基于认知角度的网络隐喻研究_饶红艳.docx

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1、 硕 士 学 位 论 文 论文题目 基于认知角度的网络隐喻研究 _ 作者姓名 饶红艳 _ 指导教师 马博森教授 _ 学科 (专业 ） 英语语言文学 _ 所在学院外国语言文化与国际交流学院 提交日期 2006 年 4 月 _ The Study of Metaphors on the Internet: a Cognitive Approach by Rao Hongyan A Masters Thesis Submitted to the Graduate School of Zhejiang University in Partial Fulfillment of the Requireme

2、nts for the Degree of Master of Arts in English Language and Literature Supervisor: Prof. Ma Bosen April, 2006 Zhejiang UniversityCONTENTS Acknowledgements . iii Abstract . iv 懸 . v Chapter 1 Introduction . 1 Chapter 2 Theories of metaphor . 5 2.1 The historical background . 5 2.1.1 The classical th

3、eory . 5 2.1.2 The contemporary theory . 7 2.2 The theoretical background . 8 2.2.1 The components of metaphor . 8 2.2.2 The embodied nature of metaphor . 10 2.2.3 Conceptual metaphors and linguistic metaphors . 11 2.2.4 Selective mapping: highlighting and hiding . 13 2.3 Research methodology and fo

4、cus . 15 Chapter 3 On the Internet language . 17 3.1 Definition . 17 3.2 General features . 18 3.3 The importance of studying Internet language . 20 Chapter 4 Metaphors on the Internet . 22 4.1 The various metaphors abounding on the Internet . 22 4.2 THE INTERNET IS A SUPERHIGHWAY . 24 4.3 THE INTER

5、NET IS A LIVING CREATURE . 27 4.3.1 VIRUSES ON THE INTERNET ARE VIRUSES OF LIVING CREATURES . 27 4.3.2 THE INTERNET IS A PERSON . 30 4.3.3 Other examples . 32 4.4 THE INTERNET IS A LIBRARY . 35 4.5 THE INTERNET IS A SOCIAL PLACE . 36 4.6 THE INTERNET IS A MARKET PLACE. 38 4.7 THE INTERNET IS WATERSC

6、APE . 40 4.8 THE INTERNET IS CYBERSPACE . 42 4.9 Summary: metaphor inheritance hierarchies . 44 Chapter 5 The functions of the Internet metaphors . 46 5.1 The cognitive function . 46 5.1.1. The conceiving phase: a cognitive instrument . 46 5.1.2 The developing phase . 47 5.1.2.1 Filling the lexical

7、gap: linguistic inexhaustibility . 48 5.1.2.2 Exegetical function . 49 5.1.2.3 Theory-constitutive function . 52 5.2 The social function . 54 5.2.1 Communicating and popularizing . 54 5.2.2 Social changes “in” and “from” metaphor . 56 5.2.3 Disguise and hyperbole . 58 5.3 The cultural function . 60

8、5.3.1 The interrelationship between cultural model and metaphor . 60 5.3.2 Cultural stability and cultural change . 62 Chapter 6 Concluding Remarks . 64 Bibliography . 67 Appendix . 70 Acknowledgements There are a number of people to whom this thesis owes a great deal. First of all, I would like to

9、express my heartfelt gratitude to my supervisor, Professor Ma Bosen. He has always been ready to give me warm-hearted encouragement, timely help and insightful advice. I have benefited a great deal from his expertise in composing this thesis. He has also provided me with various reference materials

10、and has given me insightful comments on the draft of this research work after reading it carefully. Also, I would like to extend my appreciation to Professor Ding Jianmin, who gave me practical advice in selecting the research topic and direction. Secondly, I would like to acknowledge to all the tea

11、chers in our college who have imparted to me the knowledge and ability I need in doing the research. In their courses, I have acquired abundant knowledge for future study and research. Thirdly, special thanks also go to Luo Can for putting up with my anxiety and complaints in the course of writing t

