论文A Contrastive Study of Metaphor in English and Chinese Cultures.doc

Research Proposal Title: a contrastive study of metaphor in English and Chinese cultures 院 别 信息学院英语系 学年（学期）2011-2012学年（第1学期）年级（班） 2008级（ 2 班） 学 生 姓 名 孙亮 学 号 20081843107 2011 年11 月 11 日a. Title of the project.A contrastive study of metaphor in English and Chinese cultures.b. Summary of the project.The scholars in western countries have studied metaphors for a long time. There have been generally three periods since the Aristotle times: the first period is the rhetoric study of metaphors before the 1930s; the second period is the semantic study of metaphors from 1930s to 1970s; the third period is the multi-disciplinary study of metaphors after the 1970s. A metaphor is a figure of speech where comparison is implied. It is also a comparison between two unlike elements with a similar quality. But unlike a simile, this comparison is implied, not expressed with the word as or like. g implied comparison. Metaphor has traditionally been construed as a linguistic phenomenon: as somethingproduced and understood by speakers of natural language. So understood, metaphors are naturally, metaphor is a figure of speech where comparison is implied.c. Purpose of the project.Metaphor originates from peoples lives, and plays a very important role in peoples lives. Metaphor is nowadays not only regarded as a figure of speech but also an important tool in culture communication. This thesis tries to explore some differences in metaphor between Chinese and Western culture, and thus helps in the promotion of the culture communication between Chinese and Western countries.d. Literature review.Metaphor originates from peoples lives, and plays a very important role in peoples lives. Nowadays, the definitions of metaphor can be found conveniently in dictionaries. According to the Websters New World Dictionary, metaphor is defined as: “a figure of speech in which one thing is likened to another, different thing by beings spoken of as if it were the other; implied comparison, in which a word or phrase ordinarily and primarily use of one thing is applied to another.” (Websters New World Dictionary, 1979:1132) Metaphor is used as a rhetorical device which makes comparison between two elements, unlike simile, this kind of comparison is implied not stated. Peter Newmark referred to metaphor as: “the transferred sense of a physical word; the personification of abstraction; the application of a word or collocation to what it does not literally denote, i.e. to describe one thing in terms of another.” (Newmark, 2001:104) Metaphor shows a resemblance between two similar things, which means image and object. In cognitive linguistics, it is defined as the target domain and source domain. Similarity is the basis of metaphor. For example, “the stars in his eyes”, the basis for the use of “stars” is the similarity between the tears in ones eyes and the flickering of light in ones eyes. Both English and Chinese are abound in using metaphors. But different metaphors maybe understood in different cultures. That is to say, metaphor is culture-specific. We may have different kinds of metaphors in Chinese and Western cultures. Metaphors we may feel confused in understanding of metaphors. Reasons for this can be attributed to the principle of metaphors: metaphor renders the truth of experience as the truth of knowledge to an established world. So problems may arise when people from China and the West communicate with each other. e. Significance of the project.The metaphor is far from a linguistic phenomenon. It is also a cognitive activity which can be understood by people through their mind blending. That is to say, metaphor boasts a conceptual nature. The metaphor performs its persuasive funtion in the advertising to help advertising realize its own persuasive funtion on the public. Generally speaking, metaphor offers a vivid image of the product to be promoted so that the public can have a general knowledge of the product and they are even willing to know more about the product. As is mentioned earlier, there are various approaches to the analysis of metaphor. we can see that the cognitive approach is a relatively better choice than other approaches because the understanding of metaphor cant be separated from peoples mind blending. The Conceptual Blending Theory offers a relatively clear explanation of the process of metaphors function on the mind of people. Metaphor as a way to figures of speech or skills, a unique feature of grammar, which features make the sentence more flexible and constructive, but the United States. Wherever and whenever people in their daily lives are often used metaphor. As Mr. Lin Zhuang said: The metaphor is no longer expanding his knowledge and understanding of a passive process. To help us in the form of new knowledge, the metaphor has played an active role so that we can better a better understanding of the objective world. In English and Chinese Metaphorical significance of the difference is due to cultural differences between East and West, that mode of thinking, moral values and sense of difference. However, The best translation is to be able to accurately reflect the true meaning of the author, as well as its cultural and stylistic characteristics of the translation,the translation of metaphor to make as much as possible the original language and to achieve the target language culture, and so on. f. Research questions or hypothesis.How to understand the cultures. what the difference between the Chinese and the English cultures. How to study metaphor in different cultures. How to find the common sense of metaphor in Chinese and English cultures. To find the new way to translate metaphor.g. Data collectionLets see Chinese character first. Language as an indispensible content of culture is closely related to culture and strongly influenced by culture. The early Chinese characters were pictures of ideas or thoughts. Each Chinese character is considered as a symbol of pictograph, ideograph and sound. People used Chinese characters to their meanings in a vivid way. For instance, “月” is just like a crescent, and “雨” is exactly the image of rain drops. We could directly get the meaning of Chinese characters by visual presentation. Such as, “回形针”，“百褶裙”. But their corresponding English translations can only express their meaning or functions. Since Chinese characters can embody meaning to us, thus they can be employed to express ,For example, this metaphor “蚕食”, which means to nibble, make people associate the way silkworms eat mulberry leaves-slowly taking small bites from leaves. “势如破竹” compares bamboo to victories , which can be explained in a western way, “like a knife cutting through butter”. Lets see three characters “松”， “竹” and “梅”, in Chinese culture the pine，the bamboo and the plum are called three friends in winter. When Chinese people talk about them, we immediately think about the cold winter, in which they dont witherInstead，they stood defiant and proud，representing an exemplary conduct and nobility of characterBut in western cultures，they are just three common plants and cannot give people any associationIn the following, we will talk about another factor showing the differences in metaphor This special national condition makes China a country easy to refuse the cultures in other countries. Chinese emphasize the importance of nature. h. Analysis method.metaphor in the relationship between Chinese and Western cultures. Chinese and Western cultures in the common metaphor. In the metaphor of the difference between Chinese and Western cultures. The metaphor of the cross-cultural differences between Chinese and Western influe