Metaphor 20518 225894458 2008-07-15T22:12:53Z ClueBot 4928500 Reverting possible vandalism by [[Special:Contributions/70.109.180.109|70.109.180.109]] to version by Epbr123. False positive? [[User:ClueBot/FalsePositives|Report it]]. Thanks, [[User:ClueBot]]. (441021) (Bot) {{Three other uses|metaphor in [[literature]] and [[rhetoric]]|metaphors in [[cognitive linguistics]]|conceptual metaphor|metaphors in [[psychotherapy]]|therapeutic metaphor|metaphors in [[computer science]]|interface metaphor}} {{wiktionary|metaphor}} '''Metaphor''' (from the [[Greek language|Greek]]: ''μεταφορά'' - ''metaphora'', μετα meaning "from one place to another" and φορά meaning to carry; thus the word metaphor itself is a metaphor) is language that directly compares seemingly unrelated subjects. In the simplest case, this takes the form: "The ''[first subject]'' is a ''[second subject]''." More generally, a metaphor is a [[rhetoric]]al [[Trope (linguistics)|trope]] that describes a first subject as ''being'' or ''equal to'' a second subject in some way. Thus, the first subject can be economically described because implicit and explicit attributes from the second subject are used to enhance the description of the first. This device is known for usage in [[literature]], especially in [[poetry]], where with few words, emotions and associations from one context are associated with objects and entities in a different context. A metaphor is generally considered to be more forceful and active than an [[analogy]] (metaphor asserts two topics are the same whereas analogy may acknowledge differences). Other rhetorical devices involving comparison, such as [[metonym]], [[synecdoche]], [[simile]], [[allegory]] and [[parable]], share much in common with metaphor but are usually distinguished by the manner in which the comparison between subjects is delivered. ==Metaphor and Simile==<!-- This section is linked from [[Metonymy]] --> Metaphor and [[simile]] are two of the best known [[trope (linguistics)|tropes]] and are often mentioned together as examples of rhetorical figures. Metaphor and simile are both terms that describe a comparison: the only difference between a metaphor and a simile is that a simile makes the comparison explicit by using "like", "as", or "than." The Colombia Encyclopedia, 6th edition, explains the difference as: : ''a simile states that A is like B, a metaphor states that A is B or substitutes B for A.'' According to this definition, then, "You are my sunshine" is a metaphor whereas "Your eyes are like the sun" is a simile. However, some describe similes as simply a specific type of metaphor (see Joseph Kelly's ''The Seagull Reader'' (2005), pages 377-379). Most dictionary definitions of both metaphor and simile support the classification of similes as a type of metaphor, and historically it appears the two terms were used essentially as synonyms. Despite the similarity of the two figures, and the fact that they have historically been used as synonyms, it is the distinction between them which is normally focused upon when the terms are introduced to students. Ironically, "not knowing the difference between a simile and a metaphor" is sometimes used as a euphemism for knowing little about rhetoric or literature. Of course, someone truly versed in rhetoric understands that there is very little difference between metaphor and simile, and that the distinction is trivial compared to, for example, the difference between [[metonymy#Metonymy and metaphor|metonymy and metaphor]]. Nonetheless, many lists of literary terms define metaphor as "a comparison not using like or as", showing the emphasis often put on teaching this distinction. Usually, similes and metaphors could easily be interchanged. For example remove the word 'like' from [[William Shakespeare]]'s simile, "Death lies on her, like an untimely frost," and it becomes "Death lies on her, an untimely frost," which retains almost exactly the same meaning. However, at other times using a simile as opposed to a metaphor clarifies the analogy by calling out exactly what is being compared. "He had a posture like a question mark" (Corbett, ''Classical rhetoric for the modern student'' (1971), page 479) has one possible interpretation, that the shape of the posture is that of a question mark, whereas "His posture was a question mark" has a second interpretation, that the reason for the posture is in question. At other times use of a simile rather than a metaphor adds meaning by calling to attention the process of comparison, as in "A woman without a man is like a fish without a bicycle" ([[Irina Dunn]]). The point is not to compare a woman to a fish, but to ask the reader to consider how the woman is like the fish. Finally, similes are often more convenient than metaphors when analogizing actions as opposed to things: "Wide sleeves fluttering like wings" ([[Marcel Proust]]) does not translate easily from simile to metaphor. == Metaphors in historical linguistics == In historical [[onomasiology]] or, more generally, in [[historical linguistics]], metaphor is defined as semantic change based on similarity, i.e. a similarity in form or function between the original concept named by a word and the target concept named by this word<ref>Cf. [[Joachim Grzega|Grzega, Joachim]] (2004), ''Bezeichnungswandel: Wie, Warum, Wozu? Ein Beitrag zur englischen und allgemeinen Onomasiologie'', Heidelberg: Winter, and Blank, Andreas (1998), ''Prinzipien des lexikalischen Bedeutungswandels am Beispiel der romanischen Sprachen'', Tübingen: Niemeyer.