Metaphor has traditionally been analyzed as a poetic device: it is a linguistic expression in which words are used not in their literal meaning, but to refer to some other concepts. In a metaphor, two different concepts can be mapped on each other. In such a mapping usually a more abstract concept is mapped onto and understood through a more concrete concept. The term ‘metaphor’ is used to refer to such mappings, while the linguistic instantiations of metaphors are referred to as ‘metaphorical expressions’.
The names of metaphors are often formulated in the form of X IS Y. Three mappings that are common in LSC are the following:
a. Ideas are objects
b. The mind is a container
c. Communication is sending
The two domains mapped in metaphor (a) are ideas and objects. The concrete domain ‘object’ is used to express the abstract domain ‘ideas.’ In metaphor (b), the concrete domain ‘container’ is used to express the abstract domain ‘mind’. In metaphor (c), the concrete domain ‘sending’ is used to refer to the abstract domain ‘communication’.
In what follows, some signs in LSC that instantiate metaphors belonging to the first two mappings listed.
a. “Ideas are objects” metaphor:
learn
(based on Jarque, 2005: 296)
Here the process of learning is conceptualized as putting objects in the mind, while having knowledge and being intelligent are conceptually interpreted as having a container (the mind) full of ideas. Metaphoricity is revealed in the articulators: The hand reproduces the action of physically grasping objects and putting them in the forehead.
add-information
(based on Jarque, 2005: 296)
It refers to the action of including information to complete a text (e.g. adding new data or aspects). The sign is produced with the same handshape configuration in the dominant hand as is used while putting objects in a pile, while the non-dominant-hand refers to the text.
b. “The mind is the body” metaphor:
express
(based on Jarque, 2005: 301)
The sign for express is conceptualized as the signer transferring information to the addressee. The form of the sign resembles the way in which we throw objects.
learn-from-others
(based on Jarque, 2005: 301)
The sign learn-from-others is conceptualized as the signer drinking with straw and filling in his/her body with the knowledge coming from others.
acquire
(based on Jarque, 2005: 301)
The sign acquire is conceptualized as the knowledge being introduced to the signer’s body.