暗喻Metaphor

DefinitionThewordmetaphormeanstransference,carringover.ItisaverycommomfigureofspeechinEnglish.Metaphoruseswordstoindicatesomethingdifferentfromtheirliteralmeaning--onethingisdescribedintermsofanothersoastosuggestalikenessoranalogybetweenthem.Metaphorandsimilesharequiteafewcommonqualities.Bothsimileandmetaphorinvolvethecomparisonbetweentwounlikeelements.Structure•Ontology(本体）被比喻的事物或情境•Metaphors（喻体）打比方的事物或情境•Pre-figurativeword（喻词）表示比喻关系的词语Accordingtothestructure,metaphorscanbedividedintotwocategories:visiblemetaphorsandinvisiblemetaphors.Inthevisiblemetaphor,boththeprimaryterm(tenor)andthesecondryterm(vehicle)arepresentinthesentence.IttakestheformofXisY,asintheexamplesbelow:Youaremysunshine.Heistheappleofhereye.Thehousewillbeparadise.Thatpuddingwasanabsolutedream.1.Theprimarytermispresent,butthesecondarytermisnot--butitishintedatbyotherwordsinmanycasesbytheverborverbs.Forexample,Somebooksaretobetasted,otherstobeswallowed,andsomefewtobechewedanddigested.Inthissentence,thesecondarytermfooddoesn'tappearliterally,butitissuggestedbytheverbstasted,swallowd,chewed,digested.Theinvisiblemetaphorreferstoeitherofthefollowingtwotypes.2.Thesecondarytermispresentinthesentencebuttheprimarytermisnot.Theprimarytermissuggestdbythesecondaryterm.Thiskindofmetaphorleavesroomforthereader'simagination.Forexample,Themachinesittingatthatdeskwasnolongeraman;itwasabusyNewYorkbroker...(O.Henry)Theprimarytermmanisnotpresent,butitissuggestedbythesecondarytermmachine.Man''isreplacedbymachinebecausethemanatthedeskperformdhisdutymechanically[mi'kænikəli].Inwriter'smind,themanwasnolongeramanbutamachine.Likesimiles,metaphorscanalsobeusedforthreepurposes:1.Description2.Illumination3.IllustrationBesidestheone-aspectmetaphors,therearemulti-aspectmetaphors,likesustainedmetaphorsandextendedmetaphors.•Insomemetaphors,theprimarytermiscomparedtotwoormoresecondaryterms.Thesemetaphorsarecalledsustainedmetaphors.Itinvolvesvariouscomparisonsoftheprimarytermindifferentperspectives.Poetryisthescentoftherose,thelighteninginthesky,thegleamofthefly,thesoundofthesea.(Poetryiscomparedtoscent,lightening,gleamandsound--allindifferentprspectives.)•Extendedmetaphorisanotherformofcomparison,inwhichaninitialcomparisonismadeandthendevelopd.Forexample,Alltheworld'sastage,Andallthemenandwomenmerelyplayers;Theyhavetheirexitsandtheirentrances,Andonemaninhistimeplaysmanyparts,Hisactsbeingsevenages...(W.Shakespeare)（TheinitialcomparisonisTheworldisastage.Itservesasabasiccomparisionandthenitisdevelopedbytheconsequentcomprisions,whichserveasitsextendingpart.）Whenwemakemetaphors,weshouldavoidmixedmetaphorsanddeadmetaphors.•Sometimes,metaphorsmaygetoutofcontrol.Ifmetaphorsrunwild,mixedmetaphorwillcomeintobing--twoormoreincongruouscomparisonsruntogether.Forexample,Theseedsofrebellionwerekindledinsecret.(seedsandkindleareincongruous)Iskimoverthebooktotastethetoneofit.(Tonecannotbetasted.)Atlasthefeltarayofhope.(Rayscanbeseen,notfelt.)Tobeeffective,ametaphorshouldmeetthreerequirements:freshmentsandoriginality;aptness(适合);consistency.Somemetaphorshavebeenusedforsolongthattheyhavelosttheirfigurativestrengthandbecomelifeless.Deadmetaphorscanbedividedintothreetypes.1.IntroducedbythelinkverbbeHeisastupidass.Heisafox.2.Modifiersanironheart,thesilvermoon,aseaoffaces,etc.3.Constructedbyverbsorpopularsetphrasesbirdsofthesamefeather,awolfinsheep'sclothingTypesofmetaphor1.Nounmetaphors:T(Tnor)+be+V(Vehicle)Timeismoney.2.VerbmetaphorsSnowclothestheground.3.AdjectivalmetaphorsHehasaheartofstone.4.AdverbialmetaphorsHewasfreezinglypolitetous.5.Proverb(谚语)asVehicleStillwatersrundeep.Differencesbetweensimileandmetaphor•Structure•Element•Function•Asimilemakesaclearcomparisonbymeansofwordslike,as,asif,as…so…,etc.•Ametaphormakesacomparisonwhichisimpliedratherthanstated.Asmetaphoriscloselyrelatedtosimile,itissometimesreferredtoasacondensedorimpliedsimile.structure•Asimilealwayscontainsthesubjectandthereference,whichareconnectedbysimilemarkers.ItstatesliterallythatAislikeB.•Ametaphorcomparethingsimplicitly.Readliterally,itdosenotstatethatthingsarealike;itsaysthattheyarethesamething.Sometimesthereisonlythesubjectandnoreferenceinametaphor.element•Agoodsimilecandrawsharperpicturesinthemindthancouldbedonepossiblybyanymeans.Anditexplainsabstractorcomplicatedideaorprocessesinsimple,concreteimagery,soitiseasytounderstand.Suchas:Herbrownhairwaslikeabird’ssmoothwings.•Ametaphortriestogivedeeperinsightintopersons,things,ideas,evenproblems;tothrowlightontowhatwouldotherwisebeinconceivabletoordinarypeople.Soit’srelativelydifficulttounderstand,butit’smorebrief,accurateandimplicit.Themachine-gunshotdowntheenemylikeamowercuttingdownthegrass.function