A Comparative Survey On Chinese And English Figures Of Speech

The figure of speech is the most important means of human expression. No matter you are Chinese or English, no matter you are speaking or writing, the figure of speech always appeals to you. Meanwhile, the figure of speech is also thoroughly studied by scholars at all times and in all countries. This paper is divided into four parts to conduct a comparative survey on Chinese and English figures of speech. Part I summaries their commonalties, including the similarities in form and differences in quality, synaesthesia and the commonalties in structure and in figurative meaning between the Chinese and English figures of speech. Part II discuses their respective characteristics. Part III deals with the differences in establishing figurative meaning between Chinese and English, Part IV illustrates the causes for these differences from language structure and cognitive psychology.