A Comparative Study On Basic Taste Words Between English And Chinese From Conceptual Metaphor Perspective

Metaphor is a common linguistic phenomenon in human daily language. It has been a heated topic since Aristotle’s times, when traditional theories viewed it as a rhetorical device, only an ornament of language. Therefore, studies on metaphor were restricted to language and rhetorical device level. With the publication of Metaphors We Live By, the study of metaphor turned to a new cognitive age. Lakoff and Johnson claimed that metaphor is pervasive in our daily life, not just in language but in thought and action, which is the way we conceptualize the word around us. They put forward the Conceptual Metaphor Theory which held that metaphor is a process of mapping from the source domain to the target domain. The essence of metaphor is to understand and experience one kind of thing in terms of another. The basic cognitive regulation for people to recognize the world is from the near to the far, from the simple to the complex, from the familiar to the unfamiliar, and from the concrete to the abstract.Taste, as the basic perception of human, in the domain of which exists metaphors. People usually refer to some abstract concepts in terms of the familiar taste words. Studies on metaphor abroad and at home is more extensive, but scarcely on taste metaphor. Moreover, there are some studies but they were introductions of taste words metaphor at a genetic level or discussed across the other sensory. Consequently, based on the precious studies, this paper, applying Lakoff and Johnson’s Conceptual Metaphor Theory, makes a comparative study of basic taste words metaphor in English and Chinese on the basis of plentiful corpora, attempts to explore the similarities and differences between the two languages and give the reasons underlying that.The thesis is made up of five parts. Firstly, the author introduces the purpose and significance of this study.Secondly, metaphor studies abroad and at home are reviewed, and then chapter3provides the theoretical foundation of the present research including the definitions, features, working mechanism, and classification of conceptual metaphor. It also proposed a special conceptual metaphor--synaesthesia metaphor. Emphasis is placed on chapter4that choose four basic taste words and their counterparts in English甜and sweet,苦and bitter,酸and sour,辣and spicy as study objects, separately make comparative studies on the cognitive domains they are mapped onto and their metaphorical meanings in two languages. The result shows that both English and Chinese taste words apply same source domain to metaphrize same target domain. However, their metaphor meanings are not always the same. They share similarities and bear differences. The reasons for similarities of taste words metaphors between the two languages can be attributed to the common human bodily experience and universal cognition. The differences of taste word metaphors between English and Chinese result from different culture and different thinking mode.This thesis, from the conceptual metaphor perspective, makes a comparative study on basic taste words between English and Chinese, which is of great theoretical significance and practical significance. Theoretically, it reinforces the Conceptual Metaphor Theory for proving that there are also conceptual metaphors on taste category. Metaphors of taste words between two languages are characterized by cognitive universality and cultural diversity. To some extent, this research supplements the previous study on metaphor of taste words. Practically, the research findings can provide more information for understanding the two languages and translations between them. This study can enlighten the translation, intercultural communication and the teaching. However, due to the limited ability of the author and the limit collection of the materials, furthermore studies are desired in this area.