underlying reasons for source - target domain pairings in conceptual metaphor theory kathleen ahrens...
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Underlying Reasons for Source - Target Domain Pairings in
Conceptual Metaphor Theory
Kathleen AhrensHong Kong Baptist University
Contemporary Theory of Metaphor: Conceptual metaphors are embedded in our language
More abstract concepts are understood in terms of more concrete concepts
Contemporary Theory of Metaphor: Conceptual metaphors are embedded in our language
More abstract concepts are understood in terms of more concrete concepts
Source domain – concrete concepts
Source
Contemporary Theory of Metaphor: Conceptual metaphors are embedded in our language
More abstract concepts are understood in terms of more concrete concepts
Source domain – concrete concepts Target domain – abstract concepts
Target Source
Contemporary Theory of Metaphor: Conceptual metaphors are embedded in our language
More abstract concepts are understood in terms of more concrete concepts
Source domain – concrete concepts Target domain – abstract concepts Systematic correspondences between
source and target domain
SourceTarget
Conceptual Mapping Model Analyze the conventional
metaphorical expressions in terms of entities, qualities and functions that are mapped.
Postulate an underlying reason for this mapping - a Mapping Principle (MP)
Can be incorporated within the CTM Allows for testable predictions
Method
Step 1: Generate on the basis of native speaker intuition all examples within a proposed target domain
Step 2: Group the examples according to the similarity of their source domains.
Method
Step 3: Ask three questions concerning what we know about each source domain in terms of our real world knowledge1. What entities does the SD have?2. What qualities does the SD or the
entity in the SD have?3a. What does the SD do?3b. What can S/O do to or in the SD?
MethodStep 4: Look at the linguistic
expressions generated and determine if they are conventional or novel
Step 5: Analyze the examples for linguistic expressions that are the image-schematic correspondences between the source and target domains
Method Step 5
1. What entities does the SD have that are mapped to the TD?
2. What qualities does the SD or the entity in the SD have that are mapped
to the TD?3a. What does the SD do that is mapped to
the TD?3b. What can S/O do to (or in) the SD that is
mapped to the TD?
Method Step 6: Look for what
correspondences have been mapped in the case of the conceptual metaphor as compared with what could have been mapped (i.e. in the case of real world knowledge).
Formulate a mapping principle
IDEA IS A FOOD
Example of entity:
這 場 演說 沒 什麼 料zhe chang yianshuo mei sheme liaothis CL talk no what
ingredient‘There is no substance to this talk.’
IDEA IS A FOOD
Example of quality:
他 是 個 飽讀詩書 的 人ta shi ge baodushishu de renhe is a fully read books de
person‘He is a learned person.’
IDEA IS A FOOD
Example of function:讀 一 本 書 要 消化 裡面 的 想法 , 不要 du yi ben shu yao xiaohua limian de xiangfa, buyao read one CL book need digest inside MOD thought do
n't 囫圇吞棗huluntunzaoswallow dates whole‘When you read a book, you have to digest the tho
ught in it. Don't read without comprehension.'
IDEA IS FOOD
反芻 ‘ ruminate’ 消化 ‘ digest’ 吸收 ‘ to absorb’ 飽讀詩書 ‘ fully
read’ 咬文嚼字 ‘ bite
and chew’ 咀嚼 ‘ chew’
倒胃口 ‘ Spoil appetite’品嚐 ‘ taste’餿主意 ‘ rotten idea’回味無窮 ‘ aftertaste’津津有味 ‘ with appetite and relish’索然無味 ‘ no flavor’
IDEA IS FOOD
Mapping principle:Idea is understood as food because food involves being eaten and digested (by the body) and ideas involve being taken in and processed (by the mind).
LOVE IS FOODExample of entity
他 嚐到 愛情 的 苦 果ta changdao aiqing de ku guo
he taste love MOD bitter fruit
‘He has tasted the bitter fruit of love.’
LOVE IS FOOD
Example of quality: 我 正 享 受 我倆 甜美的 愛情。Wo zheng xiangsho woliang tianmeide
aiqing I now enjoy our sweet love“I am enjoying the sweet fruit of our love.”
