Publication details
Metaphor in Specialized Language
| Authors | |
|---|---|
| Year of publication | 2015 |
| Type | Appeared in Conference without Proceedings |
| MU Faculty or unit | |
| Citation | |
| Description | Along with the rapid development of science and technology comes a growing demand for new specialized language units. As we are unlikely to develop a separate term for every new concept, terms often arise as meaning extensions of previously existing words, for example by means of metaphorical mappings. This presentation discusses the conceptual metaphor MACHINE IS A HUMAN BODY and its various instantiations in specialized language texts, focusing mainly on the verbs bleed and feed that are used to describe specific motions of gases and fluids in hydraulic machinery. It is claimed that these metaphors exploit some pre-existing similarities between MACHINES and HUMAN BODIES, most prominently the dependence of the overall structure on running fluids and gases for proper operation. Thanks to these similarities, some processes in MACHINES are conceptualized in structurally similar way as processes in HUMAN BODY, which prompts their naming by words from the domain of HUMAN BODY, such as bleed and feed. This is of particular importance in information-dense specialized language texts, as it allows referring to fairly complex technical processes by means of simple linguistic forms. |
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