that our concepts are structured by metaphor, emphasise the fact that it is only partially structured, though it can be extended beyond our literal or conventional way of thinking by means of figurative, fancy, poetic thought and language, but again not completely. If the metaphorical structuring (also the figurative poetic structuring) involves total structuring, it would mean that the one equals the other in which case it cannot be a matter of understanding the one in terms of the other.
"The very systematicity that allows us to comprehend one aspect of a concept (thus highlighting one aspect - ajb) in terms of another (e.g. comprehending an aspect of arguing in terms ofbattle) will necessarily hide other aspects of the concept. " 1Time, for example, is not really money, because there is no time bank, you cannot be refunded for time spent if something does not work, etc. Therefore, only some part of the metaphorical concept fits and is highlighted in the structuring, while the other is hidden because it does not and cannot fit.
2.7.3.2 Orientational Metaphors
Another kind of metaphorical concept is the one which organises a system of concepts with respect to one another. Lakoffand Johnson (1980:14) call these
"orientational metaphors, since most ofthem have to do with spatial orientation: up- down, in-out, front-back. on-off, deep-shallow, central-peripheral. These spatial orientations arise from the fact that we have bodies of the sort we have and that they function as they do in our physical environment.11
Such metaphorical orientations are not done at random, but emerge from physical and cultural experiences and therefore can differ between cultures.
This is best explained by examples used by Lakoffand Johnson (1980:15-17). To mention a few: (1) HAPPY IS UP (My spirits rose), SAD IS DOWN (I'm feeling down) for example emerges from the physical upright bodily posture which projects a positive attitude and the drooping posture which typifies sadness. (2) HAVING CONTROL or FORCE IS UP (I am on top of the situation), BEING SUBJECT TO CONTROL or FORCE IS DOWN (His power is on the decline) finds its physical basis in the fact that bigger is stronger and in a fight the winner is always on top. (3) VIRTUE IS UP (She is an upstanding citizen), DEPRAVITY IS DOWN (That was a low trick), is an entailment derived from the concept GOOD IS UP (i.e. the physical basis) and the social basis, to be virtuous is to act according to the rules set by your society. (4) RATIONAL IS UP (I raised the discussion back up to the rational plane), EMOTIONAL IS DOWN (He couldn'trise abovehis emotions),has a physical and cultural basis due to the fact that our culture maintains a view of the superiority of man over animals, plants and environment.
Our ability to reason gives us control and thus the main concept CONTROL IS UP leads to the sub-category entailment MAN IS UP which provides a basis for RATIONAL IS UP.
(5) HIGH STATUS IS UP (She'llrise to the top), LOW STATUS IS DOWN (Shefell in status), emerges from the social and physical basis that power (social and physical) is UP.
ILakoff and Johnson 1980: 10. See also Turner 1987:35.
2.7.3.3 Ontological Metaphors
Lakoff and Johnson (1980:25ff) also identify ontological metaphors, that is, ways in which we experience, understand and view events, activities, emotions, and ideas as physical objects and substances. They provide another basis for the metaphorical understanding of our experiences in terms of entities and substances by which we purposefully identify, refer, quantify, categorise and group our non-physical experiences enabling us to converse about them. For example, the concept INFLATION IS AN ENTITY enables us to deal rationally with the non-physical phenomenon by viewing it as a physical object resulting in sayings such as: Inflation is lowering our standard of living; We need to combat inflation; Inflation makes me sick. A more elaborated example in our culture is: THE MIND IS A MACHINE, evident in expressions such as: I'm running out of steam; I'm a little rusty today; My mind just isn't operating today.
2.7.3.4 Container metaphors
Lakoff and Johnson (1980:29ff) also distinguish other kinds of ontological metaphors namely 'Container metaphors'. Because we are physical beings, bounded in our bodies, we view every thing of the world we live in as outside us and therefore project our in-out and bounded orientation onto other physical objects (for example the expression: There is a lot of land in Kansas, where Kansas is viewed as a container). To Lakoff and Johnson (p33ff) personification, where the physical object or our non-human experience is further specified as a person and comprehended in terms of human characteristics, actions and motivations, is one of the most obvious extensions of ontological metaphor. In short, in many cases we make sense of the world by viewing non-human entities as human. For example, we personify 'inflation' when we say: Our biggest enemy right now is inflation;
Inflation has robbed me of my savings. These sayings do no merely emerge from the metaphorical concept INFLATION IS A PERSON but from the more specific extension, namely INFLATION IS AN ADVERSARY.