中英爱情的隐喻对比

ContentsTOC\o"1-5"\h\zAbstract1\o"CurrentDocument"Introduction3\o"CurrentDocument"LiteratureReview3\o"CurrentDocument"Thecognitivestudyofmetaphor3\o"CurrentDocument"Conceptionofstructuralmetaphor4\o"CurrentDocument"IH.HomogeneityofChineseandEnglishstructuralmetaphorsoflove4\o"CurrentDocument"Loveisajourney4\o"CurrentDocument"Loveiswar5Loveisaphysicalforce5\o"CurrentDocument"Loveisfluid5Loveisplant5MHeterogenityofChineseandEnglishstructuralmetaphorsoflove6Thedifferencecausedbythediversityofecomomicstructure6Thedifferencecausedbythediversityofculture6Emotionalexpressioninadifferentway7\o"CurrentDocument"V.Conclusion7\o"CurrentDocument"Notes7\o"CurrentDocument"Bibliography9Acknowledgements9Abstract：Love,oneofhuman'sdeepestandstrongestpassions,isexpressedinhundredsofwaysinhumancivilization.Theabstractconceptoflovecannotbefullyelucidatedwithoutmetaphors.Structuralmetaphorisamappingfromoneconceptualstructuretoanother.ChineseandEnglishstructuralmetaphorsofloveshareasimilarcentralconceptualsystembecauseofthecognitivesimilarity.However,thediversityofnationalculturesmakesdifferencesbetweenthem.ThispaperanalyzesthehomogeneityofChineseandEnglishstructuralmetaphorsoflove;andmeanwhileitexpatiatestheheterogeneityofthemthroughcomparingtheculturaldiversities.KeyWOrds:love;structuralmetaphor;cognition;culture摘要：在人类繁衍生息的漫长历史进程中，爱情是人类最厚重久远的感情之一。没有隐喻，爱情这一抽象概念就得不到充分阐释。结构隐喻是指以一种概念的结构来构造另一种概念。由于人类认知的相似性，中英文惯用的爱情结构隐喻有着惊人的相似之处；而中英不同的民族文化又导致了中英爱情结构隐喻的差异性。本文分析了中英爱情结构隐喻表达的趋同性；同时通过对中英文化背景异的比较，阐述了中英爱情结构隐喻表达的异质性。关键词：爱情；结构隐喻；认知；文化ComparisonBetweenChineseandEnglishStructural

MetaphorsofLoveIntroductionLoveisabeautifulbutabstractthing.Overthecourseofhistoryithasbeenartists,poetsandplaywrightswhohavemadethegreatestprogressinhumanity'sunderstandingoflove.Romancehasseemedasinexplicableasthebeautyofarainbow.Thisbeautyisvisiblegraguallyaftermetaphorusedinthisspecialfield.Itseemstobeaperfectprogressinliteraturethatmetaphorhasbecomeapoeticwaytoexpressthenebulousconcept—love.Metaphorisnotonlyarhetoricdevice,butamatterofthoughtandaction.Withoutmetaphor,peoplecannotfullyunderstandlove.Peopleoftenusespecificortangiblethingstodescribelove,throughmetaphor,peoplecanexpresslovemorevisually.MetaphorshavebeenbeingstudiedsincetheageofAristotle.Aristotlebelievesthatmetaphorsexistseverywhereanytimeinhumanbeings’life.However,wemustknowthatmetaphorscanhelphumanbeingsbetterunderstandthenewthings,categoriesandconcepts.In1980,scholarsGeorgeLakoffandMarkJohnsonpublishedthebookMetaphorsWeLiveBy.Itisclaimedthatmetaphorisoneofourmostimportanttoolsforattemptingtounderstandpartiallywhatcannotbecomprehendedtotally.1LakoffandJohnsonfirstputforwardconceptualmetaphortheoryinthisbook,andtrytostudyhumanmetaphorfromtheviewofhumancognition.ThispaperwillfocusonstudyingChineseandEnglishstructuralmetaphorsoflove.LiteratureReviewThecognitivestudyofmetaphorThecognitivestatusofmetaphorhasbeenpointedoutbymanyaresearcher.LakoffandJohnsonarguethatthelanguageoftheimagination,especiallymetaphoristhemostsignificantaspectofourexperienceasittranscendsrationalityandobjectivity.Thus,meaningisthesumofobjectiveandsubjectivepersonalexperiencewithcategories,whichmakesthestudyoffigurativelanguageinsightfulandenriching.Thecreativenatureofmetaphorsuggeststhatmetaphormakingisnotreliantonexistingobjectivesimilaritybetweenasourcedomainandatargetdomain.