</ref>. Example: ''mouse'' 'small, gray rodent' > 'small, gray, mouse-shaped computer device'. Some more recent linguistic theories view language as by its nature all metaphorical; or that language in essence is metaphorical. ==See also== *[[Simile]] *[[Pataphor]] *[[Tertium comparationis]] *[[Conceptual metaphor]] *[[Conceptual blending]] *[[Therapeutic metaphor]] *[[List of political metaphors]] *[[Nautical metaphors in English]] *[[Reification (fallacy)]] *[[Metaphor in philosophy]] ==Literature== *[[Aristotle]]. ''Poetics''. Trans. I. Bywater. In ''The Complete Works of Aristotle: The Revised Oxford Translation''. (1984). 2 Vols. Ed. [[Jonathan Barnes]]. Princeton, Princeton University Press. *[[I. A. Richards]]. (1936). ''The Philosophy of Rhetoric''. Oxford, Oxford University Press. *[[Max Black]] (1954). “Metaphor,” Proceedings of the Aristotelian Society, 55, pp. 273-294. *[[Max Black]]. (1962). ''Models and Metaphor''. Ithaca, Cornell University Press. *[[Paul Ricoeur]]. (1975). ''The Rule of Metaphor: Multi-Disciplinary Studies in the Creation of Meaning in Language'', trans. Robert Czerny with Kathleen McLaughlin and John Costello, S. J., London: Routledge and Kegan Paul 1978. (Toronto: University of Toronto Press 1977) *[[Donald Davidson (philosopher)|Donald Davidson]]. (1978). "What Metaphors Mean." Reprinted in ''Inquiries Into Truth and Interpretation''. (1984). Oxford, Oxford University Press. *[[Max Black]] (1979). “More about Metaphor,” in A. Ortony (ed) Metaphor & Thought * L. J. Cohen (1979). “The Semantics of Metaphor,” in A. Ortony (ed) Metaphor & Thought *[[John Searle]] (1979). “Metaphor,” in A. Ortony (ed) Metaphor & Thought *[[Jacques Derrida]]. (1982). "White Mythology: Metaphor in the Text of Philosophy." In ''Margins of Philosophy''. Trans. Alan Bass. Chicago, University of Chicago Press. * Clive Cazeaux (2007). ''Metaphor and Continental Philosophy: From Kant to Derrida.'' New York: Routledge. ==References== <references /> ==External links== {{wikiquote|Metaphors}} *[http://zakros.ucsd.edu/~trohrer/metaphor/metaphor.htm Center for the Cognitive Science of Metaphor Online] *[http://knowgramming.com/metaphors/metaphor_chapters/examples.htm Metaphor Examples] *[http://tscp.open.ac.uk/t185/html/resources/r2history.htm ''A short history of metaphor''] *[http://www.americanrhetoric.com/figures/metaphor.htm Audio illustrations of metaphor as figure of speech] *[http://somniloquy.org/archive/v2/poetry/statements.php?item=11 Introduction to Metaphor] *[http://metaphorobservatory.blogspot.com/2008/01/top-ten-metaphors-of-2007.html Top Ten Metaphors of 2007] *[http://criticalinquiry.uchicago.edu/issues/v5/v5n1.html ''Critical Inquiry'' (Autumn 1978) Special Issue: On Metaphors] *"[http://afflatus.ucd.ie/aristotle/ Aristotle]"—a web-resource designed by Tony Veale and Yanfen Hao that uses a large database of similes harvested from the web to generate metaphors on demand for a given topic. *"[http://afflatus.ucd.ie/sardonicus/tree.jsp Sardonicus]"—a web-resource that provides access to the similes, ironic and otherwise, that are harvested from the web for the Aristotle resource above. ;Applications and examples * [http://student.dei.uc.pt/~racosta/jmapper jMapper - Java Library for Analogy/Metaphor Generation] [[Category:Metaphors|*]] [[Category:Figures of speech]] [[Category:Rhetorical techniques]] [[Category:Fiction]] [[Category:Style (fiction)]] [[Category:Literary devices playing with meaning]] [[Category:Word play]] [[Category:Greek loanwords]] {{Link FA|he}} [[bg:Метафора]] [[ca:Metàfora]] [[cs:Metafora]] [[cy:Trosiad]] [[da:Metafor]] [[de:Metapher]] [[et:Metafoor]] [[es:Metáfora]] [[eo:Metaforo]] [[eu:Metafora]] [[fr:Métaphore]] [[gl:Metáfora]] [[hr:Metafora]] [[io:Metaforo]] [[is:Myndhverfing]] [[it:Metafora]] [[he:מטאפורה]] [[ka:მეტაფორა]] [[lt:Metafora]] [[hu:Metafora]] [[mk:Метафора]] [[nl:Metafoor]] [[ja:メタファー]] [[no:Metafor]] [[nn:Metafor]] [[oc:Metafòra]] [[uz:Istiora]] [[pl:Metafora]] [[pt:Metáfora]] [[ro:Metaforă]] [[ru:Метафора]] [[simple:Metaphor]] [[sk:Metafora]] [[sl:Preneseni pomen]] [[sr:Metafora]] [[sh:Metafora]] [[fi:Metafora]] [[sv:Metafor]] [[tr:Mecaz]] [[uk:Метафора]] [[yi:מעטאפאר]] [[zh:隐喻]] Example : The strings of a gutair drive me into the pool of music