Metaphor as a nomination and expressive means in English and Ukrainian

Metaphor as a nomination and expressive means in English and Ukrainian

Metaphor is the result of transference of the name of one object to the other, which is based upon similarity (analogy) of the objects.

The nature of metaphor is versatile and metaphors can be classified according to a number of principles.

1. According to the pragmatic effect produced upon the addressee metaphors are subdivided into trite (or dead) and genuine (or original).

Dead metaphors are fixed in dictionaries. They often sound banal and hackneyed, like clichés: to prick up one’s ears, to burn with desire, seeds of evil, a flight of imagination, floods of tears, to haunt one’s imagination, to be sunk in a deep thought, to collect appetite, to get something out of one’s mind, to drift into bankruptcy, a spark of interest, совість гризе, лежить на совісті, вивести з терпцю, утихнути (про почуття), ясний розум, глуха пора, думка крутиться в голові, не виходить з голови, сидить у голові, сяйнула в голові, думка визріла, прибирати у думках, жива думка etc.

Original metaphors are not registered in dictionaries. They are created by the speaker’s/ writer’s imagination and sound fresh, expressive, unexpected and unpredictable: Some books are to be tasted, others swallowed, and some few to be chewed and digested.

We all want a little patching and repairing from time to time.

Romaine Heilger’s evidence was a tissue of lies from beginning to end (A. Christie)

Dorothy’s brief excursion into his life and abrupt exit from it and her own, had given him a little more bother but not much (M. Allingham).

Чоловік так і живе, затиснутий бідою в лещата.

Мушу випити келих до краю – полиновий мед самоти (Є. Маланюк).

Вже вечір тіні склав у стоси; Між співами тюремних горобців причулося – синичка заспівала і тонко-тонко прясти почала тугеньку цівку болю; Ти десь живеш на призабутім березі моїх змілілих пам’ятей (В. Стус).

Кують світанок молоточки птиць. Сузір’я яблук світяться крізь листя (Л. Костенко).

Стоять озера в пригорщах долин (Л. Костенко).

1. Metaphors can also be classified according to their structure / or according to complexity of image created. There are such metaphors as simple (or elementary) and prolonged (or sustained).

A simple metaphor consists of a single word or word-combination expressing indiscrete notion: The leaves were falling sorrowfully.

A sustained metaphor appears in cases when a word that has been used metaphorically (the central image) makes other words of the sentence or paragraph also realize their metaphoric meanings (contributory or supporting images): The textile strike was smoldering into its seventh week. There was a bitter ash in the mouths of the men.

Metaphor is one of the most powerful means of creating images and its main function is aesthetic. It would be interesting to mention that metaphor lies in the basis of more than 64% of all phraseological units of the language (according to E.M. Soloducho). E.g. There is no smoke without fire; to take the bull by the horns; to skate on thin ice; Rats desert a sinking ship, All is fish that comes to his net; Fools grow without watering; A little fire is quickly trodden out; брати бар’єр; підводна течія; розпечений до білого; заключний акорд; надівати хомут на шию; з рівними козирями; Утікав перед вовком та впав на ведмедя; В каламутній воді ловити рибу; відрізана скиба від хліба etc.

1. Besides being a most powerful stylistic device metaphor is also considered to be a universal means of nomination.

Thus we can also distinguish between nomination metaphors and figurative metaphors. Nomination metaphors, as distinct from figurative ones, are deprived of stylistic information. They are intended to name new objects or phenomena of the objective world. A nomination metaphor is a purely technical device of nomination when a new notion or object is named by means of old vocabulary: the arm of the chair, the foot of a hill, the eye of a needle, the mouth of a river, the hands of a clock, вушко голки, язик полум’я, гірський хребет, ніс (човна, літака). All these word-combinations can serve as examples of anthropomorphic metaphor, i.e. metaphor that resorts to the names of the parts of human body as a source of transference.

The names of the parts of the human body are not the only source of nomination metaphors. People can also project their life experience, their physical experience on to the objects and phenomena that surround them. This is reflected in orientation metaphors, i.e. metaphors that are built on the basis of a person’s orientation in space. Thus happiness orients upwards, sadness – downwards; health and life are up, sickness and death are down; having control is up, being subject to control is down; virtue is up, depravity is down; rational is up, emotional is down. The following English and Ukrainian metaphors can illustrate it: My spirit rose. I am feeling down. I am feeling up. I fell into depression. His health is declining. He is in the upper echelon. He fell from power. My means hang on the lowest rung of the monetary ladder. His income fell last year. He is at the peak of his career. He is at the bottom of social hierarchy. She has high standards. He fell in the abyss of depravity. He could not rise above his emotions. Це підіймало його престиж. У мене одна думка: як би нам нашу красну мову так високо підняти, як підняв Ії Шевченко (Мирний). Він ніби виріс у своїх очах. Ми внутрішньо виростали. В мене ті слова з думки не випадають. Я знаю, у вас думки про високі справи.

Metaphor can serve as a helpful means of understanding human psychology, as it reflects typical associations and stereotypes.

Дата добавления: 2015-11-04