饮食作为英语中隐喻的来源外文翻译资料

Eating and Drinking as Sources of Metaphor in English

Author: JOHN NEWMAN，Department of Linguistics，Massey University

Source : LST, Cuadernos de Filologiacute;a Inglesa, 6/2, 1997, pp.213-231

ABSTRACT

Eating and drinking are basic acts in ordinary human experience and concepts relating to these acts are sources for metaphorical ways of describing a great variety of events in English and other languages. This paper provides an account of the components of the basic digestive acts and the various metaphorical mappings which each of these components gives rise to in English. Following the orientation of Lakoff and Johnson (1980) and most discussion of metaphor since then within the cognitive linguistics movement, metaphor is understood as essentially a relationship between concepts, relating the concepts associated with a source domain to the concepts associated with the target domain.

KEY WORDS: eating and drinking, metaphorical mappings, source domain, target domain

1. INTRODUCTION

A strong theme evident in much of the Cognitive Linguistics movement is the interest in. and respect for, a human perspective, or more broadly, experiential reality (cf. Lakoff 1987:266), in motivating and explicating linguistic phenomena. A natural way to develop this interest is to focus attention on the human body and the way in which it functions as a basic domain, functioning as a source for metaphorical understanding of other, less basic domains. The unique place of the human body in our daily lives makes the human body, and its associated parts and processes, conceptually basic. Hence, body parts and the processes the body is involved in, serve as natural source domains for many kinds of metaphors. Considerable attention has already been given to body parts and the way in which they are metaphorically extended to various domains, including extensions to quite abstract, grammatical functions (see, for example, Heine et al. 1991a:124-131, Heine et al.1991b:151-153, Rubba 1994). Equally worthy of attention, as sources of metaphorical extension, are basic acts or events involving our bodies. This interest is already evident in

the Cognitive Linguistics literature - cf. the discussion of sense-perception verbs in Sweetser (1990: 32-48); 'come'/'go' verbs in Radden (1995) and Shen (1995); 'stand'/'lie' in Serra Bometo (1995); 'give'/'take' in Newman (1996). The present study develops this interest further by examining the concepts of 'eating' and 'drinking' (surely among the most basic concepts, from, the human perspective) as source domains for metaphorical extension in English.

In what follows. I document a representative range of metaphorical extensions of mainly verbal (as opposed to nominal) concepts relating to 'eating' and 'drinking'. The examples of such extensions do include conventionalized usage in ordinary language, but most of the examples have been taken from British and North American literature (novels and poetry), written within the last 150 years or so. The examples were noted by me as 1 read through a diverse selection of material drawn from many different authors and writing styles. This way of proceeding enabled me to collect a substantial number of examples, together with the contexts in which they occur - an important consideration in appreciating the full effect of figurative usage of language. The study focuses on the broad category of verbal concepts relating to eating and drinking, rather than the specific verbs eat and drink. This approach thus follows Lakoff and Johnson (1980), Lakoff (1987:276), and Lakoff and Tumer (1989:63) in construing metaphor as a relationship between conceptual domains. Throughout this study, the domain of eating drinking will be the source domain; the target domains, as will be seen, are various, but include the emotional domain, the intellectual domain, and the psychological domain.

2. LITERAL 'eat' AND 'drink'

Before we enter into a discussion of the metaphorical extensions of 'eat' and 'drink' words, it is necessary to say something about the processes involved in the eating and drinking acts. The various extensions of 'eat' and 'drink' verbs are motivated by facets of these acts and it is only by properly identifying these facets that we can properly understand the metaphorical extensions. In turning our attention to these basic acts, we must consider the folk theory of these acts, rather than any expert medical knowledge of the processes involved. This is consistent with a cognitive linguistic approach which takes experiential reality， in this case how ordinary people understand the acts of eating and drinking, as the relevant kind of reality in helping to explicate linguistic phenomena. If we were considering specifically medical terminology, devised by medical experts, then of course it would be appropriate to consider the specialized medical knowledge which motivates the extension. Dealing as we are, however, with the lay persons use of language, rooted in a folk understanding of the processes involved, it is entirely appropriate that we proceed in this way.

