Metaphor, Metonymy And Their Interface On "Mouth (Kou/Zui)"

Within the theoretical framework of the Metaphor Theory, the MetonymyTheory and the Metaphtonymy Theory, the present study conducts a contrastive andcorpora-based investigation into the metaphorical and metonymic expressionscontaining the body part term “mouth” in English and “kou/zui” in Chinese. Most ofthe English and Chinese examples are extracted from BNC and CCL respectively.By analyzing a great many instances, this thesis tries to reveal the similarities anddisparities of mouth (kou/zui) in the two languages. The possible reasons for thesimilarities and differences are expatiated and the fundamental role of metonymy isemphasized. Limitations of this study are provided in the end.The following conclusions are reached based on the current study:Firstly, mouth in English and kou/zui in Chinese have pure metaphorical usages,pure metonymic usages as well as metaphtonymic usages. There exist the similaritiesand disparities of the usages of mouth (kou/zui) in the two languages. In terms of themetaphorical usages, the similarity is：MOUTH AND KOU/ZUI CAN BE MAPPEDONTO PARTS OF OTHER OBJECTS BASED ON ITS SIMILAR POSITION. Thedifferences are: KOU/ZUI CAN BE MAPPED ONTO PARTS OF OTHEROBJECTS BASED ON ITS SIMILAR FUNCTION; KOU/ZUI CAN BE MAPPEDONTO PARTS OF OTHER OBJECTS BASED ON ITS SIMILAR APPEARANCEAND SHAPE. In terms of the metonymic usages, the similarities are:1) MOUTHAND KOU/ZUI FOR PERSON OR FAMILY MEMBER;2) MOUTH ANDKOU/ZUI FOR EATING;3) MOUTH AND KOU/ZUI FOR LIVING;4) MOUTHAND KOU/ZUI FOR SPEAKING;5) MOUTH AND KOU/ZUI FOR SPEECH OR UTTERANCE;6) MOUTH AND KOU/ZUI FOR LIPS;7) MOUTH ANDKOU/ZUI FOR FACE OR CHEEK;8) PHYSICAL ACTION PERFORMED BYMOUTH AND KOU/ZUI FOR EMOTIONS;9) PHYSICAL ACTIONPERFORMED BY MOUTH AND KOU/ZUI FOR THE RESULT CAUSED BYTHE ACTION. The differences are:10) MOUTH FOR ABILITY TO CONTROL AHORSE BY BIT in English.11) KOU/ZUI FOR FOOD;12) KOU/ZUI FOR TASTE;13) KOU/ZUI FOR AGE OF LIVESTOCK;14) KOU/ZUI FOR CHEWING FORCEin Chinese. In terms of the metaphtonymic usages, the two languages demonstratethe interaction between metaphor and metonymy, namely, metaphor from metonymyand metonymy within metaphor.Secondly, there exist some reasons for the similarities and dissimilarities interms of the usages of mouth in English and kou/zui in Chinese. The similarities ofthe usages of mouth and kou/zui in the two languages should be attributed toEmbodied experience of human beings and the common physiological structure ofhuman body. Different cognitive angles together with the nature and geographicalenvironments, etc. appear to be the main reasons for the disparities of the usages ofmouth and kou/zui in the two languages.Thirdly, mental accessibility and the relativity of domains determine thatmetonymy is more fundamental in human’s cognition and the cognition of mouthand kou/zui is no exception. All things in the world are in most cases linked togetherand can be viewed as belonging to a single domain to a certain degree. Therefore,perceiving contiguity is easier than perceiving similarity. As a result, metonymy ismore fundamental than metaphor in meaning extension.