Linguistics Encyclopedia.pdf

A-Z 419
Presumably, a child learns a lexical item with respect to some particular
domain of reference that in no way exhausts the set of situations to which
the word can be correctly applied. In this domain of original use, some of
the features of the situation presumably are relevant, and others
presumably are not. Normally speaking, the process of language
comprehension and production for a young child not fully familiar with
the conventional range of application of a term must proceed through a
process of fitting the aspects of the current situation into the closest
lexical concept already available. Often this will conform with the
conventional application of the term and it will therefore appear that the
child is using the bit of language ‘literally’. Just as often, the child will
apply the concepts in a nonstandard way and appear to generate
‘nonliteral’ or ‘metaphorical’ speech. Thus, for example, if the term
‘open’ is learned in the context of (say) a child’s mouth being open, and
then it is applied to a door or a window, the child will appear merely to be
demonstrating an understanding of the term. On the other hand, if the
child uses the term ‘open’ to mean ‘turn on’ (as with a television set or a
light) the child will be perceived as having produced a metaphor. Yet the
process of applying words to situations is much the same in the two
cases—namely that of finding the best word or concept to communicate
the idea in mind. For the child the production of literal and nonliteral
speech may involve exactly the same processes.
There is much else that could be said about metaphors. However, the above should give
an indication of the complexity of the issue, as will the recommended further reading
which contains papers by linguists, philosophers, psychologists, sociologists, and
educationalists, all of whom clearly feel that metaphor is a topic worthy of careful
consideration.
K.M.
SUGGESTIONS FOR FURTHER READING
Ortony, A. (ed.) (1979), Metaphor and Thought, Cambridge, Cambridge University Press.