On The Universality Of Conceptual Metaphor And Difference

Metaphor is not only a rhetorical phenomenon in literature, but an important method for people to cognize the world. In recent years, both domestic and foreign scholars have begun their study of metaphor from cognitive respect. Conceptual metaphor proposed by George Lakoff and Mark Johnson greatly influences the cognitive study of metaphor. According to L&J, people's cognitive system is a structural one which is metaphorical in nature, and conceptual metaphor exists in any language. Furthermore, cognitive metaphor in different languages shares universality as well as variations. This paper aims to probe into its universality in terms of embodiment and primary metaphors. Moreover, it will mainly focus on the examples of conceptual metaphor in English and Chinese in order to analyze the factors which make conceptual metaphor vary. These factors fall into two general categories, intercultural and intracultural. These factors will be discussed in detail.