Cultural conceptualisations of loong (龙) in Chinese idioms

2021 ◽  
Vol 19 (2) ◽  
pp. 563-589
Author(s):  
Xu Wen ◽  
Chuanhong Chen
Keyword(s):  
Chinese Culture ◽  
Human Cognition ◽  
Conceptual Metaphor Theory ◽  
Fine Grained ◽  
Cultural Schemas ◽  
Metaphor Theory ◽  
Concrete Entity ◽  
Chinese Idioms ◽  
Cultural Linguistics ◽  
Shed Light

Abstract This study investigates the abundant metaphorical meanings of the term loong (‘dragon’) in Chinese idioms and the cognitive and cultural factors that influence those meanings from the perspective of Cultural Linguistics. To this end, we present a systematic categorisation of the idiomatic expressions involving the term loong in Mandarin Chinese based on three conceptual metaphors: a human being is a loong, a concrete entity is a loong, and an abstract object is a loong. We then elaborate on the cultural conceptualisations of loong from three perspectives: cultural schemas, cultural categories, and cultural metaphors. The results of the study show how the metaphorical conceptualisations of loong are profoundly influenced by Chinese culture. The resulting study is intended to add to the pool of studies which lend support to the view that a fine-grained study of the metaphors of a particular culture and their linguistic realisation can shed light on how culture influences human cognition. Finally, the study calls for a clearer integration of cultural approaches into conceptual metaphor theory and it explores some possibilities in this regard.

scholarly journals Studi Metafora Konseptual pada Idiom Bahasa Jepang yang mengandung Bagian Tubuh dan Bermakna Emosi

2020 ◽  
Vol 2 (2) ◽  
pp. 161-177
Author(s):  
Nadhira Shafa Ghassani ◽  
Akhmad Saifudin
Keyword(s):  
Human Body ◽  
Conceptual Metaphor ◽  
Human Cognition ◽  
Conceptual Metaphor Theory ◽  
Basic Emotions ◽  
Cognitive Linguistic ◽  
Metaphor Theory ◽  
Human Emotions ◽  
Concrete Entity ◽  
Emotion Concepts

Kanyouku is used to express human emotions. This study discusses the mapping of the meaning of Japanese idiom related to emotions in human cognition by using Knowles and Moon’s metaphor theory and conceptual metaphor theory by Lakoff and Johnson. The study utilizes 28 idioms that related to human basic emotions such as anger, happiness, sadness, fear, love, shame, pride, and surprise. These basic emotions are obtained from Goo Jiten online Japanese dictionary. The results show that human cognition viewing emotion concept as an entity and representing emotions into human body. In Japanese people’s cognition, anger represented as belly, chest, and head; fear represented as tongue, heart, and foot; happiness represented as cheek, chest, and heart; sadness represented as shoulder, chest, and heart; love represented as eye and heart; pride represented as chest; shame represented as face and cheek; and surprise represented as eye, tongue, and heart. Human cognition represented emotion concept as human body to measure the level of emotion. This study mapped the emotion concepts as a concrete entity: the entity as fluid in a container or entity as parts of body. Keywords: Cognitive Linguistic, Conceptual Metaphor, Image Scheme, Idiom, Emotion

scholarly journals Cognitive Exploration of ‘Traveling’ in the Poetry of Widad Benmoussa

2018 ◽  
Vol 5 (2) ◽  
pp. 6-15
Author(s):  
Енкарнацьйон Санчеc Аренас ◽  
Ессам Басем
Keyword(s):  
Social Psychology ◽  
Cognitive Linguistics ◽  
Conceptual Metaphor ◽  
Publishing House ◽  
Semantic Interpretation ◽  
Human Cognition ◽  
Annual Review ◽  
Language Resources ◽  
Conceptual Metaphor Theory ◽  
Metaphor Theory

