Problem Formulation Objectives of Study
9 The second limitation is the existence of a primary use will not yield a
definite conclusion. There are some cases that the use of some word seems to be metaphorical indeed, but actually the words are so firmly anchored in the
language. The examples are: Foot of a mountain, Leg of table, and head of state
. In fact these examples are not categorized as metaphor because they are belonging to regular vocabulary. In addition, they are called as dead metaphors
which have lost their metaphorical character. However,Mooij1976 clarifies that if a word with figurative meaning is included in the standard vocabulary of a
language, it will not necessarily lose its metaphorical character; for example: „to
go underground ‟ in sense of „to go into hiding‟ p. 9.
b The process of identifying Metaphor
There are two main components in a metaphor. Generally, it is known as topic and vehicle.Besides that, some experts also have their own terms.
Cammeron and Low 1999 explain that in labeling the component some experts have their own label „Tenor‟ and Vehicle by Richards 1936 and „Primary
subject‟ and „Secondary subject‟ p. 13. In addition, Mooij 1976 has his own label „A‟ and „W‟. The terms are used to abridge the resolution of the anomaly
between two components of metaphor as the process of understanding.
The process of identifying metaphor has been explained from some experts such as Black, Aristotle, Beardsley, Mooij, and Others. Mooi
j‟s theory is one of theories that have clear explanation. Mooij has explained three conditions
of identifying. The first condition is the subject-matter of the relevant piece of
10 discourse should be delimited with at least some precision. They may be different
kinds of subjects A indeed, e.g.: thing and its properties, a situation and its causes and effects, a series of events and the relations between them, thoughts,
feelings, wishes and wants. Moreover, the subject does not need to exist in reality. A is not implied exist in the strict sense of word. Then, W is the last part of
utterance which affect A. The second condition is there are some effects of using W. Not only A
which has descriptive meaning, but the W too. The words like „or‟, „and‟, „not‟, thus‟, „rather‟, „various‟, „very‟ and the copula „to be‟ are not assumed that they
can be used metaphorically. However, there is an exception for the metaphor in this sentence “Man is a wolf” and “He is pig”. It is because they are considered to
be metaphorical. Further, the meaning of W must clash with the conception of A. Here, W is used to describe or indicate something based on semantic conventions.
The third or the last condition that is W not only depends with the A ‟s
concept but also has been worked based on the context. The role play by W in the utterance will determine the nature of W
‟s contribution to the exposition of the subject-matter A
. Evidently this role of W „S can make clear A‟s parts, elements or aspects.