The Influence Of Adaptation Theory On Metaphor Interpretation

We consider that metaphor is a complicated social-culture and psychological phenomenon, and the production and comprehension of metaphor are processes of language user's choice-making in language forms and strategies. This thesis presents a study of metaphor carried out within the framework of cognitive linguistics and of pragmatics. Verschueren's Adaptation Theory can satisfactorily account for the working mechanism of a metaphor. Metaphor is an adaptation to context including mental world, social world and physical world, which is a dynamic process concerning language users. The production and understanding of metaphor are a process of choice-making which is conscious or unconscious and proceeding in certain context. The adaptation exists between the speaker and the hearer in their respective choices of their composition and interpretation of a metaphorical utterance to fulfill their communicative purposes. This thesis attempts to interpret and analyze metaphor in Adaptation Theory to make up for the limitation of traditional studies and provide references for producing and understanding metaphors.