1. Conceptual metaphor theory
An overview

2. Introduction and definition
George Lakoff and Mark Johnson’s book, Metaphors We Live By (1980).
A conceptual metaphor is understanding one domain of experience (that is typically abstract) in terms of another (that is typically concrete).
Process and product.

3. Metaphors are all-pervasive
TV and radio broadcasts, dictionaries, newspapers and magazines, conversations, their own linguistic repertoires, and several others.
an abundance of metaphorical examples, such as
“defending an argument”, “exploding with anger”, “building a theory”, “fire in someone’s eyes”, “foundering relationship”, “a cold personality”, “a step-by-step process”, “digesting an idea”, “people passing away”, “wandering aimlessly in life”
Idiomaticity and polysemy

4. Systematic mappings between two conceptual domains
A more technical definition: A conceptual metaphor is a systematic set of correspondences between two domains of experience. Mapping between entities and relations. Source and target domain.

5. That kindled my ire.
Those were inflammatory remarks.
Smoke was coming out of his ears.
She was burning with anger.
He was spitting fire.
The incident set the people ablaze with anger.

6. Conceptual correspondences, or mappings
the cause of fire  the cause of anger
causing the fire  causing the anger
the thing on fire  the angry person
the fire  the anger
the intensity of fire  the intensity of anger
Coherent view of fire mapped onto anger.
Conceptualizing a domain.

7. Metaphorical inferences
Knowledge derived from source elements.
“He took revenge and that quenched his anger.”
Additional knowledge based on ANGER IS FIRE: fire can be quenched.

8. Can everything be mapped from source to target?
ANGER IS FIRE:
E.g.: the knowledge that fire requires oxygen is not mapped.
THEORIES ARE BUILDINGS:
E.g.: cellar, attic, rooms, windows, chimneys, janitor, bathroom are not mapped.

9. 1. Invariance hypothesis (Lakoff)
2. Primary metaphor (Grady)
3. Meaning focus (Kövecses)
1. relies on the Target
2. relies on the connection between Source and Target
3. relies on properties of the Source

10. Direction of conceptualization
From Source to Target:
From more accessible to less accessible
concrete  abstract (journey  life)
intersubjective  subjective (see  know)
Asymmetry:
*abstract  concrete
*subjective  intersubjective
Reversibility?
Similarity (anger  storm); angry waves, stormy mood
Same frames involved?

11. Metaphor in thought
Metaphor is in Thought: metaphor-based conceptual patterns Language: linguistic metaphors LIFE IS A JOURNEY we can set goals we want to reach, we do our best to reach those goals, we can make careful plans for the journey, we can prepare ourselves for facing obstacles along the way, we can draw up alternative plans in the form of choosing a variety of different paths, we can prefer certain paths to others,

12. Creation of metaphorical reality
LIFE IS A JOURNEY
LIFE IS A THEATER PLAY: “All the world is a stage / and all men and women are merely players”.
understanding is grasping conceptual metaphor (as in “I did not grasp what he said”, “He is slow on the uptake”); comprehend = „grasp” in Latin
“24-hour protection”: enemy = body odor, helper/ally = deodorant
Metaphor-based actions
Metaphor in conceptual system: metaphor in various modes of expression

13. Metaphor and viewpoint
Frames are viewpointed (stingy-thrifty?)
24-hour protection: body odor as enemy (would this framing work in any culture? / everyone?)
Blow up at someone – channel your anger into something constructive

14. Grounding of metaphors
Can anything be a metaphor for anything else?
Similarity:
Real (roses on the cheeks)
Perceived (LIFE IS A GAMBLING GAME)
Generic level (THE HUMAN LIFE CYCLE IS THE LIFE CYCLE OF A PLANT)

15. Correlations in experience
ANGER, LOVE, ENTHUSIASM, CONFLICT
INTENSITY: burn, flame, blaze, fire,
INTENSITY IS HEAT
Primary metaphor.

16. Primary metaphors: primary scene with correlated events or states.
INTENSITY IS HEAT, MORE IS UP, PURPOSES ARE DESTINATIONS, DIFFICULTIES ARE OBSTACLES, AFFECTION IS WARMTH, STATES ARE CONTAINERS, CAUSES ARE FORCES
Compound metaphors:
Combinations of primary ones.
LIFE IS A JOURNEY
Image schemas: VERTICALITY, CONTAINER, PATH, FORCE, LINK, etc.

17. Image schemas: analogue preconceptual structures in the brain.
Neural theory of metaphor:
Neurons
Circuits
Universal bodily experience – universal conceptual metaphors
KNOWING IS SEEING
Context-induced metaphors: from context – nonuniversal

18. The present state of CMT
CMT can explain many things about metaphor:
why we use language from one domain of experience systematically to talk about another domain of experience;
why the polysemy of words in the lexicon follows the patterns it does;
why the senses of words are extended in the concrete-to-abstract direction;
why children acquire metaphors in the sequence they do;
why the meanings of words emerge historically in the sequence they do;

19. why many conceptual metaphors are near-universal or potentially universal;
why many other conceptual metaphors are variable cross-culturally and intraculturally;
why many conceptual metaphors are shared in a variety of different modes of expression (verbal and visual);
why many metaphor-based folk and expert theories of a particular subject matter are often based on the same conceptual metaphors;
why so many conceptual metaphors are shared between everyday language and literature (and other forms of non-everyday uses of language);
why and how novel metaphors can, and do, constantly emerge;
etc.

20. Issues to deal with:
How do metaphors actually emerge from experience?
Are all metaphors on the same level (of specificity)?
How does context influence the emergence of metaphors?
What is the relationship between metaphor and other figurative devices, such as metonymy, analogy, conceptual blends, parable, and catechresis?