FROM FIGURE OF SPEECH TO CONCEPTUALIZATION: THE EXPANSION OF METAPHOR STUDIES IN COGNITIVE LINGUISTICS

Abstract

This article reconstructs the historical shift from metaphor as a figure of speech, inherited from the rhetorical-poetic tradition, to metaphor as a cognitive process of conceptualization, consolidated in Cognitive Linguistics through Conceptual Metaphor Theory. By arguing that everyday thought and action are largely metaphorical, this theory moves the focus from linguistic ornamentation to the conceptual models that structure experience, thereby opening new research agendas. Based on a bibliographic survey and a critical review, the study systematizes key assumptions, classifications, and contributions that have expanded the field. It is argued that this expansion strengthens our understanding of how research on conceptual metaphor has become more precise, testable, and applicable as it has incorporated theoretical and methodological contributions that refined its core concepts and broadened its analytical approaches.