“Theonlysimilaritiesrelevanttometaphorsaresimilaritiesasexperiencedbypeople”，notobjectivesimilarities.2LakoffandJohnsonproposethatmetaphorscanbebasedonsimilarities,thoughinmanycasesthesesimilaritiesarethemselvesbasedonconventionalmetaphorsthatarenotbasedonsimilarities.Similaritiesbasedonconventionalmetaphorsarenonethelessrealinourculture,sinceconventionalmetaphorspartlydefinethatwefindreal.Thecognitivelinguisticsareexcessivelyconcernedwiththeroleofmetaphorincognition,insteadoftryingtoexplainhowmetaphorreallyworks,whichhasarousedcriticismsfromotherlinguistics.Infact,metaphorispresentedasacognitiveoperation,anditsimportcannotbecommunicatedotherwise.Oneofthemostrecentdevelopmentsinmetaphorstudyhasappearedwithintheframeworkoftheconceptualmetaphortheory.ConceptionofstructuralmetaphorLakoffandJohnson(1980)classifyconceptualmetaphorsinto3categories:ontologicalmetaphors,structuralmetaphorsandorientationalmetaphors.Structuralmetaphorspartiallystructureoureveryconceptandthatthisstructureisreflectedinourliterallanguage.Structuralmetaphorsismostimportantbecauseitallowsustogobeyondorientationandreferringandgivesusthepossibilitytostructureoneconceptaccordingtoanother.Thismeansthatstructuralmetaphorsaregroundedinourexperience.Structuralmetaphorsimplyhowoneconceptismetaphoricallystructuredintermsofanother.3HomogeneityofChineseandEnglishstructuralmetaphorsofloveA.LoveisajourneyThemetaphorinvolvesunderstandingonedomainofexperience,love,intermsofaverydifferentdomainofexperience,journeys.Moretechnically,themetaphorcanbeunderstoodasamapping(inthemathematicalsense)fromasourcedomain(inthiscase,journeys)toatargetdomain(inthiscase,love).Themappingistightlystructured.Therearesomerelationshipsbetweenloveandjourney.Lovercorrespondtotraveller.Lovecorrespondtotraveltools.Thecommongoaloflovingcorrespondtotraveldestination.Thesetbacksoflovecorrespondtodifficultiesintravel.Inthejourneyoflove,bothtwosideswillfacevarioushardship,andsometimestheycanovercomedifficultiesandworkhandinhandtowardthegoals;sometimes,itwillbedifficulttodefeat,andfinallybreakup.Englishexamplesare:Lookhowfarwe’vecome.It’sbeenalong,bumproad.Ourrelationshiphashitadeadendstreet.Wemayhavetogoourseparateways.InChineseliteraryworks,theconceptofusingjourneytoexpresslovealsoisverycommon,forexample:情长路更长/情路艰辛/分道扬镳LoveiswarInthisstructure,thecrueltyandvoilencehavebeenmappedtotheconceptoflove.Lovelikeswar,whichisaprocessoffiercecompetition.Sometimesitneedtobeattherivaltocapturelove,fillingwiththesmellofgunpowder.InEnglish,therearesomeexpressions:I’mjustwildaboutHarry.Heconstantlyravesabouther.InChinese,lovealsohassomesimilaritiestowar.他终于获取了她的芳心。/他的情敌很多。LoveisaphysicalforceWhenwereferstolove,wemayconsiderithassomethinglikephysicalpowerwhichcanattractpeople.Inthisstructure,thephysicalforceofattractionandfrictionisappliedtolove.Suchas:Hiswholeliferevolvesaroundher.Theatmospherearoundthemisalwayscharged.Thereweresparksintheireyes.InChinese,therearealsosomeexamples:他们之间相互吸引。/她对他有磁石般的引力。他们之间迸发出了爱的火花。Withthehelpofmagneticforce,thesesentencesaboveexpressthepassionandattractionoflove.LoveisfluidAsweallknow,fluid,suchas,streams,rivers,isusedtodescribelove.It’scommontofindthatloveisfluidincontainerinEnglish.Sheisfilledwithlove.Theyfallinlovewitheachother.Chinesealsodescribedtheloveasstreams,rivers.Wecanfindsomeexamples.他对她一往情深。/他们很快坠入爱河。/情似长溪长不断。LoveisplantEnglishhasthestructuralmetaphor"Loveisplant”aswellasChinese,inEnglish,Ourloveflowered./Ourlovegrew.InChinese,weoftensay:他们是一对并蒂芙蓉。/他们之间萌发了爱慕之情。