“生命”概念隐喻的英汉比较研究（英文）

本科生毕业论文

“生命”概念隐喻的英汉比较研究

AComparativeStudyoftheConceptualMetaphorsof

LifeinEnglishandChinese

院（系）名称：外语系

专业名称：英语

学生姓名：

指导教师：

Acknowledgements

First,Imustexpresstheheartiestgratitudetomysupervisor,ProfessorBao

Liying.Herpatienthelpmakesitpossibleformetowritethethesisunderthis

topic.Iamextremelygratefultoherpersistentguidanceandcorrectionalongthe

writingprocess.Withoutherhelp,Icannotfinishthethesiscompletely.

Secondly,mygratitudegoestotheForeignLanguagesDepartmentofHEU,

whichhasprovidedagoodstudyenvironmentthroughmycollegeyears.The

teachersherearealwaysreadytogiveheartyhelpandcare.Ihavelearnedfrom

themnotonlyknowledgeofEnglish,butalsothestrictandearneststudyspirit.

Moreover,myspecialthanksareduetomyfriendsandclassmates.They

havebeenurgingmeintheprocessandourcommunicationhasbroughtme

unexpectedhelpwiththethesis.

Lastbutnotleast,Iwanttothankmyparentswhohavebeenkindly

encouragingmealongthewritingprocess.Ifeelindebtedtotheirwholehearted

spiritualandeconomicalsupportformyhighereducation.

Abstract

Metaphorhaslongbeenafocusoflinguistics.Thethesisfirstlyintroduces

somedifferenttheoriesofmetaphorproposedbydistinctbranchesoflinguistics,

sinceAristotlebegantheWesterntradition'ssystematicinvestigationofmetaphor.

Then,thethesisgivesaspecificexplanationoftheperspectivetostudymetaphor

putforwardbycognitivelinguisticswhicharguesthatmetaphorisrootedin

humancognitionandthathumanexperienceintheworldplaysadecisiverolein

formationofmetaphor.Withthecognitivelinguisticapproachtometaphor,this

thesiscomparessomeoftheconceptualmetaphorsoflifeinEnglishandChinese,

analyzestheresemblanceanddistinctioninthespecificaspectbetweenthetwo

languages,andfinallydrawstheconclusionthatthesimilaritiesanddifferencesof

humanexperienceandcognitionresultinthoseoflinguisticexpressionsbetween

EnglishandChinese.Thisthesismainlyselectsfamiliarlinguisticexpressionsas

analysisobject,andhopefullyprovidesabetterunderstandingofmetaphorsoflife

fromacognitiveperspective.

