This study investigates the acquisition of conventional metaphorical expressions by Chinese learners of English. A conventional metaphorical expression, following the definition of cognitive semantics, refers to the use of a conventionalised non-literal meaning of a lexical item in a multi-word phrase. For example, the word 'attack' in the phrase 'attack one's idea', which should be interpreted as 'to criticise somebody or something severely', clearly departs from the literal meaning 'to use violence to try to hurt or kill somebody', and thus should be seen as a metaphorically used word. Consequently, the phrase 'attack one's idea' is a conventional metaphorical expression. This study explores learners' behaviour towards and acquisition of metaphorical expressions from two major perspectives: (1) possible cross-linguistic influence in the process of acquisition and factors that could affect cross-linguistic influence; and (2) the organisation of learners' bilingual lexicon and the status of metaphorical expressions in a bilingual lexicon. These two perspectives are considered to be the main factors that can influence learners' acquisition of metaphorical expressions: in order to acquire a metaphorical expression, learners should be able to integrate it into the bilingual lexicon, while the process of integration can be impacted by cross-linguistic influence. Previous research has mainly been conducted on the acquisition of certain figurative expressions in a second language, predominantly idioms; however, a combination of the two perspectives and a joint analysis on the acquisition of figurative language has yet to be accomplished. This study presents a first attempt of such analysis on the acquisition of a specific type of figurative language. The results of the experiments reported in this dissertation show that learners react differently to metaphorical expressions with different cross-linguistic availabilities (shared between Chinese and English or exclusively available in Chinese or English) but in general they encounter difficulty to achieve native-like performance when reading metaphorical expressions available in their second language. Persistent cross-linguistic influence is observed in two aspects, even among highly proficient learners: (1) learners encounter obstacles when acquiring the metaphorical expressions that are only available in their second language; and (2) learners seem to still activate the metaphorical meanings that are only available in their first language even when they read in their second language. These results altogether reflect that metaphorical expressions, regardless of cross-linguistic availability, are more difficult to acquire than literal expressions in a second language.

The MA paper analyzes the conceptual metaphors which were used in pre- and post-elective speeches of presidents Bill Clinton and Valdas Adamkus and how the choice of metaphorical expressions influenced the voters' choice. / Darbas analizuoja konceptualias metaforas Bilo Klintono ir Valdo Adamkaus prieš ir po rinkiminėse politinėse kalbose ir kaip metaforų naudojimas įtakojo rinkėjų pasirinkimą.

En tant que moyen de communication qui détermine les structures de base des langues, la métaphore se classe parmi les enjeux les plus importants du domaine de la traductologie, d’où la complexité de la rendre traduisible. La nature indirecte de la métaphore étant problématique, celle-ci exige une étude approfondie, surtout vis-à-vis le transfert de la culture d’une langue à une autre. Un survol de la littérature académique traitant des théories et des approches différentes en traductologie révèle une façon de rendre possible la traduction de la métaphore. Cette étude traite de la traduction des métaphores du perse aux sous-titres anglais. Elle indique également les approches et les stratégies appliquées à la traduction des expressions linguistiques métaphoriques telles que proposées par Newmark (1988). En se fondant sur des exemples authentiques tirés des textes sources (deux films perses bien connus) et leurs traductions anglaises, cette étude démontre la façon dont certains traducteurs iraniens traduisent des expressions métaphoriques en se servant d’une des sept stratégies proposées par Newmark. Elle explique également comment certains éléments (par ex. les difficultés de la traduction) ont été influents sur leurs conclusions, tout en soutenant l’hypothèse que la reproduction d’une même image d’une langue source dans une langue cible ainsi que l’effacement sont respectivement la plus fréquente et la moins fréquente des stratégies employées par les sous-titreurs iraniens. / Metaphor, as a means of communication that determines the basic structures of language, is currently one of the most important issues in the field of translation studies, especially its translatability. In fact, the indirect nature of metaphors is a problem that needs to be addressed in respect to the transfer of culture from one language to another one. An overview of the literature that explores different theories and approaches in the field of Translation Studies proposes a way to make metaphor translation possible. This study examines the translation of metaphors from Persian to English subtitles. It also highlights approaches and strategies for the translation of linguistic metaphorical expressions as proposed by Newmark (1988). By using authentic examples from two source texts (two well known Persian films) along with their English translations, this study illustrates how Iranian translators translate metaphorical expressions using Newmark’s seven proposed strategies. It also shows how certain elements (i.e. translation difficulties) have influenced their decisions and supports the hypotheses in which reproducing the same SL image in the target language and deletion, respectively, are the most frequent and the least frequent strategies used by Iranian subtitlers.