COGNITIVE FUNCTION OF A METAPHOR: OBSERVER’S EVALUATION (based on English language verbs)

COGNITIVE FUNCTION OF A METAPHOR: OBSERVER’S EVALUATION (based on English language verbs)

Author:  O.V. Eryomina

Affiliation:  Irkutsk National Research Technical University

Abstract:  The subject matter of the paper is concerned with the cognitive metaphor, which acts as an in-strument of an individual’s speech activity. The metaphor is responsible for both: learning the World and the way by which language reality is represented in cognitive activity of communicants.
The main principle of the research is the cognitive principle aimed at studying language as a form of a man’s consciousness and thinking. Research methods used in the work are the cognitive analysis and componential analysis. The research conducted made it possible to obtain the following results: we found out that evaluation is essential in the semantic meaning of a metaphor. Moreover it is also an integral part of a speech act. The Observer interprets and evaluates the speech act using relevant locutionary verbs in the English language system. Metaphorically formed communicative predicates reflect the capabilities of lexical and semantic language system. They also repel cognitive and cultural events, national language variety and cognitive processes of nomination based on identification and as-similation of subjects and events to reality. The analysis presented demonstrates that metaphors allow to construct cognitive models on the basis of a communicant’s personal experience. The communicant in his/her turn can act either as an addressee or an Observer. Metaphor as a productive means of derived nomination also helps to interpret speech acts. Metaphoricity of the mental process defines the creative character of nomination process. It has been shown by the usage of locutionary verbs, which characterize communicants’ voice by association with different sounds. The paper provides evidence that cognitive metaphor appeared as the result of cognitive mapping and its main function is to create new ideas about both: communicants and communicative acts.
The results of this research can be of certain interest for English pragmatics, English language lexicology and cognitive linguistics studies.

Keywords:  cognitive metaphor, Observer, speech verb, metaphorical meaning, communicative predicate

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Pages:  64-69