A study on english metaphor related to the proper names

Therefore, it is a must to me to study metaphor related toproper names that has made a deep expression on me fora long time because, I myself find it so interesting thatthe proper names

Part i: introduction 1.rationale.

Nowadays, English is the most widely used in the worldand plays an important role together with thedevelopment of society and technologies English is notonly the effective means of communication but also showits progressive effects in many aspects of life

Practically, study on the similarities and differencesbetween the two languages and cultures English andVietnamese has been one of my concerns when studyingEnglish at university It is clear that there are manydifferences between the two languages of as those ingrammar, lexicology, translation, phonetic and so on.However there still exists plenty of similarities anddifferences between English and Vietnamese that can bedemonstrated through metaphorical meaning especiallymetaphor in literature and idioms expression

This study of metaphor has been traditionally associatedwith the study of literature, the use of metaphor is notrestricted to this kinds of language A good understanding

of how metaphor is used in everyday language is not onlyimportant for students of English to increase ourvocabulary, but also to understand new and originalmetaphor when we hear or speak them

However, what I want to express here it that idioms andproverbs are the genius of national language that is thekey help learners know more about nation, as well as

Therefore, it is a must to me to study metaphor related toproper names that has made a deep expression on me for

a long time because, I myself find it so interesting thatthe proper names not only reflect the concepts bur alsorefer the characteristic of person and places I alwayswonder why the following phenomena is, for example,English expression: he is a Othello has an equivalent one

in Vietnamese : “hắn đúng là hoạn th” and many cases

we cannot find any equivalent of this language’s idiomsand expression and the character in literature, clearly,most language make use of metaphor but the wayindividual words used varies from one language toanother and each language has its own system and thatthey cannot always transfer the metaphorical use of aword from one language to another

Importantly, metaphor help learners see the interest thebeauty as well as the culture colour of language whichhelp learners use and understand correctly and clearly Ihope that learners will understand about metaphor inEnglish especially metaphor relating to the proper namesthat is also the main reason motivating me to carry outthis research

2 Aims of the study.

My research aims at.:

+ giving theoretical background of metaphor

+ presenting some difficulties faced by Vietnameselearners of English in terms of idioms in general and theidioms related to the proper names in particular

2

+ giving some suggested solutions to overcome thesedifficulties,

+ finding the metaphorical characteristic of factors related

to the proper names in English idioms and literature

3 Methods of the study.

The study on metaphor in not only English idioms but alsoliterature related to the proper names is carried out withcomparative methods with a hope that learners could seethe role of metaphor in using idioms and literature fromsome linguists, typical examples and extracted fromvarious types of books Besides, idioms were collectedfrom dictionary to get valuable knowledge for this paper.Furthermore, Information related to the research paperfrom websites was also looked into in order to completethis research successfully

4 Scope of the study.

During the study process, I have been attracted bymetaphor - one of the figure of speech as well asmetaphor in English idioms and expression about theproper names

Because of time allowance and knowledge, I cannot coverall idioms and proverbs on these issues bur only focus onidioms related to proper names, here is a sample ofdiscussing on metaphor in English idioms: typical propernames in literature and idioms, in each kind of propernames, I introduce some outstanding idioms to illustrate

5.Design of the study.

The study consists of three parts

Part 1: is introduction, including rationale, aims of thestudy, methods of the study, scope of the study, anddesign of the study

Part 2 is development that is divided into three chaptersChapter 1 is background knowledge on the study Itsupplies the definition characteristic, classification anddefinition

Chapter 2 is an analysis of metaphor in English related toproper names

Chapter 3 is metaphor related to proper names is Englishcomparison with Vietnamese

Part 3 is a conclusion which gives a summary of the wholestudy mentioned in the previous parts

4

Part II: development

Chapter i:

theoretical background of metaphor IN ENGLISH.