12、his thesis. Without his continuous encouragement and useful suggestion most of the ideas in this thesis would still be entangled in confusion. Finally, I would like to thank all my classmates and all the members of my family.Abstract The contemporary theory of metaphor claims that metaphors are perv

13、asive in our everyday life, not just in language but in thought and action. Our conceptual system, in tenns of which we both think and act, is fundamentally metaphorical in nature. The essence of metaphor lies in understanding and experiencing one kind of thing in terms of another. It projects the i

14、mage-schematic structure of the source domain onto the target domain. Hence, Metaphor is the locus for abstract reason. This can also be applied to the comparatively newly-emergent Internet. In conceptualizing the Internet, we inevitably have to transform this relatively abstract, complicated and in

15、herently unstructured concept into some more concrete, simple and highly structured images through metaphorical mappings. The Internet world, like elsewhere, is metaphor-laden. This thesis aims to carry out a detailed study of the Internet language within the framework of the contemporary theory of

16、metaphor, making people aware of the ubiquity and the vital importance of metaphors on the Internet. Based on some naturally-occurring data, seven conceptual metaphors of the Internet, namely the metaphor of INTERNET as SUPERHIGHWAY, LIVING CREATURE, LIBRARY, SOCIAL PLACE, MARKET PLACE, WATERSCAPE,

17、and CYBERSPACE, are investigated in detail, and their hidden metaphorical mechanisms are revealed. After that, the thesis discusses the cognitive, social and cultural functions and roles played by these metaphors. Key words： Conceptual metaphor; Metaphor; Internet language; Ubiquity; Cognitive funct

18、ion; Social function; Cultural function. 当代隐喻理论认为隐喻在人们的日常生活中是普遍存在的，它不仅存在于语 言，而且还存在于人们的思维方式和行动中。我们据此进行思维和做事的概念系 统从根本上说都是隐喻性的。隐喻的本质在于借助一事物理解和经历另一事物， 它把源域的基本结构映射到了目标域，因此，隐喻成为了抽象思维的所在地。这 种观点同样适用于相对而言仍算新事物的因特网。在网络的概念化过程中，我们 无法避免地需要通过隐喻性的映射，参照具体的，简单的，有形的概念来认识网 络这一相对抽象，复杂，无形且又难以定义的概念。网络世界如同其他地方一样， 都充满了隐喻。

19、本文以当代隐喻理论为框架，研究网络语言中的隐喻现象，旨在使人们 意识 到网络隐喻的普遍性及重要性。通过对一些真实语料的分析，文章揭示了网络语 言中存在的七种概念隐喻现象，即网络是高速公路，网络是生物，网络是图书馆， 网络是社会场所，网络是销售场所，网络是水景以及网络是赛柏空间；文章同时 还探讨了这些网络隐喻的深层运行机制。之后，本文在第五章专门讨论了网络隐 喻的认知功能，社会功能以及文化功能。 关键词：概念隐喻；网络语言；普遍性；认知功能；社会功能；文化功能。1 Chapter 1 Introduction Over the last few decades, the study of met

20、aphor has received a tremendous boost with the rise of cognitive linguistics. Metaphor has moved from the status of a subsidiary concern to the status of a central problem. KWe are in the midst of a metaphormania” (Mark Johnsonl981: ix): everyone seems to be possessed by metaphor. Evidence for the i

21、mportance of metaphor can be easily found in the breadth and diversity of research that it has generated. The interest in metaphor and the study of its structure, mechanism, function, effect, and cognitive nature have grown rapidly in a broad range of disciplines: linguistics, anthropology, philosop

22、hy, psychology, education, sciences, as well as literary criticism and rhetoric (Yu 1998: 2). According to cognitive linguistics, metaphors are pervasive in everyday life, not just in language but in thought and action. Our conceptual system, in terms of which we both think and act, is fundamentally

23、 metaphorical in nature (Lakoff 1980: 1). Metaphors appear in almost every realm of our existence. They suffuse out thoughts, no matter what we are thinking about. Our interpretations of, and experiences with, the world are widely influenced by the use of metaphors. Here, they are not an optional li

