摘 要

1. Introduction 1

1.1 Research background 1

1.2 Research purpose 1

1.3 Significance of the research 2

1.4 Research method 3

1.5 Structure of the thesis 3

2. Literature Review 5

2.1 Overview of metaphor studies 5

2.2 Previous research of idioms at home and abroad 8

2.2.1 The definition and features of idioms 8

2.2.2 Studies at home and abroad 9

3. A Cross-cultural Study of Conceptual Metaphors in English and Chinese Idioms 12

3.1 Universality of conceptual metaphors in English and Chinese idioms 12

3.1.1 Emotions 12

3.1.2 Color words 15

3.1.3 Animal words 16

3.1.4 Metaphors in political discourse 17

3.2 Cultural Variation of Conceptual Metaphors in English and Chinese Idioms 18

3.2.1 Social psychology 19

3.2.2 Geographic environment 20

3.2.3 Dominant sports events 23

3.2.4 Culinary culture 25

4. Conclusion 30

References 32

Acknowledgments 34

Abstract

Idioms, as a concise and vivid way of expression, are fundamentally metaphoric. Lakoff and Johnson (1980) advanced the Conceptual Metaphor Theory: metaphors transcend beyond the sphere of rhetoric devices and come to be regarded as the products of human cognition system. This human cognition is based upon bodily experience in the real, physical world. Due to commonalities in human physiology, lifestyles and in other aspects, it follows that languages share a universal perceptual basis, leading to similar expressions with attendant connotations in different tongues. Yet all languages are under the influence of cultural factors, hence the existence of cultural-specific expressions. Idioms, lauded as linguistic jewels, become the opening wedge in exploring the shared perceptual basis and cultural variation in the formation of languages. With the support of the Conceptual Metaphor Theory, the thesis compares and contrasts several English and Chinese idioms from two aspects--universality and cultural variation of conceptual metaphors, attempting to present an anatomy of conceptual metaphors at work in both English and Chinese idioms in question. Knowledge of cultural variation and conceptual metaphor mechanism helps language learners better use idioms as well as provides guidance in the field of cross-cultural communication, translation and language teaching.

Keywords: Conceptual Metaphor Theory; Idioms; Universality in metaphors; Cultural

variation

中文摘要

惯用语是人类语言中一种简洁，富有活力的语言表达形式，其显著特点之一为隐喻性。语言学家莱考夫和约翰逊（1980）在认知语言学领域提出了概念隐喻理论：隐喻超越了修辞范畴，成为人类认知系统的运作成果。这种认知以周遭环境下的身体经验为基础，由于人类生理机制，生活方式等多方面存在共性，语言的形成享有一个普遍的感知基础，因而造成了不同语言中的相似表达及其所属内涵。然而，不同语言在形成过程中受到文化因素的影响，形成了独有的表达。而惯用语正是语言之精华，是探索语言形成的认知基础及英汉文化差异的便捷切入点。本文以认知隐喻理论作为理论基础，分别以隐喻的普遍性和文化差异两个方面对若干常用英汉惯用语进行比较对照，探讨其中深层的认知隐喻机制。了解认知隐喻机制及文化影响因素有助于语言学习者熟练掌握运用惯用语，对跨文化交际，翻译及英汉教学领域提供一定的借鉴意义。

关键词：概念隐喻理论；英汉惯用语；隐喻中的普遍性；文化差异

1. Introduction

1.1 Research background

English idioms play an essential role in English literature, English speakers’ daily life and from educational viewpoint, in the teaching and learning English. A good knowledge of English idioms facilitates understanding of discourses and texts. Metaphor, a figure of speech that refers to something as being the same as another thing, is a ubiquitous rhetoric device applied in the construction of English idioms. According to Metaphors We Live By published in 1980 by eminent linguists Lakoff and Johnson, metaphor is not restricted to being a rhetoric device that people use only in certain conditions. In fact, metaphors are so prevalent in people’s daily use of language that most English speakers simply don’t realize their existence. Our thoughts and behaviors are fundamentally metaphorically in nature. As our thinking patters find their projections in languages, metaphors are ubiquitously employed in the construction of idioms.

Culture, a piece of fertile land upon which language germinates and grows, strongly influences people’s way of perception, thinking and understanding. Language and culture are inextricably intertwined. As our culture is constantly shaping our thinking and our use of language, language, in its return, reflects, embodies that culture and helps perpetuate and change the culture and its influence. Idioms are largely the children of the living environment, traditions and customs, lifestyles and religious beliefs against a certain cultural background. Suffice to say that idioms, in which wisdom of generations of human beings is compactly stored, provide us a chance to have a glimpse into a certain group’s conceptualization and perception of the world.

