A Cognitive Analysis Of Heart Metaphors

Language is a window through which we may catch a glimpse of human cognition.According to the conceptual metaphor theory, human concepts are metaphorical, thus a clear understanding of metaphorical expressions used in everyday language can offer insights into the metaphorical nature of concepts. With an aim to explore the conceptualizations reflected in heart metaphors, this present study makes a comprehensive analysis of the heart metaphors in Chinese, and also compares them with heart metaphors in English.A brief review of metaphor theories, with emphasis on the conceptual metaphor theory is presented in the first part of this study. The traditional approach studies metaphors as individual linguistic expressions or rhetorical devices, which are primarily literary or poetic in nature. Just as Lakoff(1987:â…¶-â…·) points out, "traditional theories of metaphor assume that metaphors occur one by one, that each distinct metaphorical expression is individually created." Conceptual metaphor claims that "human conceptual system is metaphorically structured and defined" (Lakoff& Johnson,1980:6). Consequently, in the contemporary view, metaphors are studied as systems of human conceptualization, operating deep in human thought and cognition and, at the same time,surfacing in everyday language in a systematic manner (Lakoff & Johnson,1980).Following the review of metaphor theories, the thesis further explores the bases of metaphors, namely the bodily and cultural basis, and then highlights the cultural models, which have an interpretative function in viewing the body and its role in grounding metaphor. Since metaphors are the result of the interaction between body and culture, this study pays attention to the role of culture in human conceptualization of heart which is metaphorical in nature. In Chinese, the heart is believed to be the locus of both emotions and thoughts, while the heart in English is viewed as the locus of emotions only. These two different cultural models of heart in these two languages may account for the specific differences in heart metaphors.Major work and efforts are contributed to the linguistic data analysis and comparison revealing various conceptualizations of heart. The distinctive feature of this study is that a large number of linguistic data are analyzed with detailed explanations, providing new perspectives to the understanding of heart metaphors whose meanings we have taken for granted and used subconsciously.By analyzing heart metaphors with detailed explanations, this study explores the understanding and motivation of those heart metaphors, and then provides an insight into human conceptualizations of heart and mental experiences like feeling and thinking. It tries to establish significant links between conceptualizations of heart, linguistic expressions and cultural models of different languages.