LOVE IS FOOD
Example of function: 他 嚐 過 愛情 的 滋味。ta changkuo aiqing de ziwei he taste love MOD taste “He has tasted the flavor of love.”
LOVE IS FOODMore examples:
甜蜜 ‘ sweet’
甜美的 ‘ sweet’
嚐過 ‘ taste’
膩‘ fed up with’
滋味 ‘ taste’
味道 ‘ taste’
苦頭 ‘ bitter fruit’
苦果 ‘ bitter fruit’
酸甜苦辣‘ sour, sweet, bitter and spicy’
LOVE IS FOOD Mapping Principle:
Love is understood as Food because food has different tastes and love involves different feelings.
Source Domain of FOOD SDs can contribute different aspects to
the TDIDEA IS FOOD
LOVE IS FOODSEX IS FOOD
Or similar aspects: LOVE IS FOOD Note: Narrow
SDs MARRIAGE IS FOOD
Target Domains
Mapping principle constraint: A single target domain must select different source domains for different underlying reasons LOVE IS FOOD LOVE IS A PLANT
LOVE IS A Plant
Example of entity:
兩 人 的 愛 苗 最近 才 剛 萌芽liang ren de aimiao zuijin cai gang mengya
two people MOD love seedling lately just recently sprout
‘Their love just begins to sprout lately.’
LOVE IS A Plant
Example of quality:
他倆 的 愛情 已經 開花結果ta liang de aiqing yijin kaihuajieguo he two MOD love already blossom and bear
fruit
‘Their love have yielded positive results’
LOVE IS A PlantExample of function:
我 對 他的 愛意 漸漸 滋長
wo dui tade aiyi jianjian zizhang
I for his love gradually grow
‘My love for him has grown gradually.’
LOVE IS A Plant
More examples:愛苗 ‘ love seedling’苦果 ‘ bitter fruit’ 開 花 結 果 ‘ have blossom and bear
fruit’ 萌芽 ‘ sprout’滋長 ‘ grow’ 灌溉 ‘ watering’
LOVE IS A Plant Mapping Principle
Love is understood as plant because plants involve physical growth and love involves positive emotional expansion.
Prediction: Processing Conventional conceptual metaphors will
be treated on par with literal language Novel metaphors that follow the mapping
principle will involve lower acceptability and interpretability ratings and slightly higher processing times
Novel metaphors that do not follow the mapping principle will involve even lower acceptability and interpretability ratings and even higher processing times
Design (Lit (CM )) Literal match to conventional
metaphor (CM) Conventional metaphor
(Lit (NM)) Literal match to novel metaphor following the mapping principle
(NM) Novel metaphor following the mapping principle
(Lit (NM (~MP))) Literal match to novel metaphor not following the mapping principle
(NM (~MP)) Novel metaphor not following the mapping principle
Material Pretest: Category test
All the metaphorical terms (such as mengya ‘sprout’, zhagen ‘root’ and luoye ‘fall (leaves)’) had to be considered as being in the source domain (in this case PLANT) by a group of native speakers
Items were only included in the interpretability experiment (132 subjects) that both 1) had a mean over all subjects of 4.9 or above on the ratings test and 2) a mean of .7 or above for the yes/no test
Mapping Principles
Mapping principle is determined by five linguists trained in the CM Model and checked by a group of linguists from the Chinese Knowledge Information Processing Group
Conventional Conceptual Metaphors
(Lit (CM)) 她的 植物 開始 萌芽 tade zhiwu kaishi mengya
she Mod plant start sprout Her plant is starting to sprout
(CM) 她的 愛情 開始 萌芽 tade aiqing kaishi mengya
she Mod love start sprout Her love is starting to sprout
Novel Metaphor following MPs
(Lit (NM)) 她的 植物 開始 扎根 ta de zhiwu kaishi zhagen she Mod plant start
rooting Her plant is starting to root (NM) 她 的 愛情 開始 扎根 ta de aiqing kaishi zhagen she Mod love start rooting Her love is starting to root
Novel Metaphors NOT following MPs
(Lit-(NM (~MP))) 她的 植物 開始 落葉 tade zhiwu kaish luoye she Mod plant start fall leaves Her plant is starting to fall leaves. (NM (~MP)) 她 的 愛情 開始 落葉 ta de aiqing kaishi luoye she Mod love start fall leaves Her love is starting to fall leaves
Materials: Frequency Control
Groups (Lit (CM), CM) (i.e. mengya ‘sprout’), (Lit (NM), NM) (i.e. zhagen ‘root’), and (Lit (NM (~MP), NM (~MP)) (i.e luoye ‘fall (leaves)’) did not differ in terms of frequency of lexical items
