Metafora w tekstach ekonomicznych – pomoc w przedstawianiu pojęć specjalistycznych czy oddziaływanie językowe w komunikacji?

The metaphor is traditionally identified with literature (even more with poetry) and with the colloquial language therefore it is presumed that it should be avoided in scientific contexts, i.e. in a professional language. However the research on terms in Russian economic texts reveals that metaphors have a substantial and very diversified representation among other conventional terminological units. Despite concerns about their inability to define the notions precisely and explicitly, they effectively fulfil their cognitive function owing also to their figurativeness which helps with interpretation and understanding complex notions. Owing to this they can provide effective communication which is important because in the information space we can observe such phenomena like overlapping different discourses (e.g. economic with political and social), strengthening the cognitive capacity of a standard literary language which is manifesting in increasing number of economic terms in colloquial language. The mechanism of understanding a metaphor as a verbal sign should therefore be applied on three levels – syntactic, semantic and pragmatic. It can help to notice some additional functions of a metaphor, like the persuasive function and also to understand the role of metaphors in the contemporary professional communication