Abstract

A selection of idiomatic expressions is analysed here using Conceptual Metaphor Theory as an analytical framework. This theory is critiqued with reference to the “invariance principle,” which aims to explain the mechanisms behind the mapping of metaphors, including the factors which restrict these mappings. Following cognitive linguists like Gibbs, idioms are seen as analogous to any other linguistic metaphors, and are presented as conventional manifestations of underlying conceptual metaphors. The idioms were selected from two texts, and were attested by six native speakers of Northern Sotho, who checked both the accuracy of the translation and the import of the metaphorical idioms. The standard version of the invariance principle, as presented by George Lakoff in his initial works, needs to be updated, as it fails to account for how idioms are interpreted. The findings here concur with the critiques of this principle as found in works by scholars like Wallington and Stockwell.

摘要

这里使用概念隐喻理论作为分析框架来分析惯用语的选择。引用“不变性原理”对这一理论进行了批评，“不变性原理”旨在解释隐喻映射背后的机制，包括限制这些映射的因素。在像吉布斯这样的认知语言学家之后，习语被视为类似于任何其他语言隐喻，并且被呈现为潜在概念隐喻的常规表现形式。这些习语是从两个文本中选出的，并由北索托语的六位母语人士作证，他们检查了翻译的准确性和隐喻习语的输入。乔治·拉科夫（George Lakoff）在其最初的作品中提出的不变性原理的标准版本需要更新，因为它无法解释成语的解释方式。这里的发现与沃灵顿（Wallington）和斯托克韦尔（Stockwell）等学者的作品中对这一原理的批评一致。