Metaphors as a Part of Figurative Language
Keywords:
metaphor, figurative language, metalanguage, target domain, source domain, concept, traditional metaphor, modern metaphor, literal.Abstract
Metaphors are part of figurative speech which may be based upon very different types of similarity, for instance, the similarity of shape: head of a cabbage, the teeth of a saw. This similarity of shape may be supported by a similarity of function. The transferred meaning is easily recognised from the context: The Head of the school, the key to a mystery. The similarity may be supported also by position: foot of a page/of a mountain, or behaviour and function: bookworm, wirepuller.
It would be a mistake for any speaker – native, new or experienced – to be reluctant to use metaphors as they are such a colorful, poetic element of any language. As can be seen, although there is an extensive list of existing metaphors, new ones can be made at any times, as long as they can be easily understood and related to. And as also can be seen, even when they go wrong, they add an extra
element of fun.