The act of eating is multifaceted. As a convenient way of detailing the act，one may recognize the following components, based on my own conception of what is the most typical kind of eating. It is appropriate to acknowledge an aspect of the larger frame of eating which precedes and is causally connected to the act namely some degree of hunger. It is the experience of hunger which encourages one, even compels one, to eat. This is not to deny that one may have to eat even when one lacks an appetite. But the overwhelming majority of eating acts coincide with and result from an hunger which demands food in satisfaction. Eating is something desired and initiated by the eater, not something that happens to the eater. As for the a

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饮食作为英语中隐喻的来源

作者：约翰·纽曼,梅西大学语言学系

来源：美《盐湖城论坛报》,英语语言笔记本,6/2, 1997, pp.213-231

摘要：饮食是人类经验的基本行为，而在英语和其他一些语言中，与饮食相关的概念是描述事件所用的隐喻方式的来源。 本文介绍了基本消化行为及其在英语中产生的各种隐喻映射。随着莱考夫和约翰逊（1980）的方位隐喻论和此后在认知语言学运动中大部分对隐喻的讨论，隐喻基本上被理解为概念之间的一种关系，将源域与目标域的概联系起来。

关键词:饮食,隐喻映射,源域,目标域

一 介绍

在大多数认知语言学运动中，一个鲜明的主题是人们尊崇从人类视角，或更广泛的体验现实角度来创造和解释语言现象(cf. Lakoff 1987:26)。这体现在一种关注人体本身并把它作为基本域的方式，并以此作为其他次基本域事物的隐喻来源。在日常生活中，人体的独特之处在于人体及其相关部分和生理过程在概念上是“基本”的。因此，身体部位以及身体参与的过程是许多隐喻的自然源头。人类身体部位及其通过隐喻拓展到其他领域的方式已经得到极大关注，包括抽象的拓展，语法功能的延伸等。人体的生理行为和过程同样是值得关注的隐喻来源。这种趋势在认知语言学文献中已经很明显，请参考 Sweetser (1990:32-48)对感知动词的讨论；Radden（1995）和Shen（1995）对“来”/“去”动词的讨论； Serra Bometo (1995) 对'站立'/'躺下'的讨论； Newman(1996) 对'给'/'拿'的讨论。本文通过探索 “吃”和“喝”（从人类视角来看，肯定是最基本的概念之一）作为英语隐喻扩展的源域，进一步推动了此类研究。

进而，我列举了与“吃”和“喝”相关的口头上的（而不是书面上的）隐喻延伸。这种隐喻扩展的例子包括日常语言里的常规用法，但大多数例子都取自过去150年间的英美文学（小说和诗歌）。这些例子是我阅读不同的作者和不同写作风格的材料后所记录下来的。这种方式使我收集到了大量例子及其上下文（上下文是赏析比喻用法所达到的效果的重要关注点）。本文的研究重点是与饮食相关的广泛的词语范畴，而不是具体的动词“吃”、“喝”。因此，这种方法遵循莱考夫和约翰逊（1980）的观点：将隐喻视为概念域之间的一种关系。本文认为：饮食域是源域；目标域多种多样，包括情感领域，知识领域和心理领域。

二 词汇“吃”、“喝”

在我们讨论“吃”和“喝”这个词的隐喻延伸之前，有必要谈谈饮食行为的过程。 “吃”和“喝”动词的各种隐喻是由饮食行为本身促成的，只有正确地识别这些行为才能理解隐喻的拓展。关注这些基本行为时，我们必须考虑这些饮食行为的民间说法，而不是任何相关的专业医学知识。这与认知语言学的方法相一致：将体验式现实（即普通人所理解的与饮食相关的行为）作为解释语言现象时的现实。如果我们在研究医学专家设计的具体医学术语，那么当然应该考虑促使这些医学术语意义延伸的专业医学知识。然而，外行人使用语言是对所涉过程的一种民间理解，因此，我们使用这种方法完全合适。

吃的行为过程是多阶段的。首先，饥饿的体验会促使甚至强迫一个人进食。我们并不否认，即使人们没有胃口也不得不进食。但是，绝大多数的饮食行为与要求食物满足饥饿有关。进食是必须的、自发的，而不是偶发性的。我们可以注意到，对于具体进食行为，首先，口中需要摄取一些固体物质，通常由食者用自己的手来获取；其次是咀嚼口中的食物，主要涉及牙齿，舌头和上腭；接着，被咀嚼过的食物通过吞咽过程从喉部向下传入肠胃，在肠道内消解食物，通常这一过程可以称之为消化。当然，剩下的残渣最终会被排泄。除了组成实际进食行为的这些过程外，我们还需要认识最重要的饮食功能，即身体所提供的营养。

饮与食之间的相似之处就是摄入，吞咽并消化滋养身体的物质，（通常情况下）还具有好味道的味觉感官效果。 饮食这两种行为不仅在结构上是相似的,而且往往一起发生。相应地，语言中也有两个表示这两种行为的词汇（进餐和宴请通常包括进食和饮水两部分）。 然而，它们在某些方面也有所不同，特别是液体不以食物的方式被咀嚼，并且从摄入到入胃，其液体形式保持不变。正如下面将解释的，这些差异对于理解饮食隐喻的不同方式至关重要。

