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Academic Journal of Humanities & Social Sciences, 2020, 3(10); doi: 10.25236/AJHSS.2020.031014.

LIFE Metaphor Variation across Time in Chinese- Evidence from CCL

Author(s)

Yuan Sun, Xiangyong Jiang*

Corresponding Author:
Xiangyong Jiang
Affiliation(s)

Foreign Languages College, Jiangxi Normal University, Nanchang 330000, China
*Corresponding Author

Abstract

This article adopts a diachronic approach to analyze LIFE metaphor via quantitative data in the Center for Chinese Linguistics (CCL for short) that demonstrates the variation of LIFE metaphor across time in Chinese. It analyzes the major patterns of source domains of the LIFE metaphor in ancient Chinese and those in modern Chinese respectively. Through comparing the major patterns of the source domain, the study shows how metaphorical source domains changed from ancient to present. The result reveals that LIFE IS A PERIOD OF TIME metaphor occurs much more frequently in ancient Chinese, while LIFE IS A JOURNEY metaphor dominants LIFE metaphor in modern Chinese, which can be ascribed to the different embodied experiences of ancient Chinese people and modern people.

Keywords

LIFE metaphor, metaphor variation, diachronic approach, differential embodied experience

Cite This Paper

Yuan Sun, Xiangyong Jiang. LIFE Metaphor Variation across Time in Chinese- Evidence from CCL. Academic Journal of Humanities & Social Sciences (2020) Vol. 3, Issue 10: 108-118. https://doi.org/10.25236/AJHSS.2020.031014.

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