The concept of motion is central to the human cognition and it is universally studied in cognitive linguistics. This research paper investigates concept of motion, with special reference to traveling, in the poetry of Widad Benmoussa. It mainly focuses on the cognitive dimensions underlying the metaphorical representation of traveling. To this end, the research conducts a semi-automated analysis of a corpus representing Widad’s poetic collections. MetaNet’s physical path is mainly used to reveal the cognitive respects of traveling. The personae the poetess assigns are found to pursue a dynamic goal through activation of several physical paths. During the unstable romantic relations, several travel impediments are met. Travel stops and detours, travel companions, paths in journey as well as changing travel destinations are the most stressed elements of ‘Traveling’ respects. With such a described high frequency of sudden departures and hopping, the male persona the poetess assigns evinces typical features of 'wanderlust' or dromomania. References Arenas, E. S. (2018). Exploring pornography in Widad Benmoussa’s poetry using LIWC and corpus tools. Sexuality & Culture, 22(4), 1094–1111. Baicchi, A. (2017). The relevance of conceptual metaphor in semantic interpretation. Estetica. Studi e Ricerche, 7(1), 155–170. Carey, A. L., Brucks, M. S., Küfner, A. C., Holtzman, N. S., Back, M. D., Donnellan, M. B., ... & Mehl, M. R. (2015). Narcissism and the use of personal pronouns revisited. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 109(3), e1. David, O., & Matlock, T. (2018). Cross-linguistic automated detection of metaphors for poverty and cancer. Language and Cognition, 10(3), 467–493. David, O., Lakoff, G., & Stickles, E. (2016). Cascades in metaphor and grammar. Constructions and Frames, 8(2), 214–255. Essam, B. A. (2016). Nizarre Qabbani’s original versus translated pornographic ideology: A corpus-based study. Sexuality & Culture, 20(4), 965–986 Forceville, C. (2016). Conceptual metaphor theory, blending theory, and other cognitivist perspectives on comics. The Visual Narrative Reader, 89–114. Gibbs Jr, R. W. (2011). Evaluating conceptual metaphor theory. Discourse Processes, 48(8), 529–562. Kövecses, Z. (2008). Conceptual metaphor theory: Some criticisms and alternative proposals. Annual Review of Cognitive Linguistics, 6(1), 168–184. Lakoff, G. (2014). Mapping the brain's metaphor circuitry: Metaphorical thought in everyday reason. Frontiers in Human Neuroscience, 8, 958. Lakoff, G., & Johnson, M. (2008). Metaphors We Live By. University of Chicago press. Lee, M. G., & Barnden, J. A. (2001). Mental metaphors from the Master Metaphor List: Empirical examples and the application of the ATT-Meta system. Cognitive Science Research Papers-University of Birmingham CSRP. Lönneker-Rodman, B. (2008). The Hamburg metaphor database project: issues in resource creation. Language Resources and Evaluation, 42(3), 293–318. Martin, J. H. (1994). Metabank: A knowledge‐base of metaphoric language conventioms. Computational Intelligence, 10(2), 134–149. MetaNet Web Site: https://metanet.icsi.berkeley.edu/metanet/ Pennebaker, J. W., Boyd, R. L., Jordan, K., & Blackburn, K. (2015). The development and psychometric properties of LIWC2015. Retrieved from https://repositories.lib.utexas.edu/ handle/2152/31333 Santarpia, A., Blanchet, A., Venturini, R., Cavallo, M., & Raynaud, S. (2006, August). La catégorisation des métaphores conceptuelles du corps. In Annales Médico-psychologiques, revue psychiatrique. Vol. 164, No. 6. (pp. 476-485). Elsevier Masson. Stickles, E., David, O., Dodge, E. K., & Hong, J. (2016). Formalizing contemporary conceptual metaphor theory. Constructions and Frames, 8(2), 166–213 Tausczik, Y. R., & Pennebaker, J. W. (2010). The psychological meaning of words: LIWC and computerized text analysis methods. Journal of Language and Social Psychology,29(1), 24–54. Sources Benmoussa, W. (2001). I have Roots in Air (in Arabic). Morocco: Ministry of Culture. Benmoussa, W. (2006). Between Two Clouds (in Arabic and French). Morocco: Marsam Publishing House. Benmoussa, W. (2007). I Opened It on You (in Arabic). Morocco: Marsam Publishing House. Benmoussa, W. (2008). Storm in a Body (in Arabic). Morocco: Marsam Publishing House. Benmoussa, W. (2010). I Hardly Lost my Narcissism (in Arabic). Syria: Ward Publishing House. Benmoussa, W. (2014). I Stroll Along This Life. Morocco: Tobkal Publishing House

scholarly journals Morphological Metaphor Mapping of Moral Concepts in Chinese Culture

2020 ◽  
Vol 11 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yingjie Liu ◽  
Kang Li ◽  
Lina Li ◽  
Jing Zhang ◽  
Yuerui Lin ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Chinese Culture ◽  
Conceptual Metaphor ◽  
Physical World ◽  
Chinese Characters ◽  
Moral Norms ◽  
Abstract Concepts ◽  
Conceptual Metaphor Theory ◽  
Moral Concepts ◽  
Metaphor Theory ◽  
The Right

According to conceptual metaphor theory, individuals are thought to understand or express abstract concepts by using referents in the physical world—right and left for moral and immoral, for example. In this research, we used a modified Stroop paradigm to explore how abstract moral concepts are metaphorically translated onto physical referents in Chinese culture using the Chinese language. We presented Chinese characters related to moral and immoral abstract concepts in either non-distorted or distorted positions (Study 1) or rotated to the right or to the left (Study 2). When we asked participants to identify the Chinese characters, they more quickly and accurately identified morally positive characters if they were oriented upright or turned to the right and more quickly and accurately identified immoral characters when the characters were distorted or rotated left. These results support the idea that physical cues are used in metaphorically encoding social abstractions and moral norms and provided cross-cultural validation for conceptual metaphor theory, which would predict our results.

scholarly journals Inconsistencies in Temporal Metaphors: Is Time a Phenomenon of the Third Kind?

