The Oxford Handbook of Cognitive Linguistics Part 23. In the past decade, Cognitive Linguistics has developed into one of the most dynamic and attractive frameworks within theoretical and descriptive linguistics The Oxford Handbook of Cognitive Linguistics is a major new reference that presents a comprehensive overview of the main theoretical concepts and descriptive/theoretical models of Cognitive Linguistics, and covers its various subfields, theoretical as well as applied. | 190 JOSEPH E. GRADy 2. Basics of Conceptual Metaphor ÏHEORy The most fundamental notion of conceptual metaphor theory CMT is the This term borrowed from mathematics refers to systematic metaphorical correspondences between closely related ideas. For example the common conceptualization of a nation or other political body as a ship includes correspondences between the ship and the state conceived as wholes but also between the course of the ship and the historical progression of the state the seas traversed by the ship and the political and other circumstances with which the state is faced and so forth. Rather than existing as isolated specimens the metaphorical usages within a passage like the following depend on this conventional pattern of conceptual associations. The blueprints drafted last week will ensure that the ship of the Commonwealth truly remains one for the ages. The House Budget. will allow the state to withstand even the stormiest weather. Continued commitment to our most needy and the Commonwealth s most essential obligations is critical ballast for every successful ship of state. from Massachusetts State Representative Paul Casey s Web page http emphasis mine In the CMT system the course of the ship is said to map or be mapped or projected onto the historical progression of the state and other elements of the conceptual domain of ships and navigation the source domain are likewise mapped onto elements of the conceptual domain of nations and politics. The source domain of a metaphor here ships and navigation supplies the language and imagery which are used to refer to the domain which is actually at issue in the discourse the target domain in this case politics and states . As it is used in popular discourse the metaphor includes at least the following conventional cross-domain correspondences see Grady Oakley and Coulson 1999 state State s policies action Determining policies actions Success .
