THE COGNITIVE ESSENCE OF THE METAPHOR

The article is devoted to the analysis of what the metaphor means, which stands for the words that they render in their literal form. It is proved that in the metaphor certain words take on a new, or as it is sometimes called, «advanced» meaning, which arises in the context and is separated from it implicitly. It is indicated that the metaphor provides a proper understanding of the text content, expressing the mental statement as precisely as the words in the original sense. The origin of the metaphor is sought in the creation of a language, that is, we mean a word that, due to its original metaphor, generates and continually feeds the linguistic world. There is often so-called basic metaphor in the heart of the statement, a language phenomenon that also needs to be explored and interpreted. Here it is necessary to more clearly define and distinguish the key concept of the metaphor itself, which can be imagined as a conscious transfer the name of a unified thought into another sphere – to another idea. That is, the metaphor in the general sense is viewed not as a certain phenomenon of language, but as one of the constitutional conditions of the metaphor language existence, as one of the most fundamental forms of human thought, as the principle of mentality, which lies outside the language and requires a comprehensive linguistic analysis. We consider the metaphor of discourse as a semantic field, the characteristic feature of which is the affiliation to different terminology systems of the corresponding branch or science. We consider, the metaphor as the embodiment of hidden senses, because the language of metaphors is a symbolic language of human communication and one of the important means in artistic discourse, it is this connecting link between different semantic spaces (in the cognitive aspect). We can assert that the metaphor in the text accumulates a large charge of subjective perception, an individual’s attitude, a personal system of values etc. The metaphor is not limited only to the realm of language, that is, the domain of words: the very processes of human thinking, to a large extent are metaphorical. Metaphors as language expressions become possible only because there are metaphors in the human conceptual system. The metaphor for most people is a means of imagination and rhetorical prosperity – meaning more unusual than ordinary language. Moreover, the metaphor is usually viewed as a characteristic of the language itself; rather as a means of words than thought and action. The metaphor functions in a professional discourse like a living organism that has the properties of heredity and variability, interacts with the environment, that is, «evolves» and «survives» on par with other metaphors, There are two approaches to the analysis of the metaphor, one of which can be called an approach from the object“, and the second –“the approach from the side of the language.” According to some researchers, the metaphor, so to say, “sets at once two ideas instead of one.” Others interpret metaphors as “importers”, which introduce “strange objects in a situation.” We note that the metaphor carries the cognitive contents that the author wants to pass, since the receiver must catch him, and only then he will understand the encoded messages. In order to understand the mechanism of “generation” of metaphorical senses, one must imagine that a metaphor is a certain collection of senses that denotes the class of objects, phenomena, actions on the general sign of the another nomination, similar to this class of objects or individuals. Thus, in the process of metaphorization, we get more and more new meanings, where the metaphor in the language creates names that are capable of identifying existing objects. It is important to identify the patterns of transposition the concepts’ meanings from one sphere to another, which is reflected in the changes of word-terms meaning. Thus, according to the classical understanding of metaphor researchers, this is a semantic transformation in which an image formed in relation to one class of objects is applied to another class, or to another class representative. We share the opinion of the scientists that for a full understanding of the metaphor, the words should be considered not in the space of meanings, but in the field of senses. So, the metaphor as a linguistic and cultural phenomenon is the most important tool of self-knowledge and knowledge of the world as one of the most effective means of pragmatic influence on the recipient. Thefuture analysis of metaphor as interlanguage and intercultural phenomenon has further prospects for research in semantics (semasiology), terminology, invariantology and cognitive linguistics. It is concluded that the metaphor carries the cognitive content that the author wants to convey and the receiver to perceive, therefore this mechanism is achieved by understanding the inner potential of the language. Key words: metaphor, literal metaphor, “erased metaphor”, paraphrase, metaphor of cognitive content, coded metaphor.