2020 ◽  
Vol 61 (1) ◽  
pp. 163-181
Author(s):  
Jacek Tadeusz Waliński
Keyword(s):  
Conceptual Metaphor ◽  
Human Cognition ◽  
Conceptual Metaphor Theory ◽  
The Third ◽  
Separate Category ◽  
Metaphor Theory ◽  
Approach Time

AbstractThis paper discusses the problem of inconsistencies in the metaphorical conceptualizations of time that involve motion within the framework of conceptual metaphor theory (CMT). It demonstrates that the TIME AS A PURSUER metaphor contrasts with the reverse variant TIME AS AN OBJECT OF PURSUIT, just as the MOVING TIME metaphor contrasts with the MOVING OBSERVER variant. Such metaphorical conceptualizations of time functioning as pairs of minimally differing variants based on Figure-Ground reversal are, strictly speaking, inconsistent with one another. Looking at these inconsistencies from a wider perspective suggests that time may belong to a separate category of conceptual phenomena. This paper puts forward a proposal to approach time from the perspective of “phenomena of the third kind”, which according to Keller’s thesis include conceptual establishments resulting from human cognition, but not of human design.

scholarly journals Profiling of the Ethical Concepts Good / Evil and Justice from the Etymological Perspective

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (1) ◽  
pp. 191-206
Author(s):  
Eldar Veremchuk
Keyword(s):  
Life Experience ◽  
Human Mind ◽  
Human Cognition ◽  
Conceptual Metaphor Theory ◽  
Source Domain ◽  
Psychological Mechanisms ◽  
Cross Domain ◽  
Metaphor Theory ◽  
The Matrix ◽  
Insight Into

The paper gives a comprehensive insight into the peculiarities of concept profiling through defining the related etymological domains. The aim of the paper is to reveal the peculiarities of the profiling of the concepts GOOD / EVIL and JUSTICE through elucidating their source domains from an etymological perspective. The choice of the analysed ethical concepts is stipulated by their higher contextual actualization frequency, as compared with the other ethical concepts, according to the data obtained from British National Corpus. The research method of trajector / landmark alignment used in this work is based on R. Langacker’s views on the profiling of concepts in language utterances and on the tenets of Conceptual Metaphor Theory. The novelty of this approach consists in the fact that it was elaborated and tailored for the analysis and explanation of the onomasiological principles of ‘wrapping’ abstract ethical concepts into the language form. The underlying idea is that abstract categories were conceptualized on the basis of background central life experience and knowledge of concrete things. It is argued that such things were the source domains in ontological cross-domain mappings for the target ethical concepts. The current research into the source domain etymons of the ethical categories made it possible to determine the underlying images, which are the core for drawing metaphorical correspondences between source and target concepts. The etymological layer of source domain lexicalizers revealed the intrinsic psychological mechanisms of human cognition and perception of the world, which consist in the inherent proclivity of the human mind to make metaphorical parallels in the direction from daily, central experience to complex abstract ideas and notions. The results made it possible to develop the matrix model of the analysed concepts, which was further developed into a ‘conceptual edifice’ multi-layer model, which reveals the conceptualization paths along which the human mind classifies and categorizes abstract ethical ideas. 

Viewpoint and metaphor in culture

2020 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
pp. 254-274
Author(s):  
Wei-lun Lu
Keyword(s):  
Chinese Culture ◽  
Cognitive Linguistics ◽  
Social Factor ◽  
Analytical Framework ◽  
Cognitive Grammar ◽  
Abstract Concepts ◽  
Cultural Elements ◽  
Depth Analysis ◽  
Metaphor Theory ◽  
Chinese Idioms

Abstract The paper presents an in-depth analysis of the language of death in Chinese and discusses the relation between language and occupation as a social factor in analyzing the language of death. In this paper, I address in what specific ways Cognitive Linguistics may serve as a useful analytical framework in studying Chinese idioms used in funerals, in an attempt to uncover cultural elements and viewpoint structure in communicating death. The study introduces basic constructs in Cognitive Linguistics which could be used for such an analysis, and applies this CL machinery to analyzing three selected groups of four-character eulogistic idioms used at funerals in Taiwan. The analysis shows that, in addition to Conceptual Metaphor Theory, which has been considered the classic CL tool for studying abstract concepts like death, the subjectivity/objectivity distinction in Cognitive Grammar may also be employed as a complementary and useful theoretical construct in studying the language of death, as it helps identify the special characteristics of the eulogistic idioms for teachers as a special profession in the Chinese culture.

