A Contrastive Study of Flower Metaphor in English and Chinese.doc

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1、题目：英汉花隐喻对比研究A Contrastive Study of Flower Metaphor in English and Chinese摘要【摘要】本研究从认知语言学的角度，运用概念隐喻理论对英汉两种语言中关于植物中花的隐喻的表达进行了系统的比较研究。通过列举中英两种丰富的语料，比较出花隐喻在英汉中的异同点。它们的共性是基于花的外在特征和生长习惯，所以人们都趋向于用花来描述特定的人群或者表达人物的特征。但是由于地域文化的差别，又表现出一定的不同点，中国人喜好以花赞扬人物的品质或以花命名，而英语国家则多用花代指神。本文研究的结果为植物隐喻领域提供了些许补充，但还需专家进一步研究。【关键

2、词】花隐喻；认知角度；英汉对比。A Contrastive Study of Flower Metaphor in English and ChineseAbstract【ABSTRACT】This thesis makes a relatively complete study of flower metaphors within the cognitive linguistics. It is a systematical research based on the Conceptual Metaphor Theory. Having listed abundant data both i

3、n Chinese and English, this thesis makes a comparison of flower metaphor about the similarities and differences between English and Chinese. People have the tendency of describing common features of a species of people with flowers based on their exterior features or growing habits. And also large n

4、umbers of flower metaphors of the type are used to describe the features of a species of people. However, due to geographical and cultural differences, it shows some differences; the Chinese people prefer conceptualizing human characters and moralities or using flowers as names, while the English-sp

5、eaking countries use flowers to denote gods and goddesses. The results of this thesis make some contribution to the research of flower metaphor and supplement the study of flower metaphor, but further study is still needed.【KEYWORDS】flower metaphor；cognitive；contrastive study in English and Chinese。

6、Contents1Introduction11.1Motivation of the thesis11.2Aim of the thesis11.3Methodology, organization and data collection of the thesis22Literature review32.1Definitions of metaphor32.2The introduction of western Conceptual Metaphor Theory into China32.3Limitation of the present studies of metaphor42.

7、4Previous studies on metaphors of plant, especially flower43Theoretical basis63.1Conceptual metaphor theory63.1.1Working mechanism of conceptual metaphor63.2Cognitive nature of metaphor73.3Cognitive functions of metaphor73.3.1An important means of understanding the world73.3.2An essential way of con

8、ceptualizing experience83.3.3A cognitive tool in creating new meaning84Flower metaphors in English and Chinese104.1Cognition of flower metaphorization104.1.1Prerequisities of flower metaphor104.1.2Working mechanism of flower metaphor104.2Mapping models114.2.1Nominal flower metaphors in English and C

9、hinese114.2.1.1A PLANT IS A HUMAN BEING metaphor (from flower domain to human domain)114.2.1.2A PLANT IS (A) GOD (from flower domain to divine figure domain)114.2.1.3A PLANT IS AN INORGANIC THING metaphor (from flower domain to non-human domain).114.2.2Non-nominal flower metaphors in English and Chi

10、nese144.2.2.1Verbal flower metaphors in English and Chinese1144.2.2.2Adjective flower metaphors in English and Chinese1145Analyses of similarities and differences of flower metaphors in English and Chinese155.1Similarities of flower metaphors in English and Chinese155.1.1Similarities of flower metap

11、hors in English and Chinese155.1.2Analyses of similarities155.1.3Cognitive universality155.2Differences of flower metaphors in English and Chinese155.2.1Differences of flower metaphors in English and Chinese155.2.2Analyses of differences165.2.3Cultural relativity166Conclusion17References18Acknowledg

12、ements191 Introduction1.1 Motivation of the thesisMetaphor, as a rhetorical device, once arrested much attention of both English and Chinese scholars two thousand years ago. In recent years, there has been an increasing interest in it. Various types of research methodology have been employed in meta

13、phor studies. Thus metaphor has been explored more systematically and multangularly than ever before. No wonder some scholars both in China and western countries call this phenomenon “metaphoric revolution”(Wang Yin, 2001:313), “metaphormanin”(Shu Dingfang, 2000:5)or “metaphorology”, (Radman, 1995:3

14、).In recent years more and more scholars turned their attention to the contrastive study of metaphor between English and Chinese, but these studies mainly focus on spatialization metaphor, temporal metaphor, emotional metaphor, color metaphor, etc. Few scholars have extended their antennae into the

15、field of contrastive study of plant metaphor, especially the flower metaphor, which is also an itmportant part of metaphor study.Having close ties with human life, flowers constitute a key link of ecological system. Through long-term social production and careful observation of various flowers, peop

