A Comparative Study On English And Chinese "Heart" Idioms Based On Theory Of Image Schema

As one of the most important components of language, idiom is the essence oflanguage. Idiom can never be separated from languages, and you cannot choose whetherto use it. Therefore, the study on idiom is inevitable in language learning. In the area oflinguistic research, idiom plays a vital role and the existed studies mainly concentrate onthe idiomaticity, analyzability of idiom, and the exploration of the relationship betweenmetaphor and idiom.However, what needs focus, as idiom is the essence refined in long-term productionand living practice, it is capable to reflect the cognitive experience of human being’s inrecognizing the world around. Besides, undoubtedly the acquisition of experience isclosely related to a vital form of human beings’ original cognitive structure and thinkingmode named image schema, which serves as the bridge connecting bodily experience andcognition as well as language. Therefore, the theory of image schema can be regarded asthe ground of the study on idiom.In this regard, the present thesis takes image schema theory as theoretical instructionand adopts the method of qualitative analysis as well as inductive reasoning. Throughanalyzing the inner construction of Chinese and English Heart idioms and making acomparative study on the relation between their literal meaning and metaphorical meaning,the author attempts to explore the similarities and differences lying in construction ofcognitive framework in these two cultures, hoping to help learners grasp target idiomssystematically and normatively.Through artificial analysis, this thesis finds out that a few of the selected Chinese andEnglish Heart idioms enjoy same distributions in eight kinds of image schemas and similarsemantic meanings, which reflect the similarities of two languages. However, the tendencyof the distributions and the correspondence of most Chinese and English Heart idioms aredifferent, which present the distinctions between two languages, even two cultures.Above all, this study has some theoretical and practical value. It is not only to provethe validity of employing image schema theory to study Chinese and English idioms, butalso to provide a new perspective and lend support to the discussion on the profoundrelationship between language acquisition and human’s cognitive framework; furthermore,it is expected to prompt the study on the foreign language teaching as well as second language acquisition.