scholarly journals Making cross-cultural meaning in five Chinese promotion clips: Metonymies and metaphors

2020 ◽  
Vol 17 (2) ◽  
pp. 123-149 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yue Guan ◽  
Charles Forceville
Keyword(s):  
Chinese Culture ◽  
Cross Cultural ◽  
Detailed Knowledge ◽  
Cultural Meaning ◽  
Belt And Road Initiative ◽  
Conceptual Metaphor Theory ◽  
Metaphor Theory ◽  
Belt And Road ◽  
Full Analysis ◽  
Chinese Trade

AbstractMetonymy and metaphor are fundamental and ubiquitous meaning-generating tropes that operate on a conceptual, not just a verbal, level. The goal of this paper is to demonstrate to scholars outside of the Conceptual Metaphor Theory and Conceptual Metonymy paradigm how these two tropes cue meaning verbally, visually, musically, sonically, and multimodally in five Chinese clips promoting Chinese cities and Chinese trade fairs, all produced after, and in the spirit of, president Xi Jinping’s “Belt and Road” initiative (2013). We also pay attention to how interpretations are to some extent bound to differ depending on whether the audience does or does not have detailed knowledge of Chinese culture. We end by briefly arguing that a full analysis of the clips – as indeed of most discourses – requires awareness of yet other tropes as well as expertise in other humanities disciplines.

scholarly journals Temporal notion metaphorically used for love in English and Vietnamese

2016 ◽  
Vol 5 (2) ◽  
pp. 406-415
Author(s):  
Thu Quynh Trinh Ho
Keyword(s):  
Conceptual Metaphor ◽  
Cultural Factor ◽  
Abstract Concept ◽  
Conceptual Metaphor Theory ◽  
Metaphor Theory ◽  
Temporal Expressions ◽  
Temporal Language ◽  
Different Cultures ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Shed Light

Love – an abstract concept becomes more concrete and easier to understand in temporal language including chronological and kairotic terms. In the light of the conceptual metaphor theory launched by Lakoff and Johnson (1980), eight source domains for love are found underlying 204 temporal expressions (80 English and 124 Vietnamese). All the conceptual metaphors and many of the metaphorical expressions are the same in the two languages. These resemblances may be shed light on by the universality of metaphor and the objectiveness of time. However, language is a cultural factor; it develops in the relationship with the culture. Hence, coming from two different cultures, the temporal terms employed to relate love are not completely similar between English and Vietnamese.

scholarly journals Development and Critiques of Conceptual Metaphor Theory

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (11) ◽  
pp. 1487-1491
Author(s):  
Xin Zhang
Keyword(s):  
Conceptual Metaphor ◽  
Conceptual Metaphor Theory ◽  
Future Studies ◽  
Metaphor Theory ◽  
Increasing Trend ◽  
Shed Light

There is an increasing trend in revealing the effect of conceptual metaphor on activities in the context of education. In order to shed light on future studies in this field, it is necessary to review the development and critiques of conceptual metaphor theory in general and applications and previous studies under the context of education in particular. This paper defines the term "metaphor" at first and further reviews its implications in constructing the conceptualization of educational-related concepts. Problems and challenges of conceptual metaphor theory are also discussed.

Pictorial-verbal metaphors in Chinese editorial cartoons on food safety

2016 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
pp. 20-51 ◽  
Author(s):  
Chun Lan ◽  
Danyun Zuo
Keyword(s):  
Food Safety ◽  
Chinese Culture ◽  
Conceptual Blending ◽  
Conceptual Metaphor Theory ◽  
Working Mechanism ◽  
Chinese Context ◽  
Major Mode ◽  
Editorial Cartoons ◽  
Metaphor Theory ◽  
Major Target

Based on a corpus of 120 cartoons collected from the website http://cartoon.chinadaily.com.cn, this study attempts to give an account of pictorial-verbal metaphors in Chinese editorial cartoons on food safety from the perspective of Conceptual Metaphor Theory and multimodal metaphor theory. The findings are as follows: (1) Four major mode configuration patterns are observed: cross-modal mapping, mono-modal mapping, multimodal mapping and implied mapping. (2) The pictorial-verbal metaphors centre around five major target domains: unsafe food, consumer, producer/seller, supervision authority and food safety law/standard. (3) A large number of scenario metaphors are observed in the data, which can be further divided into those that are cross-culturally perceivable and those that are heavily embedded in Chinese culture. The working mechanism of scenario metaphors can be accounted for by Conceptual Blending Theory. The study helps delineate the food safety situation that we are facing in China from a metaphorical perspective. It also extends the application of multimodal metaphor theory to a Chinese context and contributes to the refinement of the theory.

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