The role of metaphorized verbal combinations in presenting the mental behaviour of a person in contemporary British prose

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The role of metaphorized verbal combinations in presenting the mental behaviour of a person in contemporary British prose

А. Diadechko

Abstract

Metaphors, being a special cognitive and semantic device, demonstrate the flow of the human thought. Among all parts of speech the verb can be singled out for its powerful ability to metaphorize. The paper addresses those verbal metaphorizers which come up in the contemporary literary English language to predicate the nouns related to human mental behavior. The contextual approach applied to the whole study has proved some basic ideas of the cognitive theory of knowledge. The study has identified some basic cognitive abilities, powers, states, feelings and emotions, and the ways they are presented in the literary texts in order to be guessed and understood by the readers.

Key words: metaphor, concept, cognitive science, spatial orientation.

People perceive, think, talk, and do with metaphors. As metaphors play a dramatic role in people's thought processes, they immensely impact people's perceptions. One of the key functions of a metaphor is to represent invisible, abstract entities (feelings and emotions). Complex semantic phenomenon of a metaphor has been theoretically covered by foreign and domestic philosophers, philologists and linguists. N. Chomsky is known for his contribution to the concept of meaning and its development [5]. A set of semantic universals and conceptual primes has been outlined by A. Werzbicka in her empirical cross-cultural studies [13]. G. Lakoff and M. Johnson have proposed an innovative view on metaphor and reestimated it as a core issue in cognitivism [7]. This study completely agrees with the conceptual reflection of metaphor on the language, the English language in particular, which has been revealed in the recent works well known among Ukrainian scholars, namely, Sh. Basyrov [1], I. Dilai [2], Yu.Kamenkova [3], S. Kiseleva [6], M. Pentyliuk [4], H.Shelestiuk [12] and some others [6]. Modern cognitive linguistics aims at giving a closer focus to reconstruction of human mental lexicon, accounting it as one of the biggest applied tasks of the field. Nevertheless, the entire range of cognitive features and abilities of an individual have not been outlined and worded yet.

Thus, the purpose of the study is to investigate how metaphorized verbal combinations might help reveal semantic and cognitive issues of the literary context, the mental behavior of the contemporary English-speaking community in particular. british literary language metaphorical abstract

The examples of metaphorized verbal predicate combinations with cognition-related nouns as they come up in the texts of the novels written by two authoresses, namely, «Winter Solstice» (2000) by Rosamunde Pilcher [10] and «For Better, for Worse» (1996), «Playing with Fire» (2001) by Mary Larkin [8; 9], make the object of the study.

The subject of the study is to identify the mechanisms of lingual and logical correlation which lay behind the phenomena of metaphor.

Text-based approaches practiced in the study for understanding and interpreting metaphor rely on the structural, functional, distributive, and partly on statistical methods.

Obviously, metaphor is one of the most widely represented figure of speech. Any thought is metaphorical. Reversely, metaphor is an integral part of cognition. Human cognition and perceptions are based on the individual's interaction with the material world. So physical experience is fundamental, although sensual experience is not of less importance. The fact that in our cognition some parts and units of mental experience are thought as separate, discrete objects, matters, entities, makes metaphor possible. Cognitive scientists suggest that many of the metaphors we use to understand reality are based on our experience of having a body in the physical world. Physical environment largely affects our reasoning. Our sensuous and motive experiences correlate with our physical experience, the latter always being primary.

The verb is noted for its powerful potential as for metaphorization. Many verbs used in everyday speech are metaphorical. Their expressiveness is superior if compared to other parts of speech [4]. They basically convey dynamics and add depth to description of actions, they can represent a highly abstract level of motion without physical movement terms being mentioned. The verb permanently evolves due to semantic mechanisms of metaphorization, changing in this way its lexico-syntactical environment. Its combinability can depend on both objective and subjective factors - context, the author's associations, associative power of the language unit, stylistic restrictions, language specific features. It should be noted that the verb can reveal its metaphorical potential if only predicatively coupled with the nouns, cognition and mentality-related abstract nouns as our case suggests. When dealing with the metaphorical process, we mean a sentence, that is, predication which is intended to be meaningful.

