Zinan Ye

The School of Translation, Interpretation and Language Studies

1Language is fundamentally metaphorical 3Universality of conceptual metaphor 4. Cross-cultural aspect of metaphor and translation 5. Weighing the significance of metaphor 6Examples

1Language is fundamentally metaphorical

The traditional view 1. Metaphor is for most people a device of poetic imagination and the rhetorical flourish - a matter of extraordinary rather than ordinary language. 2. Metaphor is typically viewed characteristic of language alone, a matter of words rather than thought.

A new cognitive view:

1. Metaphor is a tool so ordinary that everyone uses it everyday. 2. Far from being merely a matter of words, metaphor is a matter of thought. Some important scholars holding this view: George lakoff, Mark Turner, Mark Johnson, Raymond Gibbs and Zoltan Kvecses, etc.

If we agree with the above theory, then

Metaphor is everywhere. It exists extensively in our language, such as in everyday talks, in economic, commercial, technical, legal, political or many other types of texts.
We can thoroughly discuss translation by way of discussing metaphor.

No, that is impossible!!!!!

You mean metaphors coming out of my mouth each time when I speak?
I dont believe it!

OK, let me try to convince you.

People might say that they try to give their children an education so they will get a good start in life. If their children act out, they hope that they are just going through a stage and that they will get over it. Parents hope that their children wont be burdened with financial worries or ill health and, if they face such difficulties, that they will be able to overcome them. Parents hope that their children will have a long life span and that they will go far in life. But they also know that their children, as all mortals, will reach the end of the road.

People might say that they try to give their children an education so they will get a good start in life. If their children act out, they hope that they are just going through a stage and that they will get over it. Parents hope that their children wont be burdened with financial worries or ill health and, if they face such difficulties, that they will be able to overcome them. Parents hope that their children will have a long life span and that they will go far in life. But they also know that their children, as all mortals, will reach the end of the road.

But I have never thought that they are metaphors. Metaphor has to be redefined. When an abstract concept needs to be expressed, we try to use a concrete concept for help. Metaphor is a handle.

When something is hard to grasp, you need a handle.

 journey

1.They will have a good start in life. 2. They will go far in life. 3. They will have a long life span. 4. They will reach the end of the road. 5. He is without any direction in life. 6. Im where I want to be in life. 7. Im at a crossroads in my life. 8. Shell go places in life. 9. Hes never let anyone get in his way. 10. Shes gone through a lot in life. LIFE IS A JOURNEY

1. conceptual metaphor () 2. linguistic metaphor (or metaphorical expression)

3. target domain () 4. source domain ()

The essence of metaphor is understanding and experiencing one kind of thing in terms of another. Target is harder to understand; Source is easier to understand. We try to understand target through source.

I am up in mind. I am conceptual. Linguistic metaphors, you are under my control. I am your leader!!!
We are down in language. We are linguistic metaphors. Conceptual metaphors, please give us orders. We will follow you.

Conceptual metaphor
LIFE IS A JOURNEY.

I am target domain

I am source domain

Conceptual metaphor and linguistic metaphor

I AM A CONCEPTUAL METAPHOR:

LIFE IS A JOURNEY

We are linguistic metaphors: A good start, Go far, A long life span, End of the road, Without direction, At a crossroads.. We can go on and on

LIFE

IS A JOURNEY

1. We have the chance at any moment to walk outside our prejudices. 2. Some of the talented young are swiftly defeated, and retreat into more ordinary lives. Others are shooting stars, here and gone. Those made of sterner stuff last longer.

3. Now and then an author comes along who rewires a part of our brains. (The New York Times)
4. We have a mountain to climb in the House to achieve an override. (The Wall Street Journal)

5. Many women actually abandon ship before they reach the pinnacle of their success. (The New York Times)
6. To reach the port of heaven, we must sail sometimes with the wind and sometimes against it, but we must sail, and not drift, not lie at the anchor. (Oliver Wendell Holmes) 7. At twenty man is a peacock, at thirty a lion, at forty a camel, at fifty a serpent, at sixty a dog, at seventy an ape, at eighty nothing at all.

