Metaphor is pervasive in language, and there are two principal ways which make it important:
20
a. First, in relation to individual words: metaphor is a basic process in the
formation of words and word meanings. Concepts and meanings are lexicalized, or expressed in words, through metaphor.
b. Second, in relation to discourse: metaphor is important because of its
functions to give explaining, clarifying, describing, expressing, evaluating and entertaining. There are many reasons why we use
metaphors in speech or writing: not least, because there is sometimes no other word to refer to a particular thing.
2. The Components of Metaphor
In linguistic view of metaphor there are three components those form a
metaphor. Both components are topic, vehicle and ground. The topic is the entity
referred to, and the vehicle is the notion to which this entity being compared. The respect in which this comparison is being made called the ground.
21
Knowles and Moon also identify these three components, they stated that metaphor consists of
the metaphor a word, phrase, or longer stretch of language; its meaning what
it refers to metaphorically; and the similarity or connection between the two. These three components have been referred to as vehicle, topic and ground.
22
In
I.A Richard‟s terminology, the term of topic is called tenor.
23
He was the first to
extend the two ideas active together in metaphor, and both are tenor and vehicle.
20
Murray Knowles and Rosamund Moon 2005, op.cit. 4.
21
James Dickin 2005, op.cit. p. 148
22
Murray Knowles and Rosamund Moon 2005, op.cit. 7
23
John I. Saeed 2003, op.cit. p. 246
The latter is “the idea conveyed by the literal meanings of the word used metaphorically,” and the former is “the idea conveyed by the vehicle”.
24
The example of these three notions is “Hamzah is a lion‟. Lion is vehicle or metaphor, where the tenor or meaning, for example Hamzah who is a brave
person, and the ground or connection is the respect in which Hamzah is a brave person like a lion. This approach is useful for translation distinguishes.
3. Understanding Metaphor
According to many definitions of metaphor, there is a question of how metaphorical meaning arises and it is understood in linguistic communication. In
this paper, the writer will consider two types of theories in understanding metaphor.
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a. The Substitution
It is the first approach of linguistic view, the same terminology of it is transferring. This refers to the etymological meaning of the word metaphor
itself. In compound words, the Greek prefix meta often conveys an idea of change, and phor is from a Greek verb pherein
„to carry, bear‟. The process of understanding metaphor consists of recognizing that a particular word or
expression is polysemous and being used with a secondary metaphorical
meaning, rather than its literal meaning. This secondary meaning substitutes
for another word or expression with a literal meaning
26
. According to this view, a metaphor is used in the place of a literal statement that would have an
24
Antonio Alvarez, “On Translating Metaphor”, Translators’ Journal. Vol. 38 1993, 21 January 2011. www. erudit. org. p. 481
25
Murray Knowles and Rosamund Moon 2005, op.cit. pp. 51-52
26
Ibid. p. 51
equivalent meaning. The example “Hamzah is lion” means “Hamzah is brave”. The
other example is such as “We used to thrash all the teams in the premier
league. We had a great squad and no one could touch us. The metaphorical meaning of thrash
substitutes for a more literal word such as „defeat‟: thrash has another, literal, meaning, „hit‟. This can be expressed more schematically
in the illustration below:
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Word A: Has literal meaning A
Word B: Has literal meaning B1
Has metaphorical meaning B2
Metaphor: B2 is substituted for A
b. The Comparison
This next view of metaphor is not much different than the first. When a metaphor is used, it implies a similarity between the topic and vehicle of the
metaphor. It holds that “a metaphor consists of the underlying analogy or
similarity” or that the vehicle is like the tenor. The literal equivalent of the
metaphor, “Hamzah is a lion” would be “Hamzah is like a lion in being
brave.” This can be expressed schematically as:
28
Word A: Has literal meaning A
Word B: Has literal meaning B
Metaphor:
A is like B
27
Ibid. p. 52
28
Ibid
4. Types of Metaphor
There are many type of metaphor classified by western linguists. In this paper, the writer will use the concept of Dickin in his book Thinking Arabic
Translation. In his book, Dickin divides metaphor into lexicalized and non- lexicalized metaphor.
29
Lexicalized metaphors are uses of language which are recognizably metaphorical, but which are included as sense of words in
dictionaries.
30
The example of this type is the word “rat” is a person who deserts
his friend in trouble. Furthermore, he distinguishes three types of lexicalized metaphor, they are:
31
a. A dead metaphor is one which does not normally even realize as a
metaphor and has been literalized into everyday items of langauge, for example “hand of clock”. According to Newmark, a dead metaphor is
“where one is hardly conscious of the image”. This kind of metaphor frequently is the universal terms used to describe space and time such as
field, line, top, bottom, foot, mouth, arm and so on.
32
b. Stock metaphor is one that is used widely as an idiom, as in “mother
tongue” Newmark defines stock or standard metaphor: as “an established metaphor which is in an informal context is an efficient and
concise method of covering a physical andor mental situation both referentially and pragmatically.
”
33
29
James Dickin 2005, op.cit. p. 147
30
Ibid
31
Ibid. p. 149
32
Peter Newmark 1988, op. cit. p. 106
33
Ibid. p. 108
c. Recent metaphor is metaphorical neologism, as stated by Newmark is
often “anonymously.”
34
The example of this type is the word “download.”
Other type of metaphor is non-lexicalized metaphor, it may be similarly crudely or the metaphorical meaning is not clearly but will vary from context to context, and
has to be worked out by the reader on particular occasions. An example of a non- lexicalized metaphor is a tree in A man is a tree. The reader might conclude
that A man is a tree is roughly equivalent to saying that A man is like a tree in that only a certain proportion is apparent in the case of the tree: the trunk,
branches and leaves, while much remains hidden in the case of the tree: the extensive root system.
This type of metaphor consists of two kinds, both are conventional and original metaphor.
35
a. Conventional metaphor is metaphor which is not lexicalized, and does
not available in dictionary, but it draws on either cultural or linguistic convention. For example, English makes a large concept of argument is
war, which includes “battle of wits”, “attack an opponent”. b.
Original metaphor is a metaphor which is not simply relatable to existing linguistic or cultural convention. It is difficult to interpret, and
it is necessary to establish the ground from the context. In many cases this will be ambiguous. The examples of it is like Tom is a tree, quoted
34
Ibid. p. 111
35
James Dickin 2005, op.cit, p.149
above. Because it is not simply relatable to existing linguistic or cultural conventions
The lexicalized and non-lexicalized metaphors have many distinctions, especially about the vehicle and the ground or the sense of the metaphor. Here is
the summary of the differences between lexicalized and non-lexicalized metaphor. Table 1: The comparison between lexicalized and non-lexicalized metaphor.
36
Lexicalized metaphor Non lexicalized metaphor
Vehicle Is denotative,
Providing basic definition as likeness relationship
Is connotative, suggesting that there is a likeness relationship
Ground Are sub denotative, further
defining nature of likeness relationship
Are not properly operative, secondary sense function as equivalent to ground
It is clear from the above presentation that Dickins‟s approach reflects the lexicological scale in which the dictionary has a decisive role to make a clear cut
between the two categories, and this approach will be used in this research.
5. Metaphor and Metonymy
