A Corpus-Based Contrastive Study of the Conceptual Metaphors of Warmth and Coolness in Chinese and English
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.53469/jerp.2024.06(07).26Keywords:
Warmth and coolness, Conceptual metaphor theory, Corpora, Contrastive studyAbstract
In this study, four representative Chinese and English temperature word “warm”, “cool”, “wen” and “liang” were searched respectively in BCC and COCA, aiming to find out what are the characteristics and differences and the reasons for these differences of the target domain of the metaphor of warmth and coolness in English and Chinese. The results show that there are 12 and 10 conceptual metaphors with warmth as the source domain in Chinese and English respectively, and 10 and 7 conceptual metaphors with coolness as the source domain in Chinese and English respectively. In both English and Chinese, there are some common and unique metaphorical expressions. In addition, the universality of human experience, common cognitive mode, synesthesia and the increased communication lead to some similar metaphorical expressions in Chinese and English, whereas the subjectivity of human cognition and different cultures lead to some differences in temperature metaphor. This study provides evidence for Lakoff and Johnson’s claim that metaphor is based on our physical experience and has a good reference value for promoting the comparison of language and culture in English and Chinese.
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