KeyWords:metaphor;cognitivelinguistics;metaphorsoflife

摘要

隐喻，一直以来都是语言学研究的重点。该论文首先介绍了自亚里士多

德开创了西方知识界系统研究隐喻的先河以来，各个时期不同语言学分支提

出的一些不同的隐喻理论。然后，该论文详细阐释了认知语言学提出的隐喻

理论。认知语言学认为，隐喻植根于人类认知之中，人类认知经验在隐喻形

成过程中起到了决定性的作用。本论文用认知语言学的方法对比分析英、汉

语言中有关“生命”的概念隐喻，发现英语和汉语在这个方面的相似点和不

同点，最后得出结论，英汉不同文化之中的人们在体验和认知上的相似点和

不同点会导致其语言的相似点和不同点。该论文主要选择常见的英汉语句作

为分析对象，并期望认知语言学的隐喻理论能为人们理解“生命”隐喻提供

更好的方式。

关键词：隐喻；认知语言学；“生命”隐喻

Contents

LIntroduction错误!未定义书签。

ILAnOverviewofDifferentTheoriesofMetaphor错误!未定义书

签。

2.1TheTraditionalTheoriesofMetaphor错误!未定义书签。

2.1.1TheComparisonTheoryofMetaphor...错误！未定义书签。

2.1.2TheSubstitutionTheoryofMetaphor...错误！未定义书签。

2.2TheInteractionTheoryofMetaphor5

2.3CognitivePerspectiveofMetaphor6

2.3.1TheExperientialHypothesis6

2.3.2ConceptualMetaphor错误！未定义书签。

2.3.3ACross-domainMapping8

2.3.4CommentsonCognitiveTheoryofMetaphor10

III.TheKeyConceptualMetaphorsofLifeinEnglishand

Chinese错误!未定义书签。

3.1LifeasaJourney错误！未定义书签。

3.2LifeasaPlay错误！未定义书签。

3.3LifeasaDay错误！未定义书签。

3.4OtherConceptualMetaphorsofLife20

3.4.1SomeOtherMetaphorsofLifeinEnglish20

3.4.2SomeOtherMetaphorsofLifeinChinese22

3.5Summary错误！未定义书签。

IV.Conclusion25

WorksCited27

I.Introduction

Inrecentdecades,alongwiththedevelopmentofcognitivescience,there

emergedanimportantapproachtolinguisticstudy-cognitivelinguistics.It

attemptstostudylanguagefromtheperspectiveofhumancognition.Thisnew

approacharguesthatlanguageresultsfromthecognitionofhumanspeciesand

thatlanguageisinturnthedrivingforceofhumancognition.Linguisticsis

thereforeoneofthecognitivesciences,alongsidephilosophy,psychology,

neuroscienceandartificialintelligence(EvansandGreen16).Sincethebirthof

cognitivelinguistics,moreandmorescholarshavegiventheirattentionandbegun

tostudylanguagefromaninterdisciplinaryview.In2006,ChinaCognitive

LinguisticsAssociationwasfounded.Itbringstogethermanyscholarsandtheir

works,whichhavefurtherdevelopedthenewapproachandhelpedtoarousethe

interestofstudentsandteachersinlinguistics.Moreover,metaphorisheldinhigh

regardincognitivelinguistics,whicharguesthatmetaphorisasignificant

instrumentforhumancognitionandplaysacrucialroleinhumanconceptual

system.Sincethe1990s,linguistsinChinahavedonealotofworkonmetaphor

bothofEnglishandChinesewiththecognitivelinguisticsapproach.Theirworks

andfindingsstimulateandpromotethestudyanddevelopmentofcognitive

linguisticsinChina.

1

However,mostscholars9findingsarelimitedtoEnglish,sothecognitive

theoryofmetaphorcallsforfurthersupportiveresearch.Inordertoobtainmore

evidence,theauthormakesacross-languagestudy.Thisthesisfocusesonone

abstractandabundantlymeaningfulconcept-life,analyzessomefamiliar

linguisticexpressionsofbothEnglishandChineseandmakesacomparativestudy

oftheconceptualmetaphorsaboutlifeinEnglishandChinese.

Therearefourchaptersinthethesisthatareorganizedasfollows:chapter

oneisabriefintroductiontothebackgroundofthestudy;chaptertwogivesa

specificexplanationofmetaphorfromdifferentbranchesoflinguisticswhile

mainlyfromthecognitivelinguisticstheory;chapterthreeisthemainpart,which

comparesthekeyconceptualsystemsofmetaphorsoflifeinEnglishandChinese

andanalyzesthesimilaritiesanddifferencesbetweenthemofthetwolanguages;

chapterfouristheconclusionofthisstudy.

2

II.AnOverviewofDifferentTheoriesofMetaphor

Normally,whenwethinkofmetaphor,wetendtoregarditsimplyasakind

ofrhetoricaldevice.However,metaphorisarathercomplexconcept.Therehas

neverbeenanagreeddefinitionofmetaphorbecauseofthedistinctviewpointsof

greatintellectsandpeople'svariedunderstandingsalongthehistory."Whatis

metaphor?^^haslongbeenacontroversialissue,notonlyinthestudyoflinguistics

butalsointhefieldofphilosophy.MaxBlackclassifiedmaintheoriesof

metaphorinhistoryintothecomparisontheory,thesubstitutiontheoryandthe

interactiontheory(273-294).Thischapterwillgiveabriefintroductiontothese

differenttheoriesofmetaphor,andthenstressonthemainviewpointsincognitive

linguistics.

