Review of Metaphor we Live by

史晓婷

1. Introduction

George Lakoff and Mark Johnson published the book Metaphors We Live By in Chicago by University of Chicago Press. in 1980. Based on the traditional opinions about metaphors， Lakoff and Mark Johnson discusses that how our worldview is dependent upon metaphors from macro and micro prespective. They think that metaphor is not only a retorical device， but also a cognitive approach and a way of thinking. Some people thinks that this book make our understanding of “Language is metaphor” to a new height. And it also has made the study of metaphor free from the bondage of the traditional metaphor theory， which is based on litrature and rhetoric， and it has been incorporated into a new field of cognitive science. This book comes form two authorsconcern about the question of how people understand language and experience. In the preface， the author points out that they found that there was a deficiency in the theory of meaning in the western tradition in previous studies. These theories of meaning are mostly about the meaning of “meaning”， but the meaning of “meaning” is seldom discussed. In this paper， the author will first review the contents of this book， and then make a list of expert comments about main opinion of Lakoff and Johnson， finally make a conclusion about the significance of this book.

2. Book Contents

George Lakoff and Mark Johnson published the book Metaphors We Live By in Chicago by University of Chicago Press. in 1980. This book consists of thirty chapters. Taiwanese scholar divided into eleven parts. In his opinion， chapter 1 to chapter 3 is the nature of metaphor and thinking； chapter 4 to chapter 5 talk about orientation of concept and cultural thinking； chapter 6 to chapter 8 show us perception and thinking of metaphor； chapter 9 to chapter 11 argue consistency of conceptual systems； chapter 12 to chapter 14 talk about structural metaphor， metaphorical thinking and some experiental grounding； chapter 15 to chapter 17 show us conceptual metaphor，thinking structure and its basic theory； chapter 18 discusses conceptual and its basic theory； chapter 19 to chapter 21 explains metaphor， thinking and meaning； chapter 22 to chapter 24 talk about meaning and truth； chapter 25 to chapter 28 discusses the language is objective or subjective. The last part talk about the experience base of language thinking. （Su Yiwen，2005）

3. The nature of metaphor

Metaphor is a mapping of human life and experience in our mind. Meanwhlile， it reflects in our language and it affects and enhances our understanding about the ture world. In our daily communication， the use of metaphor is very frequent. “We may have a metaphor in every three sentences in our daily conversation” （Richards 1936：98） Obviously， the characterization of human life can not be separated from metaphor. Lakoff claims in his conceptual metaphor theory that metaphor is a common phenomenon of human language. “As the basis of human cognition， thought， experience， language and behavior， metaphor is a fundamental way for human being to live by” （Lakoff&Johnson， 1980）.

Moreover， the general conceptual system of our thinking and activitiesis esstentially implicit metaphor. （Lakoff&Johnson， 1980） According to this， we think that our daily experiences and what we do everyday should be metaphoriccal. In our oral communication， there is an average of one metaphor in every three senctences. Lakoff studies a large number of English language materials， and finds that many expressions in English are derived from basic metaphors. He called the basic metaphor the concept of metaphor. （ Jia Hongguang， 2001） For example， “Argument is war”， “Time is money”， “Love is magic” and so on. The concept of metapor can be derived from many everyday language expressions. Therefore， metaphor does not belong to the category of pure language， but belongs to the category of cognition in essence.

4. Categories of Metaphors

Lakoff divides conceptual metaphor into three types： orientational metaphor， ontological metaphor and structural metaphor. Among them， the orientational metaphor is the most basic one， and it is the cognitive basis of another metaphors.

4.1 Orientational metaphor

According to Lakoff& Johnson， orientational metaphor is defined as metaphor that gives a concept a spatial orientation. It is one form of concept metaphor in which concepts are spatially related to each other. Orientational concept comes from the interaction between human beings and nature. It is one of the most elementary concepts we live by， which includes percetion of un-down， front-back， deep-shallow orientation， etc. （Lakoff&Johnson， 1980）

With the orientational metaphor， we can add the specific spatial orientation to some abstract concepts， such as emotion （happy-sad）， moral （virtue-unliness）， body （disease and death） Lakoff （1980：15） set some examples which illustrate the way of orientational metaphor and summarizes the features of orientational metaphor. In this section of the experience base of metaphor， Lakofff has established the importance of experience of metaphor.

4.2 Ontological metaphors

Ontological metaphor means that human experiences with physical objects provide the basis for ways of viewing events， activities， emotions， ideas， ect.， as entities and substances. It enables us to see more sharply delineated structure where there is very little or none. （Lakoff&Johnson， 1980）

According to Lakoff and Jonnson， Ontological metaphors “are so natural and persuasive in our thought， they are usually taken as self-evident， direct descriptions of mental phenomena.” Indeed， they say， ontological metaphors “are among the most basic devices we have for comprehending our experience.”

A container metaphor is an ontological metaphor in which some concept is represented as having an inside and outside， and capable of holding something else. We can perceive of personification as a form of ontological metaphor. In personification， human qualities are given to nonhuman entities. Personification is very common in literature， but it also abounds in everyday discourse.

4.3 Structural Metaphors

Structural metaphor plays the most important role because it allows us to go beyond orientation and referring and gives us possiblitily to structure one concept according to another. According to Lakoff and Johnson， stuctural metaphor is one of the three overlapping categories of conceptual metaphors. “Each individual structural metaphor is internally consistent，”say Lakoff and Johnson， and it “imposes a consistent structure on the concept it structures.”

“Argument is war is an example of a structural metaphor. According to Lakoff and Johnson， structural metaphors are ‘cases where one concept is metaphorically structural in terms of another（1980/2003：14）. Source domains provide frameworks for target domains： these determine the ways in which we think and talk about the entities and activities to which the target domains refer， and even the ways in which we behave or carry out activities， as in the case of argument.”（M. Knowles and R. Moon， 2006）

Lakoff and Johnson point out other structural metaphors that are imortant in our lives： “Labor is a resource” and “Time is a recource” Both of these metaphors are culturally grounded in our experience with material resources. When we are living by the ，metaphors “Labor is a resource” and “Time is a recource”， as we do in our culture， we tend not to see them as metaphors at all. But， both are structural metaphors that are basic to Western industrial societies. （Lakoff&Johnson， 1980）

5. Conclusion

All in all， the power of metaphor to create meanings by the simplest or most elaborate of comparisons between unlike elements suggents why metaphor touches on metaphysics. It obeys the principle of universality， systematicness， and conceptual.

According to a deep analysis of Metaphor We Live By， we find Lakoff and Johnson discuss the metaphor cognitive nature， but also analyze the feature of metaphor and the inter structure of metaphor. From their new opinions about metaphor， this book is a classic work which are worth reading. It provide a new view to understand ourselves and the world.