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conceptual metaphor
Glossary of Grammatical and Rhetorical Terms
By Richard Nordquist
Grammar & Composition Expert

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Definition:
A metaphor (or figurative
comparison) in which one
idea (or conceptual domain) is
understood in terms of
another.

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In cognitive linguistics, the

conceptual domain from
which we draw metaphorical
expressions to understand
another conceptual domain is
known as the source domain.
This image illustrates the conceptual metaphor TIME IS MONEY.
The conceptual domain that is
(Colin Anderson/Getty Images)
understood in this way is the
target domain. Thus the source domain of the journey is commonly used to explain the
target domain of life.

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In Metaphors We Live By (1980), George Lakoff and Mark Johnson identify three
overlapping categories of conceptual metaphors:

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Examples and Observations:

"Basic conceptual metaphors are part of the common conceptual apparatus shared by
members of a culture. They are systematic in that there is a fixed correspondence
between the structure of the domain to be understood (e.g., death) and the structure of the
domain in terms of which we are understanding it (e.g., departure). We usually understand
them in terms of common experiences. They are largely unconscious, though attention
may be drawn to them. Their operation in cognition is almost automatic. And they are
widely conventionalized in language, that is, there are a great number of words and
idiomatic expressions in our language whose meanings depend upon those conceptual
metaphors."
(George Lakoff and Mark Turner, More Than Cool Reason. University of Chicago Press,
1989)

http://grammar.about.com/od/c/g/conceptmetaphorterm.htm

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In Metaphors We Live By (University Of Chicago Press, 1980), George Lakoff and Mark
Johnson mention these variations on the conceptual metaphor TIME IS MONEY:

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You're wasting my time.

This gadget will save you hours.
I don't have the time to give you.
How do you spend your time these days?
That flat tire cost me an hour.
I've invested a lot of time in her.
You're running out of time.
Is that worth your while?
He's living on borrowed time.

"Conceptual Metaphor Theory rejects the notion that metaphor is a decorative device,
peripheral to language and thought. Instead, the theory holds that metaphor is central to
thought, and therefore to language. From this starting point a number of tenets are
derived, which are discussed here with particular reference to language. These tenets are:
- Metaphors structure thinking;
- Metaphors structure knowledge;
- Metaphor is central to abstract language;
- Metaphor is grounded in physical experience;
- Metaphor is ideological."
(Alice Deignan, Metaphor and Corpus Linguistics. John Benjamins, 2005)

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"Understanding one domain in terms of another involves a set of fixed correspondences

(technically called mappings) between a source and a target domain. This set of mappings
obtains between basic constituent elements of the target. To know a conceptual metaphor
is to know the set of mappings that applies to a given source-target pairing. It is these
mappings that provide much of the meaning of the metaphorical linguistic expressions (or
linguistic metaphors) that make a particular conceptual metaphor manifest."
(Zoltn Kvecses, Metaphor: A Practical Introduction, 2nd ed. Oxford University Press,
2010)

Also Known As: generative metaphor

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