明喻和隐喻这两种修辞方式,在人类的认知历程上,其产生究竟孰先孰后?对《诗经》的研究发现,其中部分隐喻可能是经由明喻发展来的,但绝大部分隐喻可能直接来源于它们的一致式(非隐喻);在修辞上,有些隐喻和明喻连成一体,分别仅在“如”字的有无上,但大量隐喻则不宜、甚至无法用明喻的方式加以置换。研究进一步证实了人类思维的隐喻特点,也表明人类的隐喻思维虽在有些情况下需借助明确的类比意识,但很多时候则是隐性的和潜意识的。
Which appeared first in human cognition evolution, Simile or Metaphor? The present author takes as the data the metaphorical instances used in the Book of Song and studies them in terms of the Metaphorical Mapping Theory in Cognitive Linguistics. The analyses reveal that some metaphors came from their corresponding similes, but most of the other from their congruent modes directly. From the rhetorical perspective, the difference between some metaphors and similes is only a matter of discourse marker "like" or "as" ; but it is not appropriate or even impossible for most of the other metaphors be transformed into similes. This study further proves the metaphorical characteristic of human thinking, and also provides basis for furthering other related studies.