Metaphors with Implicit Negation in Modern English and Ukrainian: Сognitive and Linguodidactic Aspects

Abstract

This article focuses on the cross-linguistic cognitive study of English and Ukrainian metaphors with implicit negation. The paper aims to prove that some metaphors imply the meaning of negation in the dialogues and monologues and to identify the common and divergent parameters of the cognitive-figurative realization of negation in English and Ukrainian. The investigation is grounded on the methods of comparative analysis, conceptual analysis, contextual analysis, and analysis of the dictionary definitions. The study of communicative-pragmatic features of the use of metaphors reveals that they perform the objecting function in the media. Still, they differ from specialized grammatical means of negation in the emotional and associative background, dependence on the context, and vast opportunities of the interpretation. The obtained results indicate that in both languages, metaphors with the implicit negation are connected to the verbalization of the same nine basic concepts: UNTRUTH, INVALIDITY, FAILURE, INEFFICACIOUSACY, RELUCTANCE, UNCERTAINTY, USELESSNESS, INACTION, ABSENCE OF PROSPECT. The study found that often such metaphors are the result of transferring close or similar domains. The authors conclude that English and Ukrainian, despite the fundamental differences in the grammatical realization of the negation, are very similar in the ways of formation the metaphors with the negative meaning. The paper gives some methodological recommendations for a more effective study of the metaphors with implicit negation in the higher educational institutions.