2.1TheTraditionalTheoriesofMetaphor

Amongwesternintellects,Aristotleisregardedasthefirstgreatthinkerthat

hadstudiedmetaphorsystematically.AndwhatAristotleputforwardhadnotbeen

stronglychallengeduntillastcentury,withtheeverpopulartrendofmetaphor

study(冯小虎1).Hisprincipalargumentsareasfollows:metaphorisakindof

divergencefromnormallinguisticrules;metaphorisusedasdecorationtomake

expressionsmoreinteresting.Inthissense,themeaningofametaphorical

3

expressioncanbepresentedbyanexpressionwithoutmetaphor.Theproposalsof

Aristotlehavegreatlyinfluencedhisinheritors.Whatarelatercalledthe

comparisontheoryandthesubstitutiontheorycanbothbetracedbacktohim.

2.1.1TheComparisonTheoryofMetaphor

Accordingtothecomparisontheory,metaphorisbasedonsomecommon

characteristics,soitisawaytopresentthehiddenanalogyorsimilarity.This

argumentmeansthatmetaphorcanbeunderstoodasareducedformofthe

correspondingsimile.Forexample,Heisafoxinbusiness.Withthecomparison

theoryofmetaphor,thissentencecanbeviewedasHeisascunningasafoxin

business,

2.1.2TheSubstitutionTheoryofMetaphor

TheRomanrhetoricianMarcusFabiusQuintilianadvocatedanother

importanttheoryofmetaphor,whichisknownasthesubstitutiontheory.

Quintilianchosetotreatmetaphorasamemberofthetropes,whichinvolve"the

artisticalterationofawordorphrasefromitspropermeaningtoanother”(301).

Heheldtheviewthatinametaphoricalexpression,themetaphoricalwordisa

substitutionofitsliteralmeaning.Forexample,inthesentenceHeisafoxin

business,afoxactuallysubstitutesacunningmanandthesentenceisunderstood

asheisacunningmaninbusiness.

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2.2TheInteractionTheoryofMetaphor

Inalongterm,theviewthattheessenceofmetaphoriseithercomparisonor

substitutionhadbeenheldasadeterminatetheory,whichcausedtheneglectof

furtherstudyofmetaphor（胡壮麟50）.In1936,I.A.Richardsputforwardthe

interactiontheoryofmetaphorthatifplacedtogether,twoconceptsthatrepresent

differentthingscaninteractwitheachother,thusproducingmetaphoricalmeaning

（王寅405）.Hisideashavebeendevelopedlateronbysomegreatlinguisticslike

MaxBlack.Theinteractiontheoryofmetaphorsuggeststhattheessenceof

metaphorisinteractionbetweentheprimarysubjectandthesecondarysubject.

Theinteractionofthetwosubjectsactivatesasystemofassociatedcommonplaces

intheaudience'smind.Forexample,inthesentenceHeisafoxinbusiness,Heis

theprimarysubjectandafoxisthesecondarysubject.Metaphorprojectsthe

associatedimplicationsofafoxtoHe,thusfindingthemetaphoricalmeaningHe

iscunning.

Theinteractiontheoryofmetaphorisabigchallengetothetraditional

theoriesofmetaphor.Boththecomparisontheoryandthesubstitutiontheorylimit

metaphortothelinguisticlevel,andtheybothviewmetaphorasadditionalpolish

toclearliteralexpression.However,theinteractiontheoryarguesthatmetaphoris

pervasiveinlanguageandthatthemetaphoricalmeaningisfromtheinteractionof

5

twoconceptsinmind,thusbringingthestudyofmetaphortohumanmind.The

interactiontheorylaidfoundationforthecognitivestudyofmetaphor.

2.3CognitivePerspectiveofMetaphor

Differentthantheaboveapproaches,cognitivelinguistsstudymetaphorfrom

theperspectiveofhumancognitionandtheyhaveproposedmanyinnovative

ideasandassumptions.

