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The Frontiers of Society, Science and Technology, 2023, 5(11); doi: 10.25236/FSST.2023.051112.

Contrastive Prominence of “Snake” Metaphors in English and Chinese from the Perspective of Conceptual Metaphor Theory

Author(s)

Ma Qingtian, Wei Jieting, Chen Yiyi, Liu Xinyu, Tan Yueying, Wang Guangpu

Corresponding Author:
Ma Qingtian
Affiliation(s)

Department of Translation, Guangxi Normal University College of Foreign Studies, Guilin, China

Abstract

With the continuous advancement of globalization, the interactions between people from different countries are becoming increasingly close. In cross-cultural communication, proverbs about animals are difficult to understand literally and must be understood based on relevant myths and cultural backgrounds, which may lead to misunderstandings in communication. Based on Chinese and English corpora, this article compares the three types of metaphorical expressions of “snake” and explores the deep reasons for their similarities and differences. The study found that the overall emotion of “snake” metaphors is similar, but the specific references have differences between referring to oneself and external causes. Systematic comparative research on the similarities and differences of “snake” metaphors in Chinese and English allows us to have a better understanding of the language conventions caused by different cultures and provide useful references for better cross-cultural communication.

Keywords

Conceptual Metaphor; Snake; Chinese-English Comparative Study

Cite This Paper

Ma Qingtian, Wei Jieting, Chen Yiyi, Liu Xinyu, Tan Yueying, Wang Guangpu. Contrastive Prominence of “Snake” Metaphors in English and Chinese from the Perspective of Conceptual Metaphor Theory. The Frontiers of Society, Science and Technology (2023) Vol. 5, Issue 11: 73-78. https://doi.org/10.25236/FSST.2023.051112.

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