Kinds of Metaphor

Abstract In the first chapter, we saw that metaphor can be characterized with the formula A IS B, where the target domain (a) is comprehended through a source domain (b). This comprehension is based on a set of mappings that exist between elements of a and elements of b. To know a conceptual metaphor is to know this set of mappings. It was also pointed out that metaphor in the cognitive linguistic view means primarily conceptual metaphor, as opposed to linguistic metaphor. That is, we distinguish between a conceptual metaphor with the form A IS B and its metaphorical linguistic expressions. The metaphorical expressions that characterize A IS B formulas are regarded as the linguistic realizations or manifestations of underlying conceptual metaphors. It was noted, however, that conceptual metaphors can be realized in other than linguistic ways (such as myths)—a point to which we will return in chapter 5.