2.3.1TheExperientialHypothesis

AccordingtoLakoff(146),weconceptualizetheworldonthebasisofhow

weexperienceit.Thecoreideaofcognitivelinguisticsistheexperientialproperty

oflanguageandthought.Bothlanguageandthoughthavetheirbasisonhuman

physicalandpsychologicalexperience.Andtheformationofexperiencedoesnot

necessarilyneedlanguage,whichistosayexperienceispre-linguistic.For

example,whenwedescribeamountain,weusewordslike"top”,"waist”,"foot”,

etc.whicharefromtheexperienceofourbodies.Ourbodyexperiencesetsa

systemofhundredsofprimitivemetaphorsthat“welearnautomaticallyjustby

livingintheworldeveryday^^(Lakoff70).

2.3.2ConceptualMetaphor

IntheirremarkableworkMetaphorsWeLiveBy,LakoffandJohnsonargue

6

that(5)“theessenceofmetaphorisunderstandingandexperiencingonekindof

thingintermsofanother”.Peopleacquiredirectbodyandsocialexperiencefrom

theirinteractionwiththeworld,whichcanformprimaryconceptsintheirmind.

Whenpeoplecomeintoabstractorunfamiliarthings,theytendtounderstand

thembymakinguseofthosealreadyexistingprimaryconceptsordirect

experience."Thelessclearlydelineated(andusuallylessconcrete)conceptsare

partiallyunderstoodintermsofthemoredelineated(andusuallymoreconcrete)

concepts,whicharedirectlygroundedinourexperience.^^(Lakoff&Johnson109)

ThereisalineinthefilmValentine\Daythatgoeslikethis,“Sheissummer

sunshine”.Isupposewecanagreethatthisisverytouchingandeasilyunderstood.

Buthowcanamancompareagirltosummersunshine?Itisimpossibleto

understandthisifwetrytofindanyresemblanceinphysicalappearancebetween

agirlandsunshine.However,cognitivelinguisticsoffersanotherwayof

comprehension.Normally,inourinteractionwiththeworld,wegettheexperience

thatsunshinegivesuswarmthandmakesuscomfortableandhappy.Therefore,if

agirlmakesamanfeelwarmandjoyful,itisverylikelyherelatethetwo

togetherinmind.Ontheotherhand,whenwereadthissentence,ourexperience

andfeelingsaboutsunshinemakeiteasyforustounderstandwhatfeelingsthe

girlgivesthespeaker.Yetboththespeakerandthelistenerareusuallyunawareof

7

theabovethinkingprocess.Peopleusethemetaphoricallanguagenaturally,while

aswecanseefromtheexample,metaphorisnotmerelyinlanguage,ratheritisin

ourmind.Wethinkandunderstandaconceptmetaphorically.Therefore,metaphor

isregardedasconceptualmetaphorandconceptasmetaphoricalconceptin

cognitivelinguistics.

2.3.3ACross-domainMapping

Metaphor,asLakoffdefined(43),is“across-domainmappinginthe

conceptualsystem^^.Mappingistheactivitythatweprojectsomeoftheproperties

ofthemoreconcreteconcepttotheotherconceptsothatwecanunderstandthe

abstractconceptintermsofthoseproperties.Thesourcedomaincanberegarded

asacollectionofthepropertiesofaconceptthathelpswithunderstanding,and

thetargetdomain,ontheotherhand,iswhatwecanunderstandabouttheless

concreteconceptinthemappingprocess.Inthissense,itisnotdifficultto

understandthatthereisasetofcorrespondencesbetweenpropertiesofthosetwo

concepts.

Forexample,themetaphorreferredtobyLakoffandJohnson“ARGUMENT

ISWAR"(5)(inwhatfollows,whenevernecessary,conceptualmetaphorand

certainelementsofthem,willbewritteninCAPITALletters)showsthefollowing

cross-domainmappingcorrespondences:

8

WAR(SourceDomain)ARGUMENT(TargetDomain)

warriorsarguingpeople

weaponstrongdistinctopinions

attackcriticismtocounterpart'sopinion

defenseassertionofone'sownopinion

battlefieldthetopicarguedabout

victorywinningofsupport

failurelosingofsupport

Ineverydaylanguage,itiscommonthatwesay"attackhisopinion^^or

“defendhisopinion”,orweseethepersonwearguewithasanopponent.

