Metaphor: A Bridge To The Unknown Domain

Metaphor has long been regarded as a figure of speech, and contemporary studies have shown that it is not only a rhetoric means of language, but constitutes one of the basic mechanisms of thinking in human cognition. Based on previous studies of metaphor, the author proposes in this paper that metaphor is a bridge to the unknown domains and supports this view form many aspects such as the necessity, the possibility, the process of building bridges as well as the role these bridges play in the identification and comprehension of metaphors. Finally, through the analysis of teaching of English as a second language and some specialized terms in science and technology, the author elaborates upon the significance of metaphor in the exploration of both human and natural sciences.