Abstract nouns can only exist due to metaphorization. Because of their semantic status, abstract nouns require special mechanisms working as additional lexical tools to reveal their senses. The verb triggers the process. When the verbs of physical action are combined with abstract nouns, their metaphorization occurs, and in this way the latter are objectivized. Metaphorical verbs also vary in their combinability and semantics depending on the subjects they predicate.

Metaphorization is observed in both collective language practice and in an individual language style, especially in fiction. It is a powerful tool for language enrichment. Thus, the two-fold task of an author is to apply conventional, already known and recognized metaphorized units and to shape new, individual, original language units in new contexts. Both types of metaphors are applied to influence the reading public. However, the originality or novelty of the exemplified metaphors are not in a focus of the study.

In the literary texts under consideration, the words head and brain going in line with a purely abstract noun mind are hardly meant in their anatomical sense. These three cognition-related nouns are spatially (i.e. physically) associated with some holder / container for other mental phenomena nominated by such abstract nouns as thoughts, ideas, conclusion, information. These are perfect examples of conduit metaphor identified by M. Reddy, who thought the thoughts to be inserted into some containers for their further transfer from one individual to another [11].

It should be noted that the traditional distinction between metonymy and synecdoche is not followed in this study. Instead, the hypernym metonymy is preferably used. The metonymical pair head - idea is frequently used with the prepositional verbs of action which are opposite in meaning: to put an idea into/out of one's head, to go into / out of one's head. The combinations of action verbs with an abstract noun mind are the most productive. They are used to indicate different stages of thinking activity, its duration. The beginning of the process, setting its focus, is revealed through such combinations as to set mind at, to tick over. To express the performance and completion of an activity, the combination to frame in mind is used. Specifically, for a quick thought the combinations to cross mind, to flash through mind are presented. The biggest number of combinations is applied to denote an end or a break in a thinking activity: to free mind from, to take mind out of, to take mind off, to float out of mind, to push to the back of mind. Only one action verb to penetrate is used metaphorically to predicate the noun brain.

Both action and state verbs are used as predicates for another group of abstract nouns with the meaning of human mental powers and mental pictures: thought - to drift, to dwell on, to rail ahead, to be deep in / be lost in, idea - to put into / out, go into / out, image - to blot (in mind), conclusion - to jump to. The examples of abstract nouns used to denote states of human mind, namely, dream, hope, memory, fantasy, imagination have also been provided. They evidently contribute to mental behavior. If taken separately, they are emotionally neutral. It is metaphorized verbs that objectivize and colour them emotionally: dreams - to faint, hopes - to raise, to dash, memories - to flood back, to fail, to cherish, fantasies - to weave, imagination - to run away. This group appears to be more humanly featured, as it includes the verbs to faint, to fail, to cherish denoting particular states of a person.

Abstract nouns expressing feelings and emotions coming up in the texts are syntactically and semantically paired with a wide variety of metaphorized verbs: feeling(s) - to keep, to come, bitterness - to creep , disapproval - to emanate, fear - to enter, to settle, dread - to fill, despair - to slip into, blame - to lay, excitement - to die out, to bubble over, emotions - to tear, to swamp, to mist, to snap, to stir up, spirits - to rise, sense - to betray, embarrassment - to creep, nostalgia - to wallow in, shock - to strike, tension - to loose off, to break, stress - to remove, resentment - to sink, distress - to penetrate, impatience - to curb, gratitude - to fill, resentment to sink, affection - to dim, passion - to flare, jealousy - to bound.

