On Interactive Working Of Container Metaphor

Container metaphor is one kind of cognitive metaphor. According to George Lakoff and Mark Johnson, besides being seen as one figure of speech, metaphor belongs to the research category of cognitive linguistics, which means the systematic mapping from the source domain to target domain, and which indicates an important cognitive method of human beings in the world. Container metaphor belongs to the ontological metaphor, which, together with structural metaphor and orientational metaphor, forms the so called big three cognitive models of conceptual metaphor, while the latter functioned as the most important ground of cognitive linguistics. Container metaphor finds its root at human beings as a container. The breath, food and drinks can be in it to change into vital element of life through intaking, digesting and then be metaphorized. The key position of these activities is just inside our body. To understand the unknown from the known and to explain the strange by the familiar should be the common method of human’s cognition. Since the concrete materials can be inside our body, the container, we can employ the human’s container metaphor to understand more abstract concepts like pleasure, anger, sorrow and joy.Through observing the relations between human and its surroundings, it can be concluded that, firstly, the wall of container decides whether or not an object is "in" or "out"; secondly, the wall of container withstands a certain pressure; thirdly the object inside a container receives protection by the container; fourthly, the object inside a container may be, together with the small container, a new object in a much bigger container; and lastly the container will have effect on our observing the object inside it. And all these illustrate the major experience of human being.To this stage, the primitive biophysical experience is found and that of sensible physical space relations come to translate into a more abstract mental space metaphorical meaning. On surface, the container metaphor created semantic conflicts when the container changed its form, to solve the problem, mapping and blending can be employed.In this thesis, the interactive working methods of container metaphor are discussed to reveal the basic function of bodily experience in the process of creating container metaphor, and the semantic conflicts in the process. Also, mapping and blending are suggested to solve the problem.In Chapter One, the cause of this study, brief history insight of the metaphor research are introduced and its objective and significance, the structure of this thesis as well. In Chapter Two, the author focuses on the brief introduction of the research both at home and abroad. The basic working concepts will be clarified in Chapter Three, while the major points will be on the metaphorical viewpoint and specifically the container metaphor in cognitive linguistics, namely the mapping, blending, and Embodied Philosophy. In Chapter Four, the author presents the general cognitive characteristics of the bodily experience and the influence of personal background on creating container metaphors. The former provides the basis for mutual understanding, while the latter explains the diversity of the container metaphor. In Chapter Five, the semantic conflicts of container metaphor and the solutions are focused on, with one as mapping and the other as blending. The content of Chapter Six is mainly about the limitation of this research and the would-be further research assumption.