Before researching to detail the use and the meaning ofmetaphors related to proper names, it is important tounderstand the history and the use of metaphors in dailylife

I.1 What is metaphor

Theoretically, there are a lot of different ways to definewhat is metaphor According to Oxford Advance Learner’sdictionary: metaphor is a word or phrase used to describesomebody or something else, in a way that is differentfrom its normal use, in order to show that two things havethe same qualities and to make the description morepowerful For example,“ she has a heart of stone”(www.wordnet.princeton.edu/per/webn) Metaphor in thisdefinition refers to the expression that has no literalmeanings and based on the similarity not to show theliteral meanings but figurative meaning, but metaphor,according to Hoang Tat Truong (1993:7), can beunderstood as the transference of names based on theassociation of similarity, we call one objects and findsome common features between them that is we canliken something to something else on certain grounds

Eg :

He is a bee

Truong (1993:81)

Here, the association of similarity is about the behaviour

or character of the bee and the person ( he) hardworkingcharacter metaphor is also understood that in each

metaphor, there are two main parts: the tenor and the vehicle(www.educationphauner.com/education-

plauner/eaasy-artideaps) This can be understood that thetenor is applied there are two parts come together toreach a point of similarity know as ground

Eg:

She is a fox

Truong (1993:80)Here, the association of similarity is about the behaviour

or character of the fox and the person (she): cunningperson character

I.2 Characteristic features.

Metaphor is the transference of names based on theassociation of similarity In other words metaphor is ahidden comparison

I.2.1Similarity of shape.

Take the example:

Neck of the bottleMouth of the cave

Truong (1993:80)

In these examples, looking at metaphorical expressionthe “neck” is not a neck-part of the human body, but it isthe narrow part at the top of the bottle, also the word “mouth” in the last one is a part of the body that is small

6

and round Mouth is also used as a metaphor to refer theentrance of a cave and the other example such as:

The head of a cabbageThe teeth of a saw

Truong (1993:80) Finding many meaning of metaphors, the metaphoricalexpressions are based on the identification of shape

I.2.2Similarity of size

Look at the example:

Their daughter is quite plump but their son is positively

elephantineEnglish –Vietnamese –Dictionary (1993:559)

The image of “ elephantine” is used metaphorically make

hidden comparison with a big person

I.2.3 Similarity of position

Look at the following example:

The foot of a mountainThe heart of the country

Truong (1993:79)Such expression as “ foot of the mountain” is described as

a similarity of position “ foot” is the lowest part of thebody and it is used metaphorically to refer to the footmountain, the metaphor is stimulated by theidentification of the mountain Further one, “heart” isused metaphorically because, it is an important part ofthe body and in the center position In such way “leg ofthe table” or “tail of the procession” and so on, we is also

I.2.4 Similarity of movement

Look at the example:

They had to worm their way through the narrow tunnel

English – Vietnamese – dictionary (1993:2069)The river snaked away into the distanceEnglish – Vietnamese – dictionary (1993:1690)The image of “worm” is an animal with a soft rounded orflattened body It is put in the real context with function

as a verb to compare with a twisting movement of aperson like a worm The other example, the verb “snake”

is used as a metaphor based on the identification ofmovement

I.2.5 Similarity of function

Basing on the similarity of function, these examples:

Key to the mysteryHead of the classHand of the clock

Truong (1993:80)

We easily see that “key”, “head” and “hand” in this casesare not a key to open clock, head- part of the body andnot a hand of the body, they also do not belong toinstrument, success or clock, in fact metaphoricalmeanings in these examples are applied to anyobstructing , this transference of meaning is based onsome common features to refer to similarity of function

I.2.6 Similarity of colour

E.g

8

The rose of clouds at downEnglish – Vietnamese –Dictionary (1993:1539)

An orange lightEnglish – Vietnamese –Dictionary (1993:1216)The words “ rose” and “ orange” are described assimilarity of colour, “ the rose of clouds at down” is akind of flower and it is used as a metaphor to refer to theclouds that has rose of clouds And the second one “ anorange light”, the word “ orange” is a kind of fruit and it is

as a metaphor to refer to the lights that has orangecolour Therefore, the metaphorical expressions are based

on the identification of colour

I.2.7 Similarity of behaviour and character

Look at the following example

He is a fox

He is an Othello

Truong (1993:80) The word “fox” here is a name of animal that indicates abig animal which is very wise and clever Fox is usedmetaphorically with the negative meaning to refer to aperson cunning character or if we say “he is an Othello”,

it refers to a person who is very jealous, that are used asmetaphor based on the similarity of character andbehaviour

