Differences in Metaphor between Chinese and Western Culture英语毕业论文.doc

Differences in Metaphor between Chinese and Western CultureAbstract: Metaphor originates from peoples lives, and plays a very important role in peoples lives. Metaphor is nowadays not only regarded as a figure of speech but also an important tool in culture communication. This thesis tries to explore some differences in metaphor between Chinese and Western culture, and thus helps in the promotion of the culture communication between Chinese and Western countries.Key words: metaphor; Western culture; Chinese culture 1IntroductionMetaphor originates from peoples lives, and plays a very important role in peoples lives. Nowadays, the definitions of metaphor can be found conveniently in dictionaries. According to the Websters New World Dictionary, metaphor is defined as: “a figure of speech in which one thing is likened to another, different thing by beings spoken of as if it were the other; implied comparison, in which a word or phrase ordinarily and primarily use of one thing is applied to another.” (Websters New World Dictionary, 1979:1132) Metaphor is used as a rhetorical device which makes comparison between two elements, unlike simile, this kind of comparison is implied not stated. Peter Newmark referred to metaphor as: “the transferred sense of a physical word; the personification of abstraction; the application of a word or collocation to what it does not literally denote, i.e. to describe one thing in terms of another.” (Newmark, 2001:104) Metaphor shows a resemblance between two similar things, which means image and object. In cognitive linguistics, it is defined as the target domain and source domain. Similarity is the basis of metaphor. For example, “the stars in his eyes”, the basis for the use of “stars” is the similarity between the tears in ones eyes and the flickering of light in ones eyes. Both English and Chinese are abound in using metaphors. But different metaphors maybe understood in different cultures. That is to say, metaphor is culture-specific. We may have different kinds of metaphors in Chinese and Western cultures. Metaphors we use are determined by our life experience, so metaphorical expressions arise from our physical and culture experience. Thus speakers of one language may find it difficult to understand the metaphors of another language, or even the speakers of the same language living far away from each other may feel confused in understanding of metaphors. Reasons for this can be attributed to the principle of metaphors: metaphor renders the truth of experience as the truth of knowledge to an established world. So problems may arise when people from China and the West communicate with each other. 2. Differences in metaphor between Chinese and Western cultureThe nature of metaphor is not only a matter of language，but a matter of mind. Different cultures have different influence on metaphor. Because of the different cultural background, Chinese and Western cultures have their own specific metaphors. Lakoff and Johnson(1980：12)said, “a culture may be thought of as providing, among other things, a pool of available metaphors for making sense of reality”, “to live by a metaphor is to have your reality structured by that metaphor and to base your perceptions and actions upon that structuring of reality”. People of a given culture use language to reflect their attitudes towards the world in general and the life of the community they live in particular. Because of the cultural differences, understanding another language is often very difficult. For example，if you say a man has a “big head” in English, it means “he is arrogant”, whereas in Chinese it means “he is clever”.Language of a society is crucial to its culture, and different meaning of words can reflect the contemporary features of the traditions, habits in which the language is used. Even for the same word, different cultural background give people different associations. Since in metaphor one thing is described in another, this reflection finds the strongest manifestation in metaphorical words.There are two categories of reasons for the differences in metaphor between Chinese and Western culture. One is at the macro level, which is the whole cultural background. The other is at the micro level, meaning some inner factors that cause the differences.2.1 At the macro levelMarx once said that religion was the guiding principles of the world, covering all the phenomena of the universe. Religion has a great effect on human society, including languages, customs, values, etc. This thesis would like to talk the religious differences on metaphor.Christianity and Taoism are two main influential religions in these two cultures. Because they are rooted in different cultures, there are different ideas between them. In China, nature is the supreme thing; everything must be in accordance with it. While in the west, objectives are emphasized. Science, law and religion are the prime things. Thus these differences cause great influences on the using of metaphors.Firstly, we would like to discuss the Western religious culture. Christianity is the main religion in Western countries. There are many metaphors related to Christianity. For example, church is a crucial place for westerners, so there are many metaphors about church, for example “he is a church mouse” is used to say some one is very poor. Dog is also an important character in western religion. Westerners take dog as Mans best friend, but its hard for Chinese people to understand, because dog in China is traditionally used to watch a house. In English, expressions like “love me, love my dog”, “every dog has its day”, “lucky dog” and “like a dog with two tails” all have commendatory implications. While in Chinese, we have expressions like“狗腿子”，“走狗”，“落水狗”，“鸡鸣狗盗”，“狗仗人势”，“狼心狗肺”，“狗嘴里吐不出象牙”Nearly all of them have derogative meanings, although both the Chinese and westerners recognize certain characters of