Metaphor In Internally-oriented English-Chinese Learner's Dictionaries

Metaphor enjoys a privileged position in our daily life. It is considered as a rhetorical device and an ornament added to language in traditional metaphorical studies. However, the cognitive metaphorical study maintains that metaphor is not just a matter of language, that is, of mere words, but of human thought. Human conceptual system is metaphorically structured and defined. In essence, metaphor is a process of human cognition and a mapping across domains. The findings and achievements in metaphorical studies can and should be employed in defining the entry words, arranging and demarcating the different senses of polysemous words, and in selecting and presenting the illustrations in order to help English learners gain some insights into the semantic relations between the different senses of entry words and thus acquire them in a more effective way. Consequently, Chinese L2 learners would better understand the cognitive rules of English and thus express themselves in accordance with the English culture embedded in metaphor rather than resort to expressions or phrases they have memorized by rote.In order to investigate how metaphor is presented in the present learner's dictionaries, this thesis delves into the treatment of metaphor in the component parts of the advanced learner's English dictionaries in mainstream and two English-Chinese learner's dictionaries in light of metaphorical achievements especially the conceptual metaphor theory. Through the case study, the present research discovers that except MED all the dictionaries in question haven't fully reflected and employed the metaphorical achievements in their component parts. As far as metaphor is concerned, MED is distinguished from all the dictionaries concerned by virtue of its systematic treatment of metaphor in its various structures. This paper also illustrates some merits of MED on its presentation of metaphor in its component parts, which can shed some light on the compilation of English-Chinese learner's dictionary. There are scarcely any English-Chinese dictionaries, which are important reference books for Chinese L2 learners, utilizing the theories and findings achieved in metaphorical study in a systematic way. Metaphor is pervasive in our daily life and plays a significant role in second language acquisition. Consequently, it is crucial to incorporate metaphor in English-Chinese learner's dictionaries in order to facilitate Chinese L2 learner's English learning and their acquisition of English culture incarnated in metaphor, which is the major concern of the present research.The present study aims to prove it essential and feasible to apply metaphorical theories and findings in the various structures of English-Chinese learner's dictionaries by virtue of the three distinctive features of metaphor, namely, universality, systematicity and cultural divergence, and the enlightenment gained from MED. On the basis of these theories, the research formulates some principles on the different component parts of English-Chinese learner's dictionaries. In light of these principles, the present research makes an attempt at presenting metaphor in the different component parts of English-Chinese learner's dictionaries concerning macrostructure, microstructure and mediostructure, in hope that this research may be able to facilitate Chinese L2 learner's English learning and be helpful to lexicographical practice.