FUNCTIONING OF METAPHOR IN ENGLISH COMPLIMENTS: A DISCURSIVE ANALYSIS OF LITERARY WORKS

Abstract

The article examines the functioning of metaphor in English compliments within the framework of literary discourse. The aim of the study is to identify the peculiarities of metaphorical imagery in the structure of complimentary utterances and to define their role in reflecting interpersonal communication, emotional states, and cultural contexts. The paper emphasizes that the compliment, as a speech act, has a specific pragmatic nature: it not only performs the function of positive evaluation or admiration but also becomes an important tool for creating artistic imagery, emotional atmosphere, and authorial subtext. In such a discursive context, metaphor proves to be multifunctional–it performs emotional-expressive, cognitive, communicative, and aesthetic functions. The analysis of examples from the works of English and American authors (W. Shakespeare, F. S. Fitzgerald, J. Joyce, K. Chopin, and others) demonstrates that metaphorical compliments not only add vividness to expression but also enable characters to reveal inner contradictions, articulate personal feelings, and rise to the level of universal philosophical meanings. It is also significant that in literature, metaphorical compliments often turn into symbols of broader concepts–love, ideal, aspiration for harmony, or the struggle with personal weaknesses. Thus, metaphor in the structure of English compliments is not only a linguistic means of artistic expressiveness but also a powerful discursive tool that integrates aesthetics, psychology, and cultural semantics.