16、le have accumulated an overall understanding and a profound knowledge of their growing habits, appearances, and features etc., which would be embodied in human language inevitably. Therefore in human communication, abundant flower terms are widely used to enrich the vocabulary of human languages. Th

17、e vivid images of flowers enhance greatly the expressivity of language by associating things with the features of flowers shown from either external appearances or internal qualities. Due to the ubiquity of flower metaphors in English and Chinese, as well as the deficiency of studies on flower metap

18、hors, it is necessary to make a systematic and comprehensive analysis of contrastive study on flower metaphors in English and Chinese.1.2 Aim of the thesisThe former studies on flower terms are mainly focused on the differences of the culture-loaded meanings of certain flower words. There are no com

19、prehensive and systematic classification, description and contrast of flower metaphors in English and Chinese. In this thesis, detailed contrast would enable us to find that English and Chinese share the mapping domains of human beings, concrete things, as well as abstract things. The similarities i

20、n mapping models of flower metaphors in English and Chinese prove that flower metaphor is an important means of understanding the world, an essential way of conceptualizing experience, a cognitive tool in creating new meaning. It is a witness to the cognitive universality.The task of this thesis is

21、to conduct a systematic contrastive study of flower metaphors in English and Chinese from the cognitive point of view, in the hope of making a little contribution to the research of flower metaphor. Based on the contrastive study in English and Chinese, this research reinforces some theories of the

22、contemporary cognitive approach to conceptual metaphor: at least conceptual metaphor of flowers is characterized by cognitive universality and cultural relativity. Meanwhile, it will, to a certain degree, supplement the study of flower metaphor.1.3 Methodology, organization and data collection of th

23、e thesisIn order to make this thesis as scientific and persuasive as possible, the methods of illustration, comparison, and frequency analysis are employed to carry out comparative analysis on flower metaphors in English and Chinese. The similarities and differences, as well as the causes contribute

24、 to them are discussed, thus to supplement the studies on flower metaphors.This thesis is divided into six parts. In the first part the motivation, aim, methodology，organization，and data collection are introduced. Then is the literature review. In the third part，the theories basis of this thesis are

25、 briefly introduced. It also provides a general statement of Conceptual Metaphor Theory in respect of cognitive nature, cognitive functions, as well as the classifications and the working mechanism of conceptual metaphor. The next two parts are the central parts of the whole thesis. In the fourth pa

26、rt first discusses the cognition of flower metaphor, and then by analyzing much linguistic data, reports its study on flower metaphors in English and Chinese: what similarities and differences there are between English and Chinese in terms of flower metaphors. According to the research in part four,

27、 the fifth part summarizes the similarities and differences of flower metaphors in English and Chinese, and then attempts to analyze the causes especially by referring to different cultural perceptions between English and Chinese. Finally comes the conclusion.The author search the data for this thes

28、is mainly according to Shu Ding fangs understanding(Shu Dingfang, 2000:36), The flower metaphors employed in this thesis range from words to poems.First, the thesis finds out 130 flower words, as well as some words closely related to flower, such as “root”, “stem”, “bud”, “blossom”, “leaf”, “根”, “茎”

29、,”叶”, “芽”. Then, the author looks up each word in The English-Chinese Dictionary (Lu Gusun, 2003), Longman contemporary English-Chinese dictionary (1996), Contemporary Chinese Dictionary (1999) and Practical Chinese Dictionary (2000), and finds out many words with metaphorical meaning in Chinese and

30、 in English. The example sentences in this thesis are mainly from the dictionaries listed above.2 Literature review2.1 Definitions of metaphorBefore going deep into the topic, it is necessary for us to have a look at some definitions of metaphor from the cognitive aspect first:The word “metaphor” de

31、rives from French (metaphore) and Latin (metaphora), and can be ultimately traced back to the ancient Greek word “metapherein”, meaning “to transfer”.In 1989, Lakoff and Turner make their definition of metaphor as: “a metaphor, after all, is not a linguistic expression. It is a mapping from one conc

32、eptual domain to another, and as such it has a three-part structure: two endpoints (the source and target schemata) and a bridge between them (the detailed mapping) (Lakoff and Johnson, 1989: 203)”.Metaphor is formed so long as one kind of object is used to talk about another kind of object in certa

33、in context. Then, metaphor may appear on each level of language units, such as a word, a term, a sentence and an utterance. According to the context, the utterance can be a single word, a sentence, a poem, a piece of writing, even a group of works. Thus, idiom, proverb, even the whole literary work