三、面向主体的隐喻扩展

一些饮食词语的隐喻是由主体（即饮食者）在饮食过程中的角色促使的。饮食过程中的主体具有“内在化”的强大形象，即将某些东西（食物）融入个人或私人领域。这是将各种事件概念化的基础，也可能被归为“内部化”。本文将在第三节讨论一系列隐喻，从而论证：促进隐喻的是饮食者的角色，而不是所吃的东西。

3.1 摄取

饮食的动词可能会延伸到一些物理物质的摄取，而不仅仅是食物或饮料。空气是饮食动词的一个常见宾语。 如（1）：

a.He came to this country like a torch on fire and he swallowed air as he walked forward and he gave out light. (Ondaatje 1987:149)
b. I pace the earth, and drink the air, and feel the sun. (Housman 1896/1939:72, Poem XLVIII)

在 (1a)中，吞下空气是用来描述新来的移民在新世界的乐观和热情。它描述了当主角向前迈进时，通过嘴巴猛烈的呼吸空气的场景。“swallowed”强调全身心地，直接吸引空气，与全身心地拥抱新国的感情相符。（1b）描述的吸入空气的愉悦之情与（1a）相似， “drink”表现出了吸入空气时的丰富、不间断和愉快（与喝水即液体或多或少不断地流入体内相似）。在表1中，我列出了（1a）中所隐含的饮食领域与呼吸领域之间映射的关键点。与描述其他隐喻映射时一样，源域及其子部分列在左侧，目标域及其子部分列在右侧。这些描述中饮食域的子部件通常将包括第2部分中所述饮食的各个方面。在适当的情况下，源域的每个子部分都与目标域的一个子部分相对应，但非总能实现。在（1a）的情况下，事实上，对隐喻的充分理解涉及这三个领域：饮食领域，呼吸领域，人类生物体的领域以及在一般情况下与生活经验有关的领域。在整个小说的背景下，“swallowed air”表达的是在新世界里拥抱生活，这个例子将吸入空气概念化，又是饮食域的概念化。

3.2 情感的营养

较抽象的内在化类型涉及“吸取”外在刺激，这种外在刺激能够增强和支撑某人的情感状态，如（2）：

a.. . .waiting to see what she would say to feed my heart with hope. (Cooper 1982:82)
b. Go slow, my soul, to feed thyself Upon his rare approach (Dickinson 189011960:565, Poem 1297)
c. She was uncritically idolised by an army of fans, male and female. She ate up the adoration . . . (Marie Claire magazine, Feb. 1996:176, on the actress Lana Turner)

在（2a）中，口头话语被用来“feed my heart”从而转化为人们内心的希望，同时我的“心脏”被转喻为人的情感面。 在（2b）中，一个人的灵魂被用来“feed thyself”，而增加了其情感的满足。在这里，我的灵魂作为承载情感之所。 在（2C）中，这是Lana Turner “ate up ”公众的崇拜并且十分享受。正如表2所示，饮食领域和情感领域之间的映射是广泛的。尽管有多种映射可以增加隐喻用法的丰富度，但是“吃”或“喝”这一种特殊用法可能比其他词语更能体现出这种映射关系。 例如上面的（2b）例句就出现了所有这些子映射的情况。

3.3知识的营养

饮食域可以映射到知识域。 在（4a）中的隐喻延伸在于动词词组“fatten oneself”。 虽然缺乏明确的与饮食有关的动词，但是（4b）和（4c）中的例子也在饮食领域和知识领域之间建立了强有力的对应关系。

(4) a. So she built up the plaintive, self-deprecating image while privately she fattened herself on the lsquo;big books . . .rsquo;(Gordon 1984:83-84)
b. Greek . . . is my daily bread, and a keen delight to me. (From Virginia Woolfs Letters 1900, quoted in Gordon 1984:93)
c. intellectual appetite must round out the womans point of view, she said, thinking of George Eliot. lsquo;She must reach beyond the sanctuary and pluck for herself the strange fruits of art and knowledge. (George Eliot, quoted 1 n Gordon 1984:93)

这些例子每一个都有自己特殊的内涵，这些特殊内涵是由使用特定词表示隐喻而引起的，因此在4（a）中，“fatten herself”显示出一个人读书的方式是贪婪而不加节制的，在（4b）中，通过使用圣经短语“daily bread”，学习希腊语被描绘成一种宗教仪式。在（4c）中， “pluck for herself”表达出妇女在拓展自己的文化视野方面需要一定的主动性。 表3总结了（4b）中的例子“Greek . . . is my daily bread”中的主要对应关系。表中这些领域之间有非常强大和完整的映射，这反映在对许多民间饮食词汇的使用中，例如上面提到的把食物比作思想、“消化”意识，“吞咽”想法等。

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