8. escaped from the primary tumor of the lungs, entered the blood circulation, and eventually invaded the brain. 9. blocked the tumor cells invasion and killed the tumor cells 10. Software, bridge, mailbox, rounter, windows, open, close, noise, recycle bin (computer) 11. Soft landing, hard landing, bull market, bear market, face value, back-to-back loan, (economic) 12. there is the New York of the commuterthe city that is devoured by locusts each day and spat out each night. (Here is New York, by E. B. White) 13. On any person who desires such queer prizes, New York will bestow the gift of loneliness and the gift of privacy. (Here is New York, by E. B. White) 14. When the storm of grief had spent itself she went away to her room alone. (The Story of an Hour, by Kate Chopin)

Can we think without metaphor? Can we think about subjective experience and judgment without metaphor? Hardly. If we consciously make enormous effort to separate out metaphorical from nonmetaphorical thought, we probably can do some very minimal and unsophisticated nonmetaphorical reasoning. But almost no one ever does this, and such reasoning would never capture the full inferential capacity of complex metaphorical thought. These colors are similar. These colors are close. Barry and I are close.

Universality or the cross-cultural aspect of conceptual metaphor

1. Metaphors are quite common and unnoticeable. 2. Image schema-based metaphors are universal. 3. Even some image metaphors can be universal. Image-schema based metaphor vs. image metaphor embodied experience ( Image-schema based metaphor

happy is up; sad is down

path schema force schemacontact schema skeletal image schema

I am out of trouble. (based on the in-out schema) I am in love. (based on the in-out schema) That was a low trick. (based on the up-down schema) He went crazy. (based on the motion schema) You are driving me crazy. (based on the force schema) Metaphors based on common things

a theory is a building (That is a foundation for this theory.) anger is a hot fluid in a container (I could not contain my rage.) love is a journey (Our love is at a crossroads.) anger is fire (He is smoldering with fire.)

Image metaphors (one shot metaphor)

My wifes waist is an hourglass the city that is devoured by locusts each day and spat out each night The degree of universality: Metaphors based on image schema--------------highly universal Metaphors based on common things------------universal depending on the thing Metaphors based on strong images---------------universal depending on the image

In short, cognitive metaphors are not culture-specific. They are cross-cultural, or universal to a great extent. They are

* Experiential basis of metaphor * Bodily motivation or Embodied mind Conceptual metaphors are grounded in or motivated by human experience (sometimes physical experience).

CONTROL IS UP. I am on top of the situation.

HAPPY IS UP; SAD IS DOWN. (feeling up or down.)

TIME IS A MOVING OBJECT.The new semester is

approaching.

Embodied nature of metaphors

AFFECTION IS WARMTH.

ExperienceWhen someone hugs you, you feel the warmth. Universal experience: This warmth has no cultural difference. Shared conceptual metaphorAFFECTION IS WARMTH English linguistic metaphor: warmly welcome, cold reception Chinese comprehension: Easy to understand. Chinese translation: Literal translation is fine: ,

LOVE IS A JOURNEY

ExperienceWe all have the experience of taking a trip. Universal experience: This experience is not culture-bound. Shared conceptual metaphor LOVE IS A JOURNEY. English linguistic metaphor: We have to go our separate ways. Chinese comprehension: Easy to understand. Chinese translation: Literal translation is fine: More linguistic realizations of LOVE IS A JOURNEY:

We cant turn back now. The relationship is not going anywhere. It has been a long and bumpy road. We are just spinning our wheels. The relationship is a dead-end street.

LOVE IS AN ECONOMIC EXCHANGE

Experience: We all have experiences of trading in market with money. Universal experience: This experience has no cultural difference. Shared conceptual metaphorLOVE IS AN ECONOMIC EXCHANGE. English linguistic metaphor The love is such I can no way repay Chinese comprehension: Easy to understand. Chinese translation: Literal translation is fine:

The cross-cultural aspect of conceptual metaphor and translation

Translation is a process of finding an equivalent at different levels.

