CHAPTER NINE
‘PLANES ARE BIRDS’ METAPHOR:
A COGNITIVELY ORIENTED STUDY
OF AVIATION VOCABULARY
BEATA KOPECKA
Introduction
For more than 30 years now the study of language for general purposes
(LGP), carried out primarily in the framework of the cognitive approach,
has been dominated by research in the area of metaphorical expressions.
As proved by numerous studies, including a number of languages spoken
world-wide, metaphors of different types do underlie the human way of
thinking (Kövecses 2010). Nevertheless, in contrast to the vast number of
cognitively-oriented case studies focusing on the metaphoricity of LGPs,
relatively little attention has been paid to the existence of metaphors in
languages for special purposes (LSP), and branches of technical English in
particular.
The aim of this chapter is to cast some light on the role of the
conceptual metaphor PLANES ARE BIRDS in aviation-related
vocabulary in English, referred to as the language of aviation. However
vague, the term language of aviation, used interchangeably with aviation
LSP, is treated here as a collection of linguistic means of communication
based on a certain national language used in the context of aircraft
operation, aircraft design, air travel, etc.^1 More specifically, the chapter is
devoted to the analysis of the metaphoricity of individual English-
(^1) Importantly, the denotation of the term (English) language of aviation, as
understood here, has to be distinguished from the denotation of such collocations
as: aviation English, air speak or air traffic control English, all of which refer to a
code, based on English, used in international civil aviation during radio
communication between a pilot and air traffic controllers.