Conceptual metaphor is a key concept in cognitive linguistics, which suggests that our understanding of abstract concepts is often based on more concrete and familiar domains. The inference functions of conceptual metaphors refer to how we use these metaphorical mappings between different domains to reason, understand, and communicate about the world around us.
There are several ways in which conceptual metaphors can aid our reasoning and inference:
Highlighting similarities between different domains: Conceptual metaphors help us identify similarities between two seemingly unrelated domains by highlighting shared characteristics or attributes. For example, the metaphor “love is a journey” maps the concept of love onto the domain of travel, suggesting that love has stages, milestones, and destinations like a journey.
Extending knowledge from one domain to another: By mapping concepts from one domain onto another, we can extend our knowledge and understanding beyond what we already know. For instance, if we understand the concept of “argument” as a battle or conflict (as in the metaphor “argument is war”), we can apply our knowledge about warfare to reason about arguments.
Providing structure for abstract concepts: Conceptual metaphors provide structure for abstract concepts by mapping them onto more concrete domains with well-defined structures. For instance, the metaphor “time is money” provides a clear structure for time as a commodity that can be spent, saved or wasted like money.
Generating new insights and perspectives: Conceptual metaphors can generate new insights and perspectives by revealing hidden or unexpected connections between different domains. For example, the metaphor “the mind is a computer” suggests that mental processes are akin to computational processes with inputs, outputs and operations.
In summary, conceptual metaphors play an important role in reasoning and inference by allowing us to map complex or abstract concepts onto more concrete domains that are easier to understand and reason about. They help us extend our knowledge beyond existing boundaries, provide structure for abstract concepts, and generate new insights and perspectives.
