Introduction
In cognitive linguistics,
conceptual metaphor
, or
cognitive metaphor
,
refers to
the understanding of one idea, or conceptual domain, in terms of
another. An example of this is the understanding of quantity in terms
of directionality (e.g. "the
price of peace is
rising
") or the understanding of
time in terms of money (e.g. "I
spent
time at work today").
A conceptual domain can be any mental organization of human
experience. The regularity with which different languages employ the same
metaphors,
often perceptually based, has led to the hypothesis that the
mapping between conceptual domains corresponds to neural mappings in the
brain.
[1][2]
This theory has gained wide attention, although some researchers
question its empirical accuracy.
[3]
This idea, and a detailed examination of the underlying processes, was
first extensively explored by George Lakoff and Mark
Johnson in their
work
Metaphors We Live By
in 1980. Since then, the field of metaphor
studies within the larger discipline of cognitive linguistics has
increasingly
developed, with several annual academic conferences, scholarly societies,
and research labs contributing to the subject area. Some researchers, such as
Gerard Steen, have worked to develop empirical investigative tools for
metaphor
research, including the Metaphor Identification Procedure, or
MIP.
[4]
In Psychology, Raymond W. Gibbs, Jr., has investigated conceptual
metaphor and embodiment through a number of psychological experiments.
Other cognitive
scientists, for example Gilles Fauconnier, study subjects
similar to conceptual metaphor under the labels "analogy", "conceptual
blending" and "ideasthesia".
Conceptual metaphors are useful for understanding complex ideas in
simple terms and therefore are frequently used
to give insight to abstract
theories and models. For example, the conceptual metaphor of viewing
communication as a conduit is one large theory explained with a metaphor.
So not only is our everyday communication shaped by the language of
conceptual metaphors, but so is the very way we understand scholarly
theories. These metaphors are prevalent in communication and we do not just
use them in language; we actually perceive and act in accordance with the
metaphors.