1. 2.

We like Professor Smith.

Q: Do we need to achieve an equivalent at the cognitive level?

A: The answer is no, unless the cognitively meaningful language element is intended by the writer.
Translation: This means we dont need to translate all the metaphorical expressions motivated by conceptual metaphors. In other words, we dont translate cognitive metaphor as a system, or cognitive equivalence is not our goal.

In other words, we pick and choose in translation.

Cognitive metaphor gives us a better perspective when we do picking and choosing.

Image schema motivated---------system-based Common experience motivated----system-based? Strong image mapping ------ writer created

The more system-based a metaphor is , the less need to retain in translation; the more individually created, the more need to retain in translation, because a metaphor created by a particular writer is often not accepted into the language system and it is more foregrounded in the system, more unique.

TIME IS MONEY

Youre wasting my time. This gadget will save you hours. I dont have time to give you. That flat tire cost me an hour. ... Put aside some time for Ping Pong. These metaphors are based on things or concepts that are very familiar to us. The cultural barrier is minimal. The direct translation is highly possible, but these metaphors are not very valuable. To retain them or not should not become a big issue. Everyday, we use numerous metaphors of this type. There is no way to give much attention to this type of metaphor in translation.

ANGER IS A CONTAINER

His pent-up anger welled up inside him. He could barely contain his rage.

To retain the metaphoric image (ANGER IS A CONTAINER) is not necessary, even though it is possible to do that, as the ANGER IS A CONTAINER concept is universal. In some contexts, are they interchangeable in translation? We often paraphrase in translation, so can we paraphrase 1 by using 2? After all, the two sentences say the same thing: He is very angry.

His pent-up anger welled up inside him. He could barely contain his rage.

But if we take other factors into account, then to retain the image may become necessary, for example, if this is in a literary text in which the writer is vividly describing a persons anger.
But in an informative text in which the focus is not on details of the emotion, but just the general fact, then totally eliminating the image is quite acceptable: he is extremely angry.

MOUNTAIN AS A HANDLE

We have a mountain to climb in the House to achieve an override.

But these two specific-level metaphors are from the more abstract generic-level metaphor: BARRIERS ARE DIFFICULTIES, as mountain and pass are specific examples of a barrier. Climbing mountains is a common human experience, which is probably already in our system, both in English and Chinese, hence no cultural barrier to overcome. But it is also not very valuable either, so change it, replace it, or totally eliminate it is quite acceptable: in some informative texts, even though you do lose flavor.

ROCKS AND LIONS AS A HANDLE

Her way was strewn with invisible rocks and lions.

Way is metaphoric (LIFE IS A JOURNEY). Rock and lions are metaphoric. (IMAGE metaphor) 1. (literally with rocks and lions) 2. (with things that block her and things that are dangerous) 3. (with obstacles and dangers)

Moving from rocks and lions to things/things to obstacle/danger is moving from specific to generic. The translator needs to weigh the value of the metaphors to keep or discard them. The context needs to be considered.

ORIENTATION AS A HANDLE

Conceive of the target by means of some basic human spatial orientations, such as up and down. Those orientations are very basic and shared by different cultures.
Happy is up; sad is down. I am feeling up (or down), I am soaring with happiness, he is down. Conscious is up; unconscious is down. wake up, fall asleep More is up; less is down. My salary goes up; the number of students goes down. ) Good is up; bad is down. We hit a peak last year, but its been downhill ever since.

Since these metaphors are based on human spatial orientations, which are not culture-bound, to keep the original orientation is not totally impossible, even though it is not required to do so in most cases.

The cognitive perspective gives us a very powerful tool to look at metaphoric expressions in translation so that we know the value of a metaphor in a given text. When other factors are taken into account together with this cognitive factor, the translator is more accurate in translation.

But there are metaphors relying on images with rich details (strong image) .
IMAGE METAPHOR

My wifes waist is an hourglass. Supermodel is just a twig. Most of those are metaphors intentionally created, and can be more significant. Direct translation is encouraged whenever it is possible to keep the image. ()

HARDSHIP IS SHARED RESPONSIBILITY

Has she had her share of human tribulations and trials enough that now they would entitle her to long overdue dignified liberty?