I.2.8 Similarity of sound

Taking the following example for the illustration of thesimilarity of sound an metaphors

He roared with his childrenEnglish – Vietnamese – dictionary (2002:1533) The verb “ roar” is the sound made by lion or tigerpeople say that “ the lion roared”, in above example “roar” does not have this meaning , but it is usedmetaphorically to refer to a very angry father who soundsloudly, we also say that “ she is bombed with lots ofquestions” It is described what happened to someonesurprisingly, immediately and uninterruptedly They arethe most clear-cut types of similarity The others are hard

to defined, for many metaphor are not based on thesimilarity

or brings these two concepts together is the perception,based in part on culture and in part on feeling that allhuman beings share It is advisable to take two followingexamples for clearer illustration

Thoa (2005:9)These two metaphors are resulted from the transference

of space relation upon psychological and mental notion,i.e the relation between the concrete and obstract

On the whole, the similarities on which metaphor arebased on so various or sometimes are not clear-cut orpresent in metaphors

I.3 Classification of metaphor

Metaphor can be classified into four main types: livingmetaphor, fade metaphor and dead metaphor

I.3.1 Living metaphor

Living metaphor that can be called active metaphor isone which relatively new and has not become part ofeveryday linguistic usage It is created and used byindividuals Living metaphor, according to Hoang TatTruong (1993:81) " When a word has an unusualmetaphorical sense or the metaphor is created and used

As for this type of metaphor, the addressee can recognizethem easily as they are new and very impressive Also,

living metaphor are often created or used by individual,poets and writers.

I.3.2 Fade metaphor

According to Hoang Tat Truong (1993:81) " fade (trite)metaphor is one that has lost its freshness due to longand traditional use" And it is necessary to note that themeanings of faded metaphor are registered in dictionariessince they are of common use We can take the followingmetaphor for example:

E.g:

Her voive is sweetShe is a snack

Truong (1993:81)Their word " sweet" is used as metaphor to refer to aperson who has a very persuasive and skillful voice Andthe word " Snack" in the second one is also usedmetaphorically to express a person (she): dangerouscharacter

Faded metaphors have lost the freshness, vigor andemotional associations they must have had Presently,they are sleeping and half dead metaphors which are onlyaroused in special circumtances Many metaphors havebecome cliches of as " stand shouder to shouder with" orkeep one's head above water, as they now lose theemotional associations that once went with them

I.3.3 Dead metaphor

According to Hoang Tat Truong (1993:81) " Deadmetaphor is a metaphor which is no longer felt as a

12

metaphor because the direct meaning of the word hasbeen completely lasr" we can look at following examplefor a highlight.

Hence we can say that dead metaphor are only used withtheir indirect or figurative meaning but their direct orliteral meanings are completely lost On the whole, eachtype of metaphors can bring a different degree ofmetaphorical sense to the addressee ranging from theliving, faded and to the dead metaphor

All theoretical background mentioned above aim toprovide a theoretically fundermental basis that is a keywhich helps me get more knowledge and experience instudying metaphors about proper names in many aspectsand expressions that will be referred to in the nextchapter

In this part, before presenting the metaphorical meaning

of the words related to the proper names in English, allthe words relating such proper names and the history offormation of words will be presented first

II Metaphor in English related to the eponymous words.

A number of words in English have originated from thenames of people They contributed and devoted their lifeand achievements to human Therefore their name isformed so that we remember their life Their namebecame popular in daily life which is reminded us toassociate to many things and events, in order to see theeponymous words we will analyze some metaphor related

to the proper names

II.1 Metaphor related to Boycott.

