WEB-ресурс научно-практических конференций

Bielova K.O.

IMAGE STRUCTURE OF THE CONCEPT “PURPOSE”

The term “concept” is widely used by modern scientific literature. Concepts are figures of thought that are behind language signs and are signified by signs. That is why it is very important to study concept “purpose” which occupies one of the central places in English world view because there is purposefulness in everything we do.

Concepts have its structure. Here belong notional, image and value elements. Image structure of the concept under study is mostly explicit.

Popova Z. D. and Sternin I. A. state that image component of the concept is represented by perceptive cognitive manner and metaphors. Perceptive image is created by the totality of visual, gustatory, sound, smell images . Metaphoric concept image is formed by totality of conceptual metaphors [1, p. 62].

In the book “Metaphors We Live By”, authors George Lakoff and Mark Johnson claim that figurative language performs essential functions beyond those found in poetry. According to Lakoff and Johnson, "the essence of metaphor is understanding and experiencing one kind of thing in terms of another" [3, p. 5]. They differentiate the orientational metaphor, the ontological metaphor, and the structural metaphor [3, p. 59].

In our research we analyzed structural metaphor. The concept “purpose” is realized through cognitive metaphor of destination that is a place that you want to get to or a target that you want to hit. The achievement of certain purposes requires going to a certain location, as in going to get a glass of water.

Arriving at one goal leads to creation of another goal and that means that we are always at working out goals and achieving them. A change of actions always exists. We are moving from one location to another. Changes are understood as movements, the causes of changes are conceptualized as forces that cause movements to happen. Actions are, in sense, causes since they are always taken to make changes happen. One always takes actions to achieve a purpose. The purposes of actions then become the desired locations that one wants to reach. That is that purposes are destinations. To reach a destination one always has to take a path that connects the starting location and the destination. The path is thus mapped onto means by which to achieve purposes. In the physical world, there may be different paths leading to the same destination. In the abstract domain, there may be different means to the same end or purpose. Since to achieve one’s purpose is to move and reach destination, difficulties in achieving one’s purpose are accordingly impediments to movement toward the destination.

He knew it must go down to the cattle country, and San Antonio , in the heart of it, was his goal [2, p. 508].

Purposes are understood as objects. To achieve a purpose is to obtain a desired object or get rid of undesirable one.

As one can value , neglect, describe, possess, attain, exchange some object of his/her possession the same happens with purpose. We can have some secret possessions as well as secret goals. Object can be kept somewhere.

What could be his purpose here? [2, p. 97].

Purpose can be also kept, stored somewhere. Objects as well as purposes may be very important, precious and unworthy, useful or unpractical.

By the time he was seventeen he had learned to read the simple, child's primer and had fully realized the true and wonderful purpose of the little bugs [2, p. 394].

But for conceptual metaphor, image structure of the concept “purpose” is also realized in the perceptive image. There are sense of sight, sense of touch, sense of taste, sense of hearing and sense of smell.

Perceptive image of the concept “purpose” is fulfilled in visual way. By doing something person creates a visual image of the final result. For example: My aim is to buy this house [2, p. 621]. House is the purpose. Individual who is dreaming about this house has the visualization of it in his/her mind.

Also sense of hearing may be accomplished through the concept “purpose”. This perception realization through the concept “purpose” is one of the most frequent comparing to the senses of touch, taste and smell.

Mrs. Catherick's object was to ask me to let her daughter, Anne, have the benefit of attending my school… [2, p. 309]

In this case purpose is interview and that is communication. Communication is brought to fruition through the channel that carries the message. If one speaks, the words are carried through the channel of air waves which is the production of sounds. We can state that purpose is to hear someone’s word, respond, and reaction.

Logically the other senses may be reproduced by concept “purpose” though the examples to prove it haven’t been found.

Image component in the structure of the concept “purpose” is presented by perception image and cognitive metaphor. The result of our investigation is that perceptive image of the concept is realized in the senses of hearing and sight. However we surmise that other senses may be carried out as well. Concept “purpose” interrelates with the concept “determination” and “object” on the level of cognitive metaphor.

Bibliography

1. Попова З.Д., Стернин И. А. Когнитивная лингвистика – М.: Восток – Запад, 2007 – 314 с .

2. O.Henry 100 Selected stories – Ware: Wordsworth classics, 1995. – 735 p.

3. Lakoff , G. & Johnson, M. Metaphors we live by . Chicago : University of Chicago Press, 1980. - 206 p.