Welcome to Francis Academic Press

Academic Journal of Humanities & Social Sciences, 2022, 5(9); doi: 10.25236/AJHSS.2022.050920.

Study on the Chinese Zodiac Xiehouyu from the Perspective of Conceptual Metaphor

Author(s)

Wang Haobin1, Xie Jiguang2

Corresponding Author:
Xie Jiguang
Affiliation(s)

1College of Foreign Studies, Guilin University of Technology, Guilin, China

2College of Foreign Studies, Guilin University of Technology, Guilin, China

Abstract

Xie houyu is a unique Chinese language form produced by the Chinese people in the practice of production and life. As a traditional Chinese culture, the Chinese zodiac is inextricably linked with the folk customs and livelihood of the Chinese people. In the long-term perception of the zodiac animals, people find that many characteristics of the zodiac animals are essentially similar to some living phenomena in human society, so they use some idioms about the zodiac animals to reflect real life and get some rational understanding. From the perspective of cognition, metaphor is not only the comparison between two things based on a similar relationship but "the tool and result of human cognitive activities". (Wang Yin, 2007) Through the cognitive classification and objective static description of this Chinese Zodiac xiehouyu. This study analyzes the metaphorical types of Chinese xiehouyu within Chinese zodiac animals, explains its metaphorical structure and semantic characteristics, and finally, elucidates the cultural connotation of Chinese Zodiac Animal Xiehouyu against the backdrop of Chinese national culture.

Keywords

Zodiac xiehouyu, Conceptual metaphor, Cognition

Cite This Paper

Wang Haobin, Xie Jiguang. Study on the Chinese Zodiac Xiehouyu from the Perspective of Conceptual Metaphor. Academic Journal of Humanities & Social Sciences (2022) Vol. 5, Issue 9: 125-132. https://doi.org/10.25236/AJHSS.2022.050920.

References

[1] Brown,G.&Yule,G.(1983) Discourse Analysis. Cambridge University Press.

[2] Forceville, C. (2002) The Identification of Target and Source in Pictorial Metaphors. Journal of Pragmatics,a(34) :1 - 34.

[3] Lakoff, G.&M.Johnson.(1980) Metaphors We Live By. University of Chicago Press.

[4] Low, G.,Z. Todd, A.Deignan and L.Cameron.(2010) Researching and Applying Metaphor in the Real World.John Benjamins.

[5] Gao Lei (2012). A Study on Metaphor of Chinese Zodiac Idioms (Master's thesis, Qufu Normal University).

[6] He Xingliang (1999). The Characteristics of Chinese Dragon Culture Ideological. Front (01), 76-82

[7] Shu Dingfang (2002). On the Operating Mechanism of Metaphor. Foreign Language Teaching and Research (02), 98-106+160.

[8] Xu Zhimin & Liu Yulian (2005). Allegorical Sayings and Metaphor. Rhetoric Learning (06), 44.

[9] Xie Zhijun (2007). The Cognitive Function of Metaphor. Fudan University Press.

[10] Wangpeiyao (2021). The Metaphor and Its Changes of the Animal Word "Pig" from the Perspective of Cognitive Linguistics. Overseas English (19), 269-270+274.

[11] Wang Yingwu (2017). Metaphor Cognition of Animal Idioms in Uygur Language and Its Chinese Translation Analysis (Master's thesis, Xinjiang Normal University).

[12] Wang Wenbin (2005). The Subject Self Consistency of Metaphor Construction and Interpretation ( Doctoral dissertation, Shanghai Foreign Studies University).

[13] Wen Shuobin (2008). On the Cognitive Function of Metaphor in Semantic Pun of Allegorical Sayings. Journal of Xinzhou Normal University (06), 37-39.

[14] Wuyucheng (2004). Chinese Zodiac culture Tianjin People's Publishing House.