On Metaphor And Its Translation

Metaphor has been studicd for over two thousand years. However,traditionally it was connncd to rhetoric and regarded as a kind of linguisticdecoration, the frosting on the cake merely, sweet and pleasant tasting, but notreally necessary.Modern science has broadened the field of metaphorical study. Nowmetaphor has become the common concern of psychologists, logicians, sociologists,anthropologists, as well as rhetorians and linguists, etc. Lakoff's study from theangle of cognition has opcned up a new world for the study of metaphorInterdisciplinary research allows people to have a more profound and fullundcrstanding of metaphor.The study of metaphor has revealed that metaphor is not merely a linguisticphenomenon, but basically a cognitive phenomcnon, a thinldng mode; itsproduction is thought to be the result of the limitations of human thinking abilityat primeval stage and later the result of people's active use for bettercommunicative effect or for the sake of cognition. As to its generative mechanism,there are various explanations, among which are the Substitution Theory, TheInteraction Theory, the Experientialist Theory and expositions from the angles ofpragmatics and semantic fields. Metaphor has some major semantic features,including literal contradiction, fuzziness, systematicity, directionality andinexhaustiveness. The great functions of metaphor are chiefly shown in threeaspects: language, cognition and various disciplines.Metaphor renects culture. According to the purposes of translation,translators may nexibly apply the basic approaches, considering the specificcontext and paying attention to the pitfalls in translation.