Comparative Analysis of Metaphors of Animal Idioms in Chinese and English

【Abstract】Lakoff and Johnson provide a new perspective to study metaphor from the angle of cognitive， that is the conceptual metaphors defined by them. The current research attempts to discover the differences and similarities of the way of understanding metaphors in Chinese and English comparatively through the analysis of animal idioms from the point of view of cognitive. Therefore， it can not only uncover the different cognitive patterns and cultural values of the two countries， but also help learners to mater the other language better.

【Key words】Animal idiom; Conceptual metaphor; Cultural difference

【作者简介】张婧宇（1994.12.07-），女，汉族，河北张家口人，长安大学外国语学院2017级外国语言学及应用语言学专业，硕士研究生，研究方向：认知语言学。

1. Introduction

Metaphor can be regarded as an important tool for ordinary people to understand the world around them. In 1980s， the approach of cognitive has been adopted to the study of metaphor. With the occurrence of Conceptual Metaphor Theory （CMD）， it is held that metaphor is grounded in the constant interaction with the physical and cultural environments of human beings. Later， Shu Dingfang （2002： 128） distinguishes “the cross-cultural and within-culture variations of metaphor. There has been built a close relationship between human beings and animals. With the purpose of enlarging their vocabulary and expressing certain emotions， people tend to use more and more metaphors with animals. However， few attentions have been paid to the study of animal idioms.

2. Analysis of Metaphors of Animal Idioms in Chinese and English

The current research makes a contrastive analysis of English and Chinese through the analysis of metaphors of animal idioms. Animal idiom metaphors are classified into the ontological， the humanistic and the overt types in the current research. Ontological metaphor refers to human beings physical entities and the experience of the world so that people can express their abstract feelings. For example， “害群之馬” in Chinese symbolizes the evil who wants to disintegrate the entity. Ontological metaphor can describe state， modify action and state quality. For example， “鸠形鹄面” in Chinese symbolizes the skinny， white-faced of a mans physical state. Humanistic animal idiom metaphors reflect the ideology of human center. For example， “Monkey Around” in English means that someone behaves in a casual and silly manner， “鹤立鸡群” in Chinese means the mans outstanding and brilliant among the peers...Overt animal idiom metaphors refer to the prominent part in the perception of the things. For instance， “初生牛犊不怕虎” in Chinese. It should be mentioned here that in traditional Chinese culture， the term “牛” and “虎” represent the opposite position. So the idiom is used to express the young man with little experience in a certain field will fear nothing. There are also many other idioms related to “牛”， such as “牛脾气” refers to the bad temper and stubborn characteristic of a man…