However,mostofusarenotconsciousofthecross-domainmappinghiddenin

theseexpressions.JustasLakoffandJohnsonargued(1),"metaphorispervasive

ineverydaylife,notjustinlanguagebutinthoughtandaction”.Themetaphorical

thinkingpatternallowsustoconceiveandtalkaboutARGUMENTintermsof

WAR.However,althoughtheconceptofWARhelpswiththeunderstandingof

ARGUMENT,itonlyexposessomenotallofthecontentsofARGUMENT.To

fullyunderstandanabstractconceptneedsnotonlyoneconceptualmetaphor.

Differentmetaphorsworktogethertoformamorecomprehensiveunderstanding

ofaconcept.

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2.3.4CommentsonCognitiveTheoryofMetaphor

Cognitivetheoryofmetaphorissosignificantthatitoverthrowsthe

traditionalideathatmetaphorismerelyakindofrhetoricaldevice.Nevertheless,

thereareseveralargumentsthatneedmoreproof.

InMetaphorsWeLiveBy,LakoffandJohnsonarguethat(9)"metaphorical

entailmentscancharacterizeacoherentsystemofmetaphoricalconceptsanda

correspondingcoherentsystemofmetaphoricalexpressionsforthoseconcepts^^.

Toillustratethisviewpoint,theygivetheexampleofmetaphorsabouttime.There

arethreerelatedmetaphorsthatTIMEISMONEY,TIMEISALIMITED

RESOURCE,andTIMEISAVALUABLECOMMODITY(LakoffandJohnson

7-8).TheythenarguethatTIMEISMONEYentailsTIMEISALIMITED

RESOURCE,andthelatterentailsTIMEISAVALUABLECOMMODITY,thus

thethreemetaphorsformaconsistentunitythatmakesiteasyforustounderstand

time.However,thecollectionofmetaphorsabouttimeismerelyatypicalexample

oftheirargument.Moreevidenceandstudyareneededtotestifytheargumentthat

differentmetaphorsconcerningoneconceptcanformasystematicnetwork.

Moreover,howdoesthenetworkisformedalsodemandsfurtherstudy.

Besides,howmappingworkisanotherquestion.Howcomesthatourmind

relateARGUMENTtoWARratherthan,forexample,ROBBERY?Howmany

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canwetakefromthestructuresofWARtounderstandARGUMENT?Howmuch

doesthemappinghavetodowiththeconceptsthemselvesandhowmuchdoes

thishastodowithcontext?Inordertocomprehendtheseinterestingquestions,I

needtopursuefurtherlearningandstudyinthisregard.

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III.TheKeyConceptualMetaphorsofLifein

EnglishandChinese

Thecognitivetheoryofmetaphorarguesthatmetaphorisavitalmeansof

cognitionaspeoplecomprehendalessconcreteconceptwithamoreconcreteone,

andthathumangetprimitivemetaphorsfromdirectexperiencethroughthe

interactionwiththeworld.However,thetheorystillneedssupportofmorehard

evidence.LakoffandJohnsonproposedthat“sincemetaphoricalexpressionsin

ourlanguagearetiedtometaphoricalconceptsinasystematicway,wecanuse

metaphoricallinguisticexpressionstostudythenatureofmetaphoricalconcepts

andtogainanunderstandingofthemetaphoricalnatureofouractivities^^(7).

Withthiscognitiveapproach,thischapterfocusesononeconcept—lifeandtries

tomakeacomparativestudyoftherelatedconceptualmetaphorsinEnglishand

Chineselinguisticexpressions.