The means of the groups 11767 are 11667, and 9996 with an SD of 9354, 8936, 6276 respectively; F(2,47)=.231, p = .795) (Based on CKIP 1993)
Predictions – CM Model
Literal sentences should be equally good Conventional conceptual metaphor (CM)
should be ranked equally with the literal sentences
Novel metaphors should both be ranked lower than their literal counterparts
Gradation in the ranking of the metaphorical sentences such that (CM) > (NM) >(NM (~MP))
Procedure 18 metaphors with 6 types of
sentences each were divided into six booklets with 18 examples each using a counter-balanced design
Subjects only see one booklet and were instructed to rate the sentences according their level of interpretability
Interpretability Procedure 每個句子下面有一個 1-7 的尺規。第七級表示一看
立刻就懂他的意義,第一級表示對於這個句子想了很久,還是不懂他的意義,而介於中間者,則視程度高低在第二級到第六級之間做選擇
‘…[rate a seven] if you immediately understand its meaning, and rate a one if you think about the sentence for a long time and can still not understand it…’
Subjects are asked to interpret those sentences that were given a rating of four and above
Interpretability results
interpretability6.5 6.6
6.26.5
5.6
4.6
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
S-type
ratin
g
Literal
Metaphor
Conventional Novel
Novel (~MP)
Interpretability results
interpretability6.5 6.6
6.26.5
5.6
4.6
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
S-type
ratin
g
Literal
Metaphor
Conventional Novel
Novel (~MP)
Prediction Novel metaphors that follow the MP
are more likely to invoke the conceptual mapping correspondences than conventional metaphors or NM(~MP)
Novel metaphors that follow the MP will be paraphrased more often with reference to the same TD
Results
"0" : Literal paraphrase "1" : Paraphrase with other SD "2" : Paraphrase with the exact tested SD
17%12%71%NM (~MP)
32%6%62%NM
20%7%73%CM
210Type
Discussion
The three groups differed significantly in their distributions with NM showing the highest number of paraphrases from same SD
Implication: Novel metaphors following MPs tap into system of correspondences
Implications System of correspondences might be
measurably activated for novel metaphors that follow MPs
Conventional conceptual metaphors might be lexicalized to such an extent they no longer activate conceptual mappings on-line
Novel metaphors (~MP) cannot activate systematic correspondences – other processes might be used to comprehend these types of metaphors
Acceptability and Interpretability Results Should the results for acceptability
and interpretability differ? Yes, under a view that treats
grammaticality and interpretation as distinct modules.
No, under a view that the critical issue is the MPs. Both acceptability and interpretability judgments will rely on the MPs.
Conceptual Mapping Model:Conventional metaphors
LOVE
Plantlove seed
Love
sprout
lovewatering
love Blossom & fruit
她的愛情 開始萌芽Her love is starting to sprout
grow
love
Mapping principles
Underlying set of systematic mappings
Conceptual Mapping Model:novel metaphors
LOVE
Plantlove seed
Love
sprout
loveroot
love Blossom & fruit
她的愛情 開始扎根Her love is starting to root
grow
love
Mapping Principles
novel metaphors (~MP)
LOVE
Plant
loveseed
Love
sprout
love
Falling leaves
love Blossom & fruit
她的愛情開始落葉Her love is starting to fall leaves
grow
love
novel metaphors (~MP)
LOVE
Plantlove seedLov
esprout
love
Falling leaves
love Blossom & fruit
她的愛情開始落葉Her love is starting to fall leaves
growlove
LOVE
Plantlove seedLov
esprout
lovelove Blossom & fruit
growlove
Falling leaves
???
Advantages of the CM Model
It explains why a target domain selects different source domains at a linguistic level
It determines what different conceptual aspects of a particular source domain contributes to different target domains
Distinction between conventional and different types of novel metaphors
Supported by psycholinguistic experiments