There are metaphors and there are (conceptual) metaphors and there are (animal conceptual) metaphors

The more I think about it – and I’ve been thinking about it for quite a while – the more fascinated I am by conceptual metaphors. And the more convinced that they are psychologically real.

Say again?

In the words of a leading expert:

‘Metaphor is not simply an ornamental aspect of language, but a fundamental scheme by which people conceptualize the world and their own activities.’[i]

You’ll know the idiom this illustrates. Clue: joy.
Image courtesy of fancycrave1 on Pixabay.

Take the idioms connected with the idea that ‘life is a journey’: He’ll go far, to get a good start in life, I’m at a crossroads and so forth.

Metaphors in general come about through ‘understanding one conceptual domain in terms of another conceptual domain’.[ii] And conceptual metaphor theory states that conceptual domain A is conceptual domain B. In the life is a journey metaphor, life is the ‘target’ domain and is written first and journey is the ‘source’ domain and comes second. It is conventional to use small capitals, i.e. LIFE IS A JOURNEY (but I can’t do small caps in WordPress!).

By means of conceptual metaphors, typically we understand and verbalise what is abstract – especially emotions – in terms of what is concrete. Thus, love is a journey (we’ve reached the end of the line), life is a journey, again (where do you want to go in life?), an argument is a journey (we’ve covered a lot of ground) and so forth.

One crucial function conceptual metaphors perform is to enable us humans to understand, frame, describe and even experience things – especially emotions – in ways that we and other people can understand. For instance, how to describe anger, a much-discussed emotion in the conceptual metaphor literature?

If looks could kill…
Image courtesy of Pixabay, OpenClipart-Vectors.

Describing extreme anger

I was fuming.
You blew a gasket.
He blew his stack.
She literally exploded.
They hit the roof.

This little conjugation of ire might seem like a random collection of English idioms to do with fury. But have you ever asked yourself why these particular and very specific images?

Underlying and connecting them all are several conceptual metaphors: the source domain is our body and the conceptual metaphors are that OUR BODIES ARE CONTAINERS; that OUR EMOTIONS ARE (substances) LIQUIDS inside these containers; that the (substances) liquids can be heated (or frozen); and, specifically, that ANGER IS HEATED LIQUID INSIDE A CONTAINER capable of causing that container to explode when the liquid (i.e. the anger) reaches a certain temperature (intensity). In all of these conceptual metaphors, ANGER is the target domain.

Metaphorical entailments

Source and target can often be connected by what are known as ‘metaphorical entailments’. For example, in the case of ANGER IS HEATED LIQUID INSIDE A CONTAINER, we apply many facets of what we know about the physical properties of heated liquids to the target domain of ANGER. We know that heated water can produce steam, so we talk of someone getting all steamed up. We know also that a heated liquid can cause a container to burst or the top to come off, so we say he flipped his lid.

As another granddaddy of conceptual metaphors notes, ‘Emotions are often considered to be feelings alone, and as such they are viewed as being devoid of conceptual content.’[iii] But the opposite is the case: conceptual metaphors help us think about and give voice to otherwise inexpressible and ineffable sensations.

Here’s a thought experiment: think of the last time you were very, very angry. How would you describe it?

Now, try doing it without recourse to metaphors.

Who’s a nice doggy, then?
Image courtesy of GemmaRay23 on Pixabay.

One key ‘source domain’ for conceptual metaphors is the animal kingdom. So far, I’ve amassed well over 1,000 in relatively common use. I’ve blogged elsewhere about how ‘it’s a dog-eat-dog world‘ has been eggcornised to ‘it’s a doggy-dog world’ and about animal similes for people being fit.

[i] Gibbs, Raymond W. Jnr. (2008). In:  Gibbs R.W. Jnr. (ed.) Cambridge Handbook of Metaphor and Thought.  Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, p.3.

[ii] Kövecses, Z. (2010). Metaphor: A Practical Introduction (2nd edn). Oxford: Oxford University Press, p.4

[iii] Lakoff, George. (1987). Women, Fire and Dangerous Things: What Categories Reveal about the Mind. Chicago: Chicago University Press, p.380.