Numerous vivid examples of spatial metaphor can be found when analyzing physical conceptualization of notions of feelings and emotions. Logically, human feelings and emotions are thought with their reference to some spatial entity they might enter, stay inside, then go outside accordingly. Verbal metaphorical conceptualization of abstract nouns of mental behavior allows to observe phrases with semantics of three stages typical for any physical action / activity: its start (to come, to emanate, to enter, to penetrate, to fill, to slip in, to creep), its progress, continuation (to settle, to keep), its completion (to remove, to loose off, to break). There are associations with nature phenomena, particularly, different light effects are expressed by means of such verbs as to mist, to dim, to flare [1; 3]. Water (liquid states of matter) are also associated for the sake of conceptualization: to bubble over, to swamp, to wallow in. Human physical behavior is associated through the combinations with the verbs to lay, to die out. Particularly, the cognitive verb to betray is also used to predicate an abstract noun. In their classic «Metaphors we live by» (1980) Lakoff and Johnson emphasized that spatial orientations such as up / down, center / periphery, left / right are extremely abstract [7]. The examples of polar vertical orientation can be clearly seen and considered when analyzing the cases of presenting positive and negative feelings and emotions (to rise- up orientation, to sink - down orientation).

Strong emotional affection is commonly conveyed through the combinations of the noun heart with the verbal metaphorizers. The word heart metonymically presents all human emotions. This noun is very rich in producing metaphorical senses when combined with such action verbs as to cry /out, to lift, to drop, to enter, to capture, to sink, to harden. The combinations with most of these verbs also result in spatial semantics (up-down, in-out orientations).

We have already touched the cases of metaphorical presentation of the matters never seen, touched, heard or perceived. But paralinguistic means of communication, which make an integral component of life communication as they demonstrate people's attitude to what is said, strengthen the meaning of the words, tend to contribute to the presentation of human behavior in their own way.

Turning to paralinguistic tools will definitely mean taking a step aside from what has been previously discussed, but we will take this risk being sure that we are still on the metaphor' territory. In fiction, the description of paralinguistic means is applied by an author in order to supplement the information transmitted to the readers by providing them with non-verbal signals, which the participants of the communication produce.

The phenomenon of verbal metaphorization appears to occur if the described paralinguistic objects (gestures, facial expression and others) can be sensually perceived. When sending these non-verbal signals, the characters demonstrate physically their reaction to other characters' words or doings, reveal their personal feelings and emotions. Through the description of one's face, its expressions and its particular parts (eyes, lips, cheeks, jaw, smile, grin) presented in the analyzed texts, the readers are able to visualize the characters' reactions and decode (understand) them properly.

The list of the noun-verb phrases includes: face - to crumple, eyes - to keep, to cast, to drop, to catch, to set on, lips - to bite, cheeks - to blush, smile - to play, to flash, grin - to spread, to split, jaw - to drop /fall (astonishment, distress). Abstract nouns used in these combinations become objectivized when paired with non-abstract nouns by means of metaphorized verbs (grin split the face, grin spread across the face).

In the novels under consideration, human mental behavior description also includes reactions accompanied by sounds by which the characters render their feelings and emotions. The nouns laugh and sign are predicated by the metaphorized verb to escape. Reversely, the examples when the characters intend to stay silent in order to hide their feelings and emotions, to ignore or to postpone communication can also be found. The nouns giggle and sobs are phrased by means of the verb to stifle.

Undoubtedly, verbal communication of the characters is of primary importance for both live communication and when read about in a literary piece. The description of characters' talks, the flow of their conversation in the considered novels is rich in metaphorical verbs.

The abstract noun conversation acquires dynamics when it comes in combinations with such prepositional and non-prepositional action verbs as to steer, to change, to chip into, to fall into. Moreover, some nouns denoting elements and units of conversation, also supplement it with metaphorical motion: words - to swallow, to meet, sentence - to hang, request - to fall. An abstract noun attention, which makes an obligatory precondition for any kind of verbal communication, is numerously used in combinations with such verbs as to lavish, to return, to bring, to catch, to dim, to stray.