1.2 Research purpose

For a long time, metaphors were treated merely as ornamental language skills and thus were approached by scholars and researchers from a rhetoric device perspective. The Conceptual Metaphor Theory was proposed by cognitive linguists Lakoff and Johnson (1980) in Metaphors We Live By. Since then studies in metaphor has been largely dealt with from a conceptual perspective. The close relation between culture, metaphors and idioms serves as the point of departure of this research. This main objective of this study is to have a tentative exploration into the metaphor mechanism of familiar Chinese and English idioms from a cross-cultural perspective. Hopefully, the conclusions reached from these analyses will provide inspiration for teachers, translators and interpreters.

1.3 Significance of the research

Metaphor is a nice manifestation of people’s cognition. Through the exploration of metaphoric constituents of English idioms from a cross-cultural perspective, readers are able to get a clear view about the hidden information and native users’ conception. The “story” curated into these vivid phrases provides English learners a better understanding of idioms, helping them better commit words and phrases to their memory and have a proper use in different contexts. Thereby it might provide some pedagogical meaning in language teaching and second language acquisition.

Additionally, this study is also expected to facilitate translation work. One of the snags in translation is the literal conversion from Chinese to English and English to Chinese regardless of cultural images and idiom usage uniquely owned by that culture. If translators have a better understanding of the target culture and use the idioms preferred by native speakers, their renderings of translation will be much more authentic.

Lastly, English learners are encouraged to apply familiar idioms to their speaking. In a constantly globalizing world, people are getting more opportunities to carry out conversations with people from other cultures. The importance of cross-cultural communication is self-evident. Literal understanding of idioms habitually used by native speakers might cause communicative misunderstanding or even pragmatic failure. The understanding of metaphoric mechanism underpinning those idioms can help reduce such communication breakdown to a large extent. Through the appropriate employment of English idioms in the daily conversations, speakers may present their intentions and ideas in a more concise and clear way as well as understand the indirect speech act of their interlocutors, thus acquiring linguistic competence along with communicative competence.

1.4 Research method

The study is carried out in a descriptive manner in the discussion of metaphors encapsulated in idioms. Serving as the backcloth of the whole study, cultural elements are factored in the analyses of idioms. Idioms in question are partly selected from English Idioms in the Perspective of Metaphor (Wuamp; Qiu, 2014), English-Chinese Idioms and Folk Cultures (Yinamp; Han, 2007), and A Study of English Idioms from the Pragmatic Perspective (Peng, 2007), with others gleaned from the writer’s encounter in literature works and daily communication. Having expunged those outdated or rare appeared ones, all the idioms under discussion are frequently used by native speakers and are full of vivacity and cultural connotations. With the support of Conceptual Metaphor Theory, this study delves into the origins of these idioms and presents the cognitive mechanism at work.

1.5 Structure of the thesis

The thesis consists of four parts.

Chapter 1 servers as the introduction part in which research background, research purpose, significance of research, research method and structure of the thesis are specified.

Chapter 2 is literature review where two major parts--the overview of metaphor and previous research at home and abroad are presented.

Chapter 3 is the core of the thesis where idioms in question are classified into several categories based on cultural factors and elaborated and analyzed under the frame work of the Conceptual Metaphor Theory. There are two aspects concerning contemporary metaphor study. As has been mentioned earlier, cultural factors have a significant role in the coinage of idioms. Therefore, in the analysis of conceptual metaphors underpinning idioms, cultural variation will be taken into account. Idioms in this paper will be classified under four categories—social psychology, geographic environment, dominant sport events and culinary culture. Though metaphors are largely peculiar to a certain culture, there still exist similar metaphor expressions based on humankind’s perception and conceptualization of the world they live in. The phenomenon of metaphors bearing more or less the same meaning that cuts across different cultures and regions is termed as “universality”. Idioms commonly used both in English and Chinese will be examined in the view of the Conceptual Metaphor Theory.

Chapter 4 is the conclusion part where major points are revisited and recapitulated, and strengths as well as limitations of the study will be presented.

2. Literature Review

2.1 Overview of metaphor studies

Metaphor is generally defined as a figure of speech for rhetoric effect. The earliest studies of metaphor go back as far as to Aristotelian era. The ancient Greek philosopher Aristotle devoted himself to this language phenomenon over 2000 years ago and is regarded as the forerunner and representative of the traditional school of metaphor study. Aristotle’s notion of “metaphor” is given in Poetics and Rhetoric—metaphor is a rhetoric device which assigns a new name to something or someone.