Eventhoughdifferentculturesdonotholdthesameviewaboutlife,most

peoplegetsimilarexperiencefromordinaryeverydaylife.Amangetsborn,

reachestheprimeoflife,becomesolderandattheend,dies.Inevitably,eachone

ofushastobeconfrontedwithdeathsomeday.Throughouttheoneandonlylife,

apersonmaygothroughhappiness,sadness,success,failure,struggle,confusion,

andsoon.Thesesortsoflifeexperienceareuniversal.Inthelonghistoryof

12

civilization,lifehasbeenasubjectwhichiswellworthyofcontemplation.Since

lifeisaratherabstractconcept,itisnaturalforpeopletoconceiveitintermsof

otherconceptsthataremorestructured,moreconcreteandnearertoeverydaylife.

Thefollowingsectiondiscussessomefamiliarconceptualmetaphorsinboth

EnglishandChinese,andthenlistssomeotherconceptualmetaphorsinthetwo

languagesrespectively.

3.1LifeasaJourney

Fromdailyexperience,wegetthenotionthatalifetimehasastartpointand

anend,betweenwhichisaprocessofvariouschanges.Thisconceptionisvery

muchlikethatofajourney.Therefore,indailylinguisticexpressions,lifeis

regularlycomparedtoajourney.LookatthefollowingsentencesinEnglish:

(1)Heisnowatthecrossroadsoflife.

(2)Idon'tknowwheretogo.

(3)Asateenager,hewasconfusedaboutthedirectioninlife.

(4)Heaccompaniedherthroughthelastpassage.

(5)It'stimetoletitgoandmoveon.

Theseareallcommonexpressions,andtheyalldemonstratethemetaphorLIFE

ISAJOURNEY,whetherweareawareornot.Thefamouslinesinthepoem“The

RoadNotTaken“byRobertFrostalsopossessthismetaphor."Tworoads

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divergedinawood,andI一/Itooktheonelesstraveledby/Andthathasmade

allthedifference"(1).Literally,theselinesdepictajourneythroughaforest,yet

morefrequently,wemayassociatethepoemwiththelifeofapersonwhoisfaced

withahardandcrucialchoice.Thechoiceofthepathlesstraveledbyimpliesthe

choiceofalifestyledifferentfrommostpeoplethatmaymakeone'slifespecial.

InChinese,themetaphorLIFEISAJOURNEYisalsocommon.Pleaselook

atthefollowingexamples:

(6)a.祝你一帆风顺！

b.zhuniyifanfengshun

c.Wishyouasmoothsailing.

Whilepeoplemightwishsomeoneagoodjourneywiththis,thesentenceis

usuallyappliedtowishsomeoneanicefutureinlife.

(7)a.人生天地间，忽如远行客

b.renshengtiandijian,huruyuanxingke

c.Amanislikeatraveleralonghislife,whohasinasuddencovereda

longdistance.

Thissentencemeansthatlifeisshort,andthatamanmaygothroughmostof

hislifewithouthisownawareness.Thespeaker'sanxietyandpityiswell

expressedinthebriefline.

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(8)a.来易来，去难去，数十载的人世游

b.laiyilai,qunanqu,shushizaiderenshiyou

c.Itiseasyforamantocometotheearthbuthardtogo.Hislifeof

dozensofyearsisajourneyinthehumanworld.

Therearealwaysthingsinlifethatwearereluctanttoletgo,yeteveryoneof

ushastoleaveeventually.Peoplearejustliketravelersintheworldforsome

years.

Fromtheaboveexamples,itisobviousthatthecross-domainmappingofthe

metaphorisasfollows:

JOURNEY(SourceDomain)LIFE(TargetDomain)

startpointbirth

destinationpurpose/death

distancelengthofalifetime

travelerspeople

directionexpectedpurposeandgoal

obstaclesdifficultiesinlife

beautifulsceneryhappinessinlife

forwardpassagefuture

Themappingisdeeplyrootedinourmind,sothatweunderstandlifewith

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supportoftheconceptofjourney.Peoplearetravelersalongthejourneyoflife.