The cognitive perspective gives us a mental picture, which helps the translator with their comprehension and makes the translation more accurate. As to whether the translator needs to be that accurate (skopos), that is another question.

CLOUD AND SUNSHINE AS A HANDLE

With clouds all around him, Yitzhak Shamir plucked the thread of a silver lining out of the morning headlines. (From the New York Times)

, This is from news, so no need to retain metaphors, even though retaining them is not impossible. In a literary text, the translator may have more pressure to retain them. The cognitive perspective again provides a way to understand better the value of a metaphor.

LITERARY METAPHORS

I would rather be a bright leaf on the stream of a dying civilization than a fertile seed dropped in the soil of a new era.

Strong images are individually created, so they are more valuable, as they could contribute to the writers style.

STRONG IMAGE IN LITERATURE

Soon well be sliding down the razorblade of life .

Life is hard is a correct interpretation of the sentence, but it loses the force. Metaphors created by authors may be more valuable than system -based metaphors. Paraphrase them in translation is generally not recommended, unless retaining them is not acceptable in the target language.

LOW IS BAD
They

have sunk deep into corruption, as in the days of Gibeah. NIV They have deeply corrupted themselves, as in the days of Gibeah.KJV They have sinned deeply, as in the days of Gabaa. Douay-Rheims Bible People have deeply corrupted themselves as they once did at Gibeah. GOD'S WORD

Generic metaphoric concept is: LOW IS BAD Specific concept is: CORRUPTION IS LOW-LYING MATERIAL

IMAGE-SCHEMA BASED METAPHOR

Brzezinskidiscusses the inevitable contradictions and tensions that enmesh a democratic society that is also a global hegemon.

ROOT ANALOGY: CONFLICTING PURPOSE IS OPPOSITE DIRECTION LITERAL MEANING: force which stretches a rope, cable, string apart METAPHORICAL MEANING: differences between forces, arguments, or influences EXAMPLE: the movie explored the tension between public duty and personal loyalty.

The cognitive perspective again provides a mental picture, which makes comprehension easier.

Tensions created here

I am the USA. I am experiencing TENSIONS, as I am being pulled in two opposite directions.

CONFLICTING PURPOSE IS OPPOSITE DIRECTION

I am a democratic society. I want to go left.

I am a global hegemon. I need to go right.

Brzezinskidiscusses the inevitable contradictions and tensions that enmesh a democratic society that is also a global hegemon.

MOVEMENT AS A HANDLE

broader policies intended to move China toward internationally accepted standards of conduct.
ROOT ANALOGY: ACTIVITY/PROCESS IS MOVEMENT (FORWARD) LITERAL MEANING: cause someone to move forward (picture) METAPHORICAL MEANING: cause somebody to change behavior, or opinion EXAMPLE: now we have a new boss things are beginning to move faster. A cognitive perspective helps the translator in choosing the better word.

I am China. I am being moved.

I am China. I am being guided.

Move China

Guide China

CONTAINER AS A HANDLE A poem compresses much in a small space and adds music, thus heightening its meaning. (Paraphrasing: A poem is meaningful, concise and musical )
ROOT ANALOGY: A POEM IS A CONTAINER, LITERAL MEANING: Substance is compressed in a container (an image) METAPHORICAL MEANING: A meaningful (poem) EXAMPLE: compressed work schedules Improved translation:

The Cognitive consideration creates a mental image that helps the translator in translation.

I am a poem. A lot of things are compressed in my small space. A novelist has to write a book about what I described, but I did it in a few lines.

I am a container.

A poem compresses much in a small space.

Conclusion
The perspective of cognitive metaphor is a very useful tool for translators. Cognitive metaphor theory (CMT) has not only theoretical implications, but also practical ones too.
A Course in Cognitive Metaphor and Translation Contents (Chinese) , Contents (English)