The words “boycott” here is used to metaphorically to

refer to refuse to deal with or a refusal to deal with

in order to see the mean of boycott clearly, look at thefollowing example:

E g:

The anarchist speaker urged all citizents to boycott the

elections

O’ Dell (1995:30)The word “ boycott” named after a land lord in Irelandwho made himself unpopular by his treatment of histenants and was socially isolated

16

II.2 Metaphor related to Louis Braille.

Louis Braille was the son of a French leather worker He

went blind at the age of three when he felt on a tool in hisfather’s workshop But Louis was brave and talented boy

He wanted to be a musician, so he learned to play thecello, and at the age of ten he won a scholarship to theNational Institute for Blind Children in Paris He could playcello but he could not read or write In 1819 a Frenchsolider, Charles Barbier invented “ night writing”, he usedpatterns of twelve raised dots on paper so that solderscould read in the dark Louis Braille understood theimportance of this invention for blind people and when hewas fifteen, he began to develop it He made it simplierwith six dots, not twelve In 1829 he introduced it at the

Institute By 1923 “Braillie” was in use all over the world

in many languages, but unfortunately, Louis died oftuberculosis in 1852 and never knew of the importance ofhis invention

Liz & John Soars (1995:41)

Eg: He read this book by Braille

AS Hornby (1990:99)

II.3 Metaphor related to hooligan

The word “ hooligan” is used to metaphorically refer a

rough, lawless youth which named from the Irish familyname hooligan

E g:

Acts of vandalism committed by football hooligans

II.4 Metaphor related to Machiavellion.

The word “ machiavellion” is used to metaphorically refer

to cunning, deceitful, unscrupulous in the pursuit

of a goal , so that we see the meaning of the word “

machiavellion”, we look at the following example.

E g:

He is a machiavellion person

O’ Dell (1995:30)

The word “ machiavellion” named from Niccolo

Machiavelli, the Italian stateman who died in 1527

II.5 Metaphor related to Pander

The word “pander” named from Pandaros, a procurer or

pimp in Ancient Greek mythology So as to furtherunderstand the meaning and the using of the word

“pander”, look at the following example:

II.6 Metaphor related to Tawdry.

The word “ tawdry” is used to metaphorically refer to

cheap and tasteless Look at this example:

E g:

He is only a tawdry person

O’ Dell (1995:30)

18

The word “tawdry” named from ST Audrey, at whose

cheap gaudy scarves wore sold

II.2 Metaphor in English idioms, proverbs and

sayings related to the proper names

Metaphor is not only used in eponymous words but alsothe idioms, sayings and proverbs, and there are manyproper names using in the idioms and proverbs, in order

to see the metaphor idioms, sayings and proverbs clearlyrelating to the proper names, we will research thefollowing situations

II.2.1 Metaphor related to the idioms “ happy as Larry”.

The idioms “happy as Larry” here is used to

metaphorically to refer to extremly happy Look at the

example:

E g:

She is happy as Larry

www.usingenglish.com

This mean the degree of emotion “great happy” the word

“ Larry” was named after in Australia or New Zealand anddated from around 1875 It has been suggested that itcomes from the name of the Australia boxer Larry Foleythough why he was particularly happy no one seems toknow he won a lot of contests

II.2.2 Metaphor related to the proverb: Rob Peter

to pay Paul.

The idiom “ Rob Peter to pay Paul” is used to

person in order to give to another Look at the

II.2.3 Metaphor related to the idiom: any Tom, Dick

or Harry.

The list has included other names down the centuriessuch as Jack and Will- Shakespeare has Tom, Dick andFrancis in Henry IV

E g:

He won’t talk to any Tom, Dick or Harry

B J Thomas (2002:114)This mean is person is a real snob, he’s only interested in people who are rich or famous

II.2.4 Metaphor related to “peeping Tom”

Eg:

They are some peeping Tom

Someone who spies on the other people, especially by

looking through their windows, is called a peeping Tom.

B J Thomas (2002:114)

II.2.5 Metaphor related to “ smart Alec”

Take an example:

20