Primary and compound metaphors
In an influential study, Joseph Grady (1997a) addresses this problem by proposing that there are two kinds of metaphor: primary metaphor and compound metaphor. While primary metaphors are foundational, compound metaphors are constructed from the unification of primary metaphors. Grady’s central claim, which marks his approach as distinct from earlier work in Conceptual Metaphor Theory, is that primary metaphors conventionally associate concepts that are equally ‘basic’, in the sense that they are both directly experienced and perceived. This means that Grady rejects the view that the distinction between the target and source of a metaphoric mapping relates to abstract versus concrete concepts. Instead, Grady argues that the distinction between target and source relates to degree of subjectivity rather than how clearly delineated or how abstract a concept is. This view means that the Invariance Principle is redundant because the foundational primary metaphors, upon which more complex metaphor systems are based, are not viewed as providing an ‘abstract’ target with ‘missing’ structure. Consider the following examples of primary metaphors proposed by Grady, together with example sentences.
Grady accounts for these metaphors in the following terms (small capitals added):
. . . the target concepts [e.g. SIMILARITY, IMPORTANCE, QUANTITY, CAUSES, CHANGE and DESIRE] lack the kind of perceptual basis which characterises the source concepts . . . CHANGE, for instance, can be detected in any number of domains, including non-physical ones (e.g. a change in the emotional tone of a conversation), whereas the detection of physical MOTION is directly based on physical perception. DESIRE is an affective state while HUNGER is a physical sensation. QUAN TITY is a parameter in any realm, while VERTICAL ELEVATION is a physical variable, perceived by the senses. (Grady n.d.: 5/14–15)
In other words, primary target concepts reflect subjective responses to sensory perception, and represent ‘judgements, assessments, evaluations and inferences’ (Grady n.d.: 5/15). From this perspective, target concepts like SIMI LARITY, QUANTITY and DESIRE are not dismissed as ‘abstract’ but are recognised as being among the most fundamental and direct experiences we have as human beings. This explains why Grady describes them as ‘primary’. The key dis tinction between target and source in Grady’s theory is that primary source concepts relate to sensory-perceptual experience, while primary target concepts relate to subjective responses to sensory-perceptual experience.