Thedistancepeoplehavecoveredisseenasthepast,andtheforwarddistanceis

future.Inthetravellingcourse,peoplemayrunintoabumpyroadorterrible

weather,whichcanberegardedasdifficultsituationsinlife.Thearrivalattheend

ofthejourneyusuallymeanseitherreachingagoalinlifeortheendofone'slife.

3.2LifeasaPlay

Lifeisahighlyabstractandcomplicatedconcept,butitcanbeunderstood

withourknowledgeofaplay.Perhapsthemostillustriouslinesthatshowthe

metaphorarefromShakespeare\workAsYouLikeIt.

Alltheworld'sastage,

Andallthemenandwomenmerelyplayers.

Theyhavetheirexitsandtheirentrances;

Andonemaninhistimeplaysmanyparts.(qtd.in蓝纯116-117)

Thesefourlinesarenotonlyanapplicationcaseofthemetaphor,butalsoa

perfectexplanationofthemetaphorLIFEISAPLAY.

Asmentionedinlastchapter,metaphorcomesfromeverydaylifeexperience,

sothatitisnotexclusivetopoets.Rather,metaphorishiddenincommon

linguisticexpressions.LookatfurtherexamplesinEnglish:

(9)Aplayislikelife,lifeislikeaplay!Theaudienceisyourself!

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(10)Hewillalwayshaveafrontrowseatinmylife.

HerearefurtherexamplesinChinese.

(ll)a.人生就像…场戏，因为有缘才相聚

b.renshengjiuxiangyichangxi,yinweiyouyuancaixiangju

c.Lifeisasdramaticasaplay,andpeoplegettogetherbecauseoffate.

Thiswell-knownsentencedirectlyexpressestheidea,LIFEISAPLAY.

(12)a.离别与重逢，是人生不停上演的戏

b.libieyuchongfeng,shirenshengbutingshangyandexi

c.Separationandreunionarecontinuouslyplayedonthestageoflife.

Inthismetaphor,thesourcedomainisPLAY,andthetargetdomainisLIFE,

withthefollowingmapping:

PLAY(SourceDomain)LIFE(TargetDomain)

stagetheworld

playerspeople

gettingonstagebirth

gettingoutofstagedeath

rolesduties

makeupandmaskinsincerityofaperson

Theabovemappingmakestheconceptoflifeappreciableanditcanalso

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explainwhyaplayiscapableofarousingpeople'sreflectiononlife.Aplayis

usuallydramaticwithunexpectedoccasions.Actorsandactresseshavetheirtime

togetonandgetoffstage,andwhileonstage,aplayerfulfillstheroletomake

suretheplaygowell.Allthesepropertiescanbeprojectedtolife.Everyperson

hasastartpointanddeparturetime.Inlife,eachoneofushasvariousroles,asa

child,aparent,afriend,aspouse,etc.andtheseroleshavedifferentrequirements

forus.Tohaveanicelife,we'dbettertaketheresponsibilityofeachrole.

3.3LifeasaDay

Everydaylifeexperiencetellsusthatpeopleusuallyreachtheirbiological

andintellectualpeakattwenties.Besides,thecapabilityandcareerofaperson

alsohavedifferentphasesofprogressanddecline.Consequently,itiseasytoget

theideathatalifetimeisofwaxingandwaning,whichislikeausualdaywith

waxingandwaningofheatandlight.Forexample,MaoZedongoncedescribed

childrenasthesuninthemorningaround8and9o'clock.Weallknowthatthe

suninthemorningusuallyindicatesafineday,sochildrencanbeconsideredin

thissentenceashopefulandprospective.

HerearesomeexamplesofthemetaphorLIFEISADAYinEnglish.

(13)Thesufferingisjustdarknessbeforedawn.Keepfighting!

Inthissentence,darknessstandsformiseryinlife,anddawnishopeanda

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goodfuture.

(14)Youcanseeinhimthetwilightofaday.

Twilightisthelightofsunset,whichinthissentencemeansoldageorlack

ofvigor.Therefore,wecanunderstandthatheisgoingtotheendoflife.

HerearesomeexamplesofthismetaphorinChines