120120 SE Linguistics Seminar (222) = Seminar Linguistik/BA Thesis (2009W)

This seminar will explore the implications of the hypothesis that "metaphors are not only figures of speech, but figures of thought" providing linguistic and cognitive structures for the organisation of experience. A very brief glance at the historical background will ask: why has figurative language had such a bad press? This will lead to an examination of the idea that metaphor is opposed to 'literal' language and to the discussion of non-referential types of meaning. Various approaches to the functions of metaphor and to its role in the relationship between language and thought will be discussed, including prototypes, paradigms, the 'Sapir-Whorf Hypothesis' , metaphors for intelligence or education, the 'Body in the mind' and, in particular, Lakoff and Johnson's framework of 'linguistic' and 'conceptual' metaphors .