Fromtheseanalysis,wecanseethathomogeneityofChineseandEnglishstructuralmetaphorsofloveisnotanaccident.Itcannotbeignoredthattherearealwayssomesimilaritieswhenhumanbeingsexpresstheiremotion,nomatterwherearetheyfromandwhichlanguagedotheyuse.AlthoughtherearemanydifferencesbetweenChineseandEnglish,thecommonthinkingandthesameangleoflovecauseasimilarmetaphoricalexpression.Lovehasthesameconceptandessenceevenwecanexpressitinvariousways.Therefore,structuralmetaphoroflovehashomogeneitiesindifferrentlanguageandculture.MHeterogenityofChineseandEnglishstructuralmetaphorsofloveThesimilaritiesofexpressinglovearealmostcausedbythesamemodeofthinking.However,itisknowntousall,cultureshapesourthinking,behaviour,andcommunicationinmorewaythanone.Sodoeseconomicsystem.Ifwewanttopenetratestructuralmetaphors,weshouldrefertothenationalcultureunderspecificbackgroundandspecificregions.Inordertoelucidatethisconceptspecifically,wewillcomparethedifferencesbetweenChinesecultureandEnglishculture.ThedifferencecausedbythediversityofecomomicstructureWesterncommodityeconomyhasbeenrelativelydeveloped,PeopleinEnglishcountryregardtheperson'svaluemoreimportantthananyotherpeopledo,alsoadvocatingindividualismandegotism.Loveisassimilatedtomerchandiseorvaluables.Hence,inEnglish,thereisametaphoricalconcept:Loveiscommodity.Suchas:Ipaidalotforsolittlelove.Itreasuredthislove.Becauseofthetraditionalagriculture,theexpressionofloveinChineseistotallydifferent.Therefore,theexpressionsthatloveisproductsofagricultureorloveisapartofagriculturallifeareverycommontosee.Meanwhile,Chinaistheworld'searliestcountrytoproductsilk.Underthisbackground,peopleliketocomparelovetosilk.他一下就坠入了情网。/情丝剪不断，理还乱。ThedifferencecausedbythediversityofcultureToagreatextent,EnglishcultureisinfluencedbyJewish-Christculture.InHolyBible,itissaidthattheLORDGodcausedadeepsleeptofalluponAdamandheslept:andhetookoneofhisribs,andclosedupthefleshinsteadthereof;Andtherib,whichtheLORDGodhadtakenfromman,madeheawoman,andbroughtheruntotheman.AndAdamsaid,Thisisnowboneofmybones,andfleshofmyflesh:sheshallbecalledWoman,becauseshewastakenoutofMan.4So,manandwomanwhoareinloveareconsideredasawhole.InEnglish,wecanfindtheseexpressionseasily:Wearemadeforeachother./Weareone.Sheismybetterhalf./Wefunctionasaunit.InChineseculture,menandwomenarecontraryandinterdependent,liketheYinandYangofnature.TheyareInseparable.Therefore,peoplethinkloveistwothingswhichcannotbeparted,suchasmandarinduck,lotusroot,orneedleandthread.他们是一对形影不离的鸳鸯。在天愿作比翼鸟，在地愿为连理枝。咱俩就是针和线，永在一起心穿心。EmotionalexpressioninadifferentwayMostwesternersareboldandunrestrained,whenexpressinglove,theyaremoredirectthanChinese.Structuralmetaphorlikeloveissunandloveisfireareshaped.Youaremysunshine./That'sfireoflove.InfluencedbyTaoismandConfucianism,aswellas“Yin-Yang”Theory,Chinesethinkthatlovebelongstothebeautyoffemininity.Inthiskindofsituation,itisoftentoseethatmoonorwaterismappedtotheconceptoflove.你问我爱你有多深，月亮代表我的心。她现在沐浴在爱河之中，整天花前月下。ChineseandEnglishexpressionoflovestructuremetaphorcannotseparatefromitsspecificculturalandsocialbackground.itisformedincertainsocialculture.ThetwodifferentculturescausethedivergencesbetweenChineseandEnglishexpressionoflovestructuremetaphor.V.ConclusionTosumup,structuremetaphoriswidelyappliedintheloveexpressioninbothChineseandEnglish.Duetothesimilarityofpeople'scognitivestyle,theloveexpressioninbothChineseandEnglishhashomogeneities.Influencedbydifferentcultures,structuralmetaphorswhichisindifferentlanguages,alsoshowussomeheterogenities.ThroughanalysingChineseandEnglishstructuralmetaphorsoflove,wecanseethatstructuremetaphorisnotonlyalinguisticphenomenon,butalsoaculturalphenomenon.Culturalbackgroundknowledgeisthethesourceofmetaphor'slanguageenvironmentaswellastheformationofmetaphoricalconcept.Italsoremindusthatweshouldpaymuchattentiontoculturaldifferenceswhenweareinlearningforeignlanguage.Notes1-Lakoff,George.Johnsen,Mark.Metaphorswelive.London:TheuniversityofChicagopress,2003.P92.Ibid:P154zhuanglinH