24、terary device but rather cognitive instruments which enable us to understand and experience one thing in terms of another, playing a central role in defining and organizing both everyday and scientific realities. The essence of metaphor lies in understanding and experiencing one kind of thing in ter

25、ms of another. It projects the image-schematic1 structure of the source domain onto the target domain. Hence, Metaphor is the locus for abstract reason. It casts the abstract and the nonphysical into the concrete and the physical. In general, we learn new, abstract concept or knowledge in terms of w

26、hat we already know. There is certainly no exception for the Internet, which is new, abstract, vague and hard to1 Image schema, following Lakoffs (1987) definition, refers to “relatively simple structures that are constantly recur in our everyday bodily experience. 2 grasp. For the reasons we mentio

27、ned above, there is no wonder that the newly-emergent computer world is full of various types of metaphors taken from other familiar domains. Metaphors are effective tools for us to survive on the Internet, enabling us to construct images about what Internet is, create certain ways of thinking about

28、 the Internet, make sense of the online environment, develop or explain profound theories, build complex concepts, communicate and popularize it, facilitate active learning, and so on and so forth. On one hand, although metaphors play a crucial role as we think and interact with the Internet being s

29、o useful and ordinary tools that without them things would be difficult if not possible, they are for the most part invisible. We use them unconsciously and automatically, with so little effort that we hardly notice it. On the other hand, despite the increasing involvement of the Internet in daily l

30、ife, and the correspondingly greater familiarity of users with Internet concepts and terminology, much about this new Internet discourse remains puzzling. So it is the goal of my thesis to carry out a detailed study of the Internet language within the framework of cognitive metaphor theory, making p

31、eople aware of the various underlying metaphors existing on the Internet; and discussing the functions and roles played by these metaphors. The structure of the thesis is as follows: Chapter 1 is the introductory part, which points out the popularity and importance of metaphor study and explains how

32、 this thesis is arranged as well. Chapter 2 lays out the historical background of the study, where different approaches to metaphor, including the four main approaches belonging to the classical theory of metaphor, namely, the Aristotelian approach, the traditional linguistic approach, the pragmatic

33、 approach, and the interactionist approach are briefly discussed. After that the contemporary theory of metaphor is also reviewed. Then it goes on to set up the theoretical framework underlying the cognitive linguistic approach to metaphor, where the components of metaphor, the embodied nature of me

34、taphor, the conceptual metaphors and linguistic metaphors, as well as the selective mappings are evaluated in detail. This chapter also outlines the research methodology and the focus of this study. 3 Chapter 3 contributes itself wholly to the Internet language. After trying to give an appropriate d

35、efinition of what Internet language is, it shows its general features. In discussing the general features, we will focus on their newness, miscellaneity, and playfulness. At the end of this chapter, the importance of studying Internet language will also be probed into. Chapter 4 and 5 are the main b

36、ody of this thesis. Chapter 4 demonstrates the ubiquity of metaphors in Internet language. It starts with the various conceptual metaphors abounding on the Internet. Based on the naturally-occurring data, conceptual metaphors such as THE INTERNET IS A SUPERHIGHWAY, THE INTERNET IS A LIVING CREATURE,

37、 THE INTERNET IS A LIBRARY, THE INTERNET IS A SOCIAL PLACE, THE INTERNET IS A MARKET PLACE, THE INTERNET IS WATERSCAPE， THE INTERNET IS CYBERSPACE 2 are investigated in detail, and their hidden metaphorical mechanisms are revealed. Special attention is also paid to the “metaphor inheritance hierarch

38、ies” phenomenon. The fifth chapter concentrates on the cognitive, social and cultural functions and roles played by the Internet metaphors. To begin with the cognitive functions, I will trace back to the conceiving phase of the Internet in order to illustrate its creative roles. Next I will uncover other roles of metaphors during the developing phase, including the utilization of metaphors as fillers of the lexical gap, theory-constitutor, and the exegete. With respect to the social functions, at fir