Conceptual Metaphor and Its Development

Traditional metaphor theory regards metaphor as a rhetorical device,but conceptual metaphor theory in cognitive linguis⁃tics believes that metaphor is also a universal way of thinking and a cognitive method which people can use to know the unknown.This paper mainly summarizes conceptual metaphor theory,discusses its contribution towards cognitive linguistics and its impor⁃tant developments—the blending theory.This study will benefit the further metaphor researching and language teaching.