18. Metaphor and its role in the development of semantic structure of a word.

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Collins English Dictionary defines metaphor as a figure of speech in which a word or phrase is applied to an object or action that it does not literally denote in order to imply a resemblance, for example: he is a lion in battle.

A.P. Cowie in Semantics describes a metaphor as having three parts: the tenor, the vehicle and the ground

The tenor is the subject to which attributes are ascribed.

The vehicle is the object whose attributes are borrowed.

The ground of the metaphor is the perceived similarity between tenor and vehicle which provides the basis for the comparison.

One of the most famous examples of a metaphor: All the world's a stage,And all the men and women merely players; —William Shakespeare, ‘As You Like It’

In this example, "the world" is compared to a stage, describing it with the attributes of "the stage" "the world" is the tenor, «a stage" is the vehicle; "men and women" is a secondary tenor, "players" is the secondary vehicle.

Metaphor - transfer of meaning on the basis of a similarity of some sort (in shape, in size, in function, in colour, etc.) between the es­tablished referent of a word and some new referent. A metaphor expresses the unfamiliar (the tenor – the underlying idea or principal subject that is the meaning of a metaphor) in terms of the familiar (the vehicle – the figure itself that is, the image that embodies the tenor).

Different types of similarity:

a) similarity of shape, e.g. head (of a cabbage), bottleneck – узкийпроход, препятствие

b) similarity of position, e.g. head (of a procession)– главныйвпроцессии;

c) similarity of function, behavior e.g. a whip – парламентскийпартийныйорганизатор(an official in the British Parliament whose duty is to see that members were present at the voting);

d) similarity of colour, e.g. orange, hazel, chestnut etc.

Examples:

• "But my heart is a lonely hunter that hunts on a lonely hill."  (William Sharp, "The Lonely Hunter") ;

• "The rain came down in long knitting needles." (Enid Bagnold, National Velvet) ;

• "Language is a road map of a culture. It tells you where its people come from and where they are going." (Rita Mae Brown) ;

• a stony heart, the head of cabbage, star - a leading actress.

The process of development of a new meaning (or a change of meaning) is traditionally termed transference. It is very important to note that in any case of semantic change it is not the meaning but the word that is being transferred from one referent onto another (e. g. from a horse-drawn vehicle onto a railway car). The result of such a transference is the appearance of a new meaning.

Two types of transference are distinguishable Transference Based on Contiguity примыкании and Transference Based on Similarity. Second type of transference is also referred to as linguistic metaphor, so metaphor plays very important role in development of a new meaning.

The meanings formed through this type of transference are frequently found in the informal strata of the vocabulary, especially in slang. A red-headed boy is almost certain to be nicknamed carrot or ginger by his schoolmates, and the one who is given to spying and sneaking gets the derogatory nickname of rat.

The slang meanings of words such as nut, onion (= head), saucers (= eyes), hoofs (== feet) and very many others were all formed by transference based on resemblance.

Metaphores are built on different types of similarity: similarity of shape (tongue of a bell), function (leg of a table), position (foot of a page), character of motion (snail (of a sluggish person)), dimensions (dumpling (of a short, chabby creature)), value (dirt cheap). By means of metaphoric transference proper names may become common names:  Appolo, Don Juan, Othello.

Compound metaphor

A compound metaphor is one where there are multiple elements (adverbs, adjectives, etc.) in the metaphor that are used to snag the listener.

Each element in the compound metaphor may be used to signify an additional item of meaning.

For instance,

‘The closet was a dark, gaping hole in which the mountain of his shoes had gathered’ utilizes a compound metaphor to describe a closet.

• Other examples: ‘she danced, a wild and gothic fairy’ or ‘thick, primal, blind fog descended before his eyes’. Dead metaphor

• A dead metaphor occurs where the once-evocative transferred image is no longer effective or even understood, perhaps being lost in time.

• Dead metaphors are dead in the sense that they no longer act as metaphors - they just become plain words, with a simple functional meaning.

• There are many words in the English language that are now considered dead metaphors.

One such word is "fabulous," which once meant that whatever subject the word described must be worthy of a story or fable.

Now it is used similarly to the word "great."

Dying metaphor

The term was originally used by George Orwell in his essay Politics and the English Language.

A dying metaphor (cliché) is one which has become so over-used; it is considered unfashionable or lacking in eloquence (красноречие) to use it.

Examples:

• ‘Setting sail (отправляться в плавание) into a new career.’

• I'm over the moon about it (я восхищен этим).’

Extended metaphor

• An extended metaphor is one where there is a single main subject to which additional subjects and metaphors are applied.

• The extended metaphor may act as a central theme, for example where it is used as the primary vehicle of a poem and is used repeatedly and in different forms.

‘This bed is my raft (плот), and I am adrift (плывущий по течению) in the sea of dreams,’

Other example: ‘He is the gun, we are the bullets of his desire.’

Pataphor

A pataphor is a type of metaphor when the basic metaphor is typically not mentioned but extensions to it are used without reference.

It is an extreme metaphor and is often used to express excitement. ‘He galloped into the kitchen, snorted (фыркать) at the food on the table, turned his tail, and ran.’

The pataphor here describes a boy with the actions of a horse.