34、such as a poem and a novel can be looked upon as representative, expanded metaphor (Shu Dingfang, 2000:36).From the definitions presented above, the thesis explores the general idea that metaphor can be defined as a cognitive device to categorize the external world.2.2 The introduction of western Co

35、nceptual Metaphor Theory into ChinaReferring to the general situation of metaphor study in China , professor Shu Dingfang (束定芳), remarked in 1996 that “compared with the metaphormania in western countries, the situation in China appears to be rather quiet, thin and weak” (束定芳, 1996a: 11). Only in re

36、cent years, Chinese scholars start introducing the cognitive metaphor approach.In China, the first article introducing Conceptual Metaphor Theory, surprisingly, is not found on any famous foreign language research magazines, but on the Study of Rhetoric(修辞学习). It is a short adapted translation of Me

37、taphors We Live By translated by Liu Ningsheng (刘宁生, 1992: 7).From then on, a few scholars start introducing Conceptual Metaphor Theory into China. Among them, Lin Shuwu (林书武), Zhao Yanfang (赵艳芳) and Shu Dingfang (束定芳) have played important roles.Lin Shuwu (林书武), a famous scholar in National Academy

38、 of Social Science, has published several articles on Foreign Language Teaching and Research and Foreign Linguistics focusing on the evaluation of western publications . For example, Metaphor: its cognitive force and linguistic structure (林书武, 1994: 62-63) , Metaphor and cognition ( ibid, 1995b: 70-

39、72 ), The metaphorical basis of language ( ibid, 1996: 66-70), and A Review on Metaphor Studies Abroad ( ibid, 1997: 66-68).Professor Zhao Yanfangs (赵艳芳) study mainly fell within the pragmatic principles of metaphor and its cognitive nature. She has published several articles introducing The pragmat

40、ic principle of English metaphor (赵艳芳, 1991: 8-12), The cognition basis of metaphor (ibid, 1994b: 30-34) and The evaluation of metaphors We Live By (ibid, 1995: 67-72) etc. In her book entitled An Introduction to Cognitive Linguistics (认知语言学概论), professor Zhao (2001) almost writes several parts on m

41、etaphor, from which the thesis can infer the important roles metaphor play in cognitive linguistics.Professor Shu Dingfang (束定芳), a famous professor from shanghai Foreign Language university, has published many articles centering on the introduction of western metaphor theories from 1996 till now. I

42、n his book entitled Studies in Metaphor (隐喻学研究), professor Shu respectively introduces the history and latest situation of metaphor study; the essence of metaphor; the main types of metaphor; the origins of metaphor, the functions of metaphor in conventional language poems, linguistics and cognition

43、 etc.; the working mechanism of some metaphor theories; the understanding process of metaphor; and lastly a general description on metaphor phenomenon from both the synchronic and diachronic point of view. Due to the systematic organization and wide coverage, this book is acknowledged to have great

44、reference value for Chinese scholars in their theoretical study of metaphor.2.3 Limitation of the present studies of metaphorThe contemporary contrastive studies of metaphor mainly focus on spatialization metaphor, temporal metaphor, emotional metaphor, color metaphor and body metaphor based on Lako

45、ffs Conceptual Metaphor Theory. However few scholars have extended their antennae into the field of contrastive study of plant metaphor, especially the flower metaphor. There are few comprehensive and systematic studies on flower metaphors in English and Chinese in terms of cognitive construction an

46、d contrastive study. 2.4 Previous studies on metaphors of plant, especially flowerRen Shunings On Metaphors of Plant Terms (2006) and Tang Yanpings The Metaphorical Meaning of Botanical Words in the Light of Cognition (2002) aim to prove that metaphor is a means of cognitive process and basically a

47、cognitive phenomenon. There is no systematic contrast of plant metaphors in these two articles. Besides, the plant metaphors mentioned in the two articles are limited to the following words: “shoot”, “root” , “ seed”, “stem” , “flower”, “blossom”, “cultivate”, “reap”, “germinate”, “wilt” in English

48、and “种植（grow）”, “凋谢 (wither) ”, “收割(reap)”, “嫁接 (graft) ”, “繁殖 (propagate) ”, “芽 (bud) ”, “茎 (stem) ”, “花 (flower) ”, “叶 (leaf) ”, “根 (root) ” in Chinese. As to the former studies on contrast of plant words in English and Chinese, this thesis found 39 articles from 1994 to 2008 in Tsinghua Tongfang Database. In A Contrastive study of English and Chinese Culturally-loaded Plant Words (Liao Guangrong, 2002), the writer analyzes and compares with data statistics the culturally-loaded plants words in English and Chinese in various aspects: the total