dog, like they are loyal, brave and intelligent.In China, Taoism influences the way Chinese people live. There is a famous saying in China, “do not do to others what you do not want others do to you” (Analects: Book 12). It became an important principle in getting along with others. According to Taoism, “Yin-Yang” theory is the core part which means the shady and sunny side of a mountain. Yin and yang was considered the basic law of universe. In Chinese history, some poet often said that “love is moon”. Here love is compared to the moon. According to the yin theory, Chinese like using a mild and moderate way to show their emotions, so the moon becomes an option. There are also some other expressions about the moon, for example, “月亮代表我的心”，“明月千里寄相思”. These metaphors can also show the introverted characteristic of Chinese people. In contrast, the Westerners are more extroverted. They express their emotions directly without any hiding. For instance, “thats the fire of my love”, “you are my sunshine”. Due to Taoism, Chinese culture thinks harmony is important. Yin and yang should complement with each other. So expressions, such as “sun and moon”, “water and fire” and “heaven and earth” often come together. In traditional Chinese culture, the tiger is the king of all beasts, but in the western cultures, the lion takes the position. Whats more, dragon is a magical animal in the Chinese culture and for centuries we Chinese people consider ourselves offspring of the dragon and it is the symbol of emperor. But in the western cultures, dragon is a giant lizard, with wings, claws, scales and a snake tail that call breathe out fire from its mouth. And in middle centuries, it is the symbol of evil. Newmark once made the remark that a dragon is maleficent in the west, beneficent in the Far East.2.2 At the micro levelApart from the whole cultural background, there are some other factors showing the differences in metaphor between Chinese and Western culture. Lets see Chinese character first. Language as an indispensible content of culture is closely related to culture and strongly influenced by culture. The early Chinese characters were pictures of ideas or thoughts. Each Chinese character is considered as a symbol of pictograph, ideograph and sound. People used Chinese characters to their meanings in a vivid way. For instance, “月” is just like a crescent, and “雨” is exactly the image of rain drops. We could directly get the meaning of Chinese characters by visual presentation. Such as, “回形针”，“百褶裙”. But their corresponding English translations can only express their meaning or functions. Since Chinese characters can embody meaning to us, thus they can be employed to express abstract ideas or opinions. For example, this metaphor “蚕食”, which means to nibble, make people associate the way silkworms eat mulberry leaves-slowly taking small bites from leaves. “势如破竹” compares bamboo to victories , which can be explained in a western way, “like a knife cutting through butter”. Lets see three characters “松”， “竹” and “梅”, in Chinese culture the pine，the bamboo and the plum are called three friends in winter. When Chinese people talk about them, we immediately think about the cold winter, in which they dont witherInstead，they stood defiant and proud，representing an exemplary conduct and nobility of characterBut in western cultures，they are just three common plants and cannot give people any associationIn the following, we will talk about another factor showing the differences in metaphor between Chinese and Western culture. That is the national conditions of a country. China is an agricultural country which has a special geographical position. To the east is the Pacific Ocean, desert to its northwest and Tibet to the west. This special national condition makes China a country easy to refuse the cultures in other countries. Chinese emphasize the importance of nature. China makes agriculture indispensable to life in society. While in the west, such as Britain, they live in an island country, the sea is important to them not the agriculture. They cannot have the same association. So metaphors about agriculture are often seen in Chinese culture. For example, China is famous for silkworm raising and production. From the Spring and Autumn Period until today, silk production is increasing all over China. Metaphors about silk began to appear in the early times. Such as “距离并不能斩断他和她之间的情丝”. We all know that Chinese are greatly fond of food and attach great importance to eating. There are many metaphors about food, for example, “糟糠夫妻”, “她真是个醋缸子啊！”. In the second example, “醋缸子” means “vinegary” , in English it means a “bad-tempered” person. But in English they never say so. The Chinese who lived in the north temperate zone of the fertile East-Asian continent seemed to be favored by nature. They live harmonious with nature. natureWhile in western culture, people hold the view that man should be divided from the nature，they are encouraged to fight against and conquer the nature. So in western country, they never connect agriculture to metaphors. Western countries develop fast in those areas such as economics, so materialism is high light in western countries. 3. ConclusionThis thesis has researched into the differences in metaphor between Chinese and Western culture from two levels and the cultural variations in Chinese and Western countries are of distinct feature, some conceptual metaphors are unique to Chinese while some are unique to English. The study of the differences in Chinese and Western culture is of great importance and it would help in the promotion of Chinese and Western culture also. References1Lakoff , G. & M. Johnson. Metaphors We Live by M. London: The University of Chicago Press, 1980: 122Newmark P. A Textbook of Translation M. Shanghai: Shanghai Foreign Language Education Press, 2001: 1043Chen，Zelin. Yin Yang Wu Xing. Theories of Yin and Yang and of the Five ElementsM, 1989. 4 Websters New World Dictionary, 1979:1132