It is obvious that communication in fiction goes on even if the characters are purposely silent, i.e., they do not intend or are not able to continue the conversation. Sometimes their silence speaks louder than words. This effect is frequently demonstrated by both authoresses and is easily decoded by the readers. It produces dramatic effect or brings something into readers' focus. Therefore, the context of the novels under discussion allows to consider the word silence versus the word conversation. Moreover, the word silence evidently outnumbers the word conversation being combined with the following metaphorized verbs: to meet, to break, to be fraught with, to follow, to fill, to fall, to stretch, to lapse into, to reign, to lay.

Conclusions

We live in a complex world, and this brings to life metaphor. Metaphor as a basic cognitive process consists in transfer of knowledge from one semantic sphere to another. It bridges logic and ideas. It structures our perceptions and understanding, shapes our views and thoughts, makes them more vivid and interesting. Metaphor breaks the conventional semantic ties and creates the new ones. It adds new meanings to standard dictionaries. Motion is permanent and obligatory in metaphorical presentations even it is not perceived. The verb makes the best choice when it adds this semantic dynamics to abstract notions and conceptualizes them. All the statements above have been proved by logical, structural and semantic analysis of the examples taken from the three literary texts. It has been shown that metaphor is deeply embedded in the communication framework. Its spatial orientation has appeared to be a cognitive constant whenever human behavior is presented metaphorically.

Perspectively, the study may go further towards conceptual modeling of cognitive phenomena and their representation. It can also be of some use for those who are interested in cross-linguistic and cross-cultural issues.

References

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Анотація

Деякі аспекти знань людини важко презентувати через високий ступінь їхньої абстрактності та складність. Метафора, яка є специфічним когнітивним і семантичним знаряддям, може запропонувати їм спрощений спосіб презентації за допомогою підключення особливого інтуїтивного механізму мислення. Вона відображує, як протікає думка людини, коли у неї формуються ідеї в новій формі, і таким чином дає людям можливість оперувати вже конкретними поняттями. Ці трансформації слід розглядати як властивості семантичних відносин, які, у свою чергу, мають бути визначеними у термінах як семантичні деривації.

Серед усіх частин мови дієслово займає особливе місце через його потужні можливості метафоризації. В цій ситуації поєднання двох рівнів мислення, а саме логічного й семантичного, у якості підвалинами слугує взаємодія об'єкту та його дієслівного метафоризатора. Оскільки метафора є культуро-залежною, її розуміння й зворотна реакція на неї значною мірою залежить від мови оригіналу та мови перекладу. В роботі привернуто увагу до тих дієслівних метафоризаторів, які характерні для сучасної англійської літературної мови та виступають у якості предикатів іменників, що визначають ментальну поведінку людини. Саме з цих міркувань увагу було зосереджено на трьох романах за авторством двох письменниць: «Winter Solstice» Розамунди Пілчер та Better, for Worse» і «Playing with Fire» Мері Ларкін.

Контекстуальний підхід, який було застосовано в цілому до розвідки, довів та проілюстрував базові ідеї когнітивної теорії знань. Було зазначено численні випадки концептуалізації абстрактних понять, які відбулися завдяки метафоричному мисленню, і їх об'єктивної присутності у текстах романів. Поняття ментальної поведінки людини було визначено достатньо широко і охоплювало доволі великий перелік понять: базові когнітивні можливості й властивості людини, стани та образи, які виникають у її свідомості, почуття, емоції. Дещо ризиковано було вирішено дослідити також паралінгвістичні засоби, які можуть сприяти виявленню ментальної поведінки людини у термінах метафори. Роль просторової орієнтації виявилася когнітивною константою усіх метафоричних перетворень.

З особливою увагою було розглянуто семантику поняття бесіди/розмови і її антипода - поняття тиші. Останнє виявилося продуктивним щодо сполучення з дієсловами дії, що продемонструвало можливості когнітивної динаміки значення. Було наведено деякі загальні висновки щодо результатів розвідки. Також були вказані можливі перспективи продовження дослідження, а саме розробка концептуальних молей когнітивних явищ.

Ключові слова: метафора, концепт, когнітивістика, просторова орієнтація.

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