| Computer and the Internet have been an integral part of human life, and there have been numerous concepts and corresponding linguistic expressions about computer and the Internet.Metaphor plays a significant role in computer discourse and lexicon and in transmitting scientific concepts especially in new fields.Many scholars at home and abroad are interested in the metaphor related to the concepts and linguistic manifestation of computer lexicon,and they have done a lot of research on this from various perspectives.But there are three major problems in past studies:(1) numerous studies are concerned with computer visual metaphors or interface metaphors and discuss how to apply them to GUI (Graphical User's Interface) design,software development and website construction or hypertext systems design;(2)some research studies the characteristics of computer and Internet English terminologies,but what they attach importance to is the translation perspective;(3)a few of the studies are concerned with the metaphorical language,but some researchers only treat it as a figure of speech and restrict their research within the framework of traditional metaphor theory.Therefore,the metaphoric computer lexicon has not been systematically analyzed yet.In view of the above,I would like to make a systematic analysis on metaphoric computer lexicon from cognitive perspective based on the two most influential metaphor theories:Lakoff's Conceptual Metaphor Theory and Fauconnier's Conceptual Blending Theory.The thesis first discusses the relationship between metaphor and computer and then proposes sufficient examples of computer lexicon,and applies the two metaphor theories to explaining and understanding the metaphor phenomena in computer lexicon.The research shows that we can comprehend computers and the Internet through ubiquitous metaphors.For example,we can find sufficient computer lexicon under the conceptual framework such as the Internet is Superhighway,the Internet is Building/place;the Internet is a State of War;the Internet is a Book; the Internet is a sea;the Internet is a market,These conceptual frameworks can be used to explain the metaphor phenomena in computer lexicon,especially those concerned with the entrenched concept and relationship in computer field.The research also shows that Fauconnier's Conceptual Blending Theory is a complementary theory in accounting for computer metaphor.It can explain what Lakoff' s Conceptual Metaphor Theory cannot satisfactorily account for,especially dynamic,novel and compounding lexicon,such as "pack","surf" and "motherboard".These two theories are complementary and can adequately explain computer metaphor.Based on large amount of linguistic data and the detailed analysis of computer lexicon under the two theories,the thesis proposes the view that metaphor is pervasive in computer lexicon and it is the basis of comprehending computer and Internet lexicon.The thesis has discussed how we understand metaphor phenomena in computer lexicon and aim to help people better understand and use computer lexicon from the cognitive perspective.This research has considerable guiding meaning for further research on computer lexicon,and it can also enlighten the vocabulary teaching in Specialized English for Computer Science for college students majoring in computer technology. However,the studies presented in this thesis are still very limited in terms of both breadth and depth.The cognitive analysis of metaphor can be further made in computer lexicon. |
