On the Category and Conceptual Process of Metaphor

卞媛媛　王丹

1.Introduction

From the beginning of the last century to nowadays， many scholars have made a lot of in-depth studies on metaphor from different angles， like philosophy， logic， linguistics and so on. With the birth and development of cognitive linguistics and the deeper study in metaphor， peoples view on metaphor has changed a lot. Scholars hold that the application and understanding of metaphor not only involve language process but also involve inferential and conceptual process.

2.The Cognitive Construction of Metaphor

The representatives of metaphorical cognition theory are Lakoff， Johnson and Turner and so on. The publication of the book Metaphors We Live By written by Lakoff and Johnson marked the real establishment of metaphors status in cognition and it provided a new way to interpret metaphor from the perspective of cognition. Lakoff and Johnson pointed out that “our conceptual system is largely metaphorical. Our ordinary conceptual system， in terms of which we both think and act， is fundamentally metaphorical in nature”. That means metaphor is not only a language phenomenon， but also the basis for constructing human beings thoughts.

3.On the Process of Categorization of Metaphor

Categorization is the process of classifying our experiences into different categories based on commonalities and differences. Categorization is a major ingredient in the creation of human knowledge， and it allows us to relate present experiences to past ones.

3.1 The Levels of Category

According to cognitive category there are three levels in categories： the basic level the superordinate level and the subordinate level

The categories at the BASIC LEVEL are those that are most culturally salient and are required to fulfill our cognitive needs the best this is the level where we perceive the most differences between “objects” in the world， all categories of dogs are different， but they still share enough to be distinguished from cats， birds， snakes， primates， etc. So it is at this level that we can find the idealized configuration of feature of a category.

SUPERORDINATE Categories are the most general ones. The members of a superordinate category do not have enough features in common to conjure up a common gestalt at this level. This is parasitical categorization. The idea is that you actually borrow some features from a basic level category and apply them to the superordinate category.

SUBORDINATE LEVEL categories are morphologically complex. They are typically composite forms. One such example is that of compound nouns. A composite form typically combines two or more words that signify basic level categories， form cannot be said to be just a combination of units it is composed of， since the subordinate level category behind the composite form typically has many more features than can be ascribed to the combined units.

3.2 Recategorization of Metaphor

Metaphor can be represented by a simple formula： “X is Y”， in which X is the target domain and Y is the source domain. The characteristics abstracted from the source domain construct a characteristic cluster， which makes the superordinate category SY. Similarly， X has its own superordinate category SX. In the projection process， the characteristics of the source domain are given to the target domain， and then the new category about the target domain is formed， which can be written as SXY. The new SXY consists of not only the characteristic cluster of SX， but also the characteristic cluster of SY. For example， “Her boyfriend is a dog”. In this sentence， the defining characteristic （like loyalty， housekeeping） of the dog is the superordinate category. Her boyfriend is classed as dogs category and the dogs characteristics are given to her boyfriend， then the readers will have the new understanding of her boyfriend. All in all， the result of metaphor is recategorization， which is not the absolute categorization.

4. On the Process of Conceptualization of Metaphor

4.1 Conceptualization of Metaphor

Concept is the form of thinking， which reflects the key features and essential attributes of objective things.

A concept can be expressed by some words， like the word： tomato” expresses a concept. However， as for time， we cant recognize it through looking， touching and observing. It is abstract and invisible and it doesnt exist in reality .To understand and recognize such things， we have to compare them with other things， Here， we carry out the basic process of thinking. In this sense， we can see metaphor is the extension of human beings cognition.

4.2 Features of the Press of Conceptualization

Conceptualization needs our imagination， which is not beyond the world we can describe in language. Whats more the vehicle we choose cant separate from the world. In a conclusion， the biggest feature of the process of conceptualization is that it relies on the experience of our life and has the close relation with the life.

It is not casual to regard metaphor as concept recognizing objects and the internal relations of objects. We use “acting” to metaphorize political struggles and “money” to metaphorize time. People are familiar with acting and money， which can be perceived and experienced in our daily life. According to our experience of watching TV， we know acting needs stage， on which people perform various programs， Through these experiences， we can better understand politics that we are not familiar with or unable to understand . Some essential characteristics of acting are given to politics and that makes these two separate things have similarity. Finally， we achieve the goal of recognizing and understanding politics.

5.Conclusion

As an important means of human beings cognition， metaphor plays an important role no matter in our thinking or speech acts. It helps us understand and recognize the objects， especially the internal relations of them， which cannot be understand directly.

Categorization is the process of classifying our experiences into different categories based on commonalities and differences. Conceptualization needs our imagination， which is not beyond the world we can describe in language.