Le mot métaphore marqueur métadiscursif (MMM): formes et fonctions discursives

This study relates to current research dealing with the concept of “spontaneous rhetorical feeling” and, more extensively, with the concept of “profane linguistic feeling” (Achard-Bayle – Paveau 2008 ; Paissa 2011 ; Lecolle 2014). More specifically, the aim is to investigate both forms and functions embedded in the term metaphor when this term has a metadiscursive value (the phenomenon of the “announced metaphor”, e.g. “X is a/the metaphor of Y”, etc.). Drawing on a press corpus this study first defines the morphosyntactic configurations relevant to MMM (Metaphor Metadiscursive Marker), namely predicate nouns, appositions and endophoric constructions (anaphora and cataphora). In particular the emphasis is on the function that this marker can have in the enunciative mode and in mitigating “conceptual conflict” (Prandi 2017), an intrinsic feature of metaphors. The second part of this study focuses on the argumentative functions related to the use of MMM. As well as exploring the descriptive and axiological aims of metaphors, this paper investigates how metaphor and allegory can be similarly constructed in the mind of the “profane locutor”, i.e. the non-linguist. It also illustrates the key role MMM plays in adjusting distance between discourse and reality, a characteristic marker of saying. In conclusion, evidence based on MMM observation reinforces the identification of specific semantic and discursive properties typical of metaphors and confirms results of previous studies on metalinguistic practices in this field.