Cognitive Study Of English Vocabulary And Metaphorical Meaning In Literary Works

This dissertation gives a brief review of traditional study on metaphor as a figure of speech first, and then introduces the cognitive view of metaphor. The study on metaphor is one part of cognitive linguistics, mainly including the theory of conceptual metaphor of Lakoff, who proposes in Metaphors We Live by that metaphor is not only related to language but also human cognition. It is a kind of mental activity to use one thing to experience and comprehend the other, a mapping process between different domains. Usually people use familiar or concrete source domains to understand unfamiliar or abstract target domainsConveying meaning is the primary function of language, so the study of meaning is the fundamental and prominent task of lexicology. Among various perspectives of study to word meaning, cognitive study of metaphorical meaning has aroused my great enthusiasm. Therefore, an article named Cognitive Study of English Vocabulary and Metaphorical Meaning in Literary Works comes into being. From a cognitive perspective, meaning is believed to be generated from our bodily experience under certain circumstances, and meaning is achieved on condition that the objective thing is cognized by our brain. And metaphor is regarded as a tool of human communication in relation to bodily experience. George Lakoff claims "metaphor is pervasive in everyday language and thought" (Lakoff & Johnson, 1980) From a cognitive perspective, metaphor is a kind of meaning shift involving at least two domains. Lakoff and Johnson propose that the essence of metaphor is to use one thing to experience and comprehend the other. We usually use concrete or familiar source domains to understand abstract or unfamiliar target domains. So we can comprehend the metaphorical meaning through this cognitive mental activity. The acquisition of metaphorical meaning involves the participation of cognition as a medium to connect linguistic symbols with reality. Therefore, metaphorical meaning of English vocabulary from a cognitive perspective deserves our exploration.The relevant theories will be introduced in the first and second chapters, such as the nature and origin of cognitive science, the developing process and essence ofcognitive science, the naissance of the branch of cognitive science—cognitive linguistics, and the experiential view of cognitive linguistics;the third chapter will focus on cognitive metaphor, involving different definitions of metaphor and the different classifications;chapter four attaches importance to the analysis of metaphorical expression in literary works, such as in poets, in novel, in speech, in prose, etc. In the conclusion part, it is pointed out that the analysis and exploration in this paper can help English learners master metaphorical expressions better, and it also shows an effective way to teach and learn English words.