Metaphor Study For The Zodiac Idioms Of Chinese

Chinese idioms is a very important category in Chinese vocabulary system, they use concise and comprehensive. Animals are the species which human contact most frequently in understanding the world. There are a large number of animal idioms in Chinese idioms,and Chinese zodiac idioms account for a large proportion in the total which we calls the zodiac idioms. With the development of cognitive linguistics, the view that metaphor is a cognitive way gradually been accepted in academic circles. Chinese zodiac idioms are product under the action of Han nationality’s cognitive metaphorical thinking. It is very meaningful to study Chinese zodiac idioms from the angle of cognitive metaphor.On the basis of previous research results, this paper takes the Chinese zodiac idioms as the object of study. In the guidance of metaphor theory of cognitive linguistics, the text is divided into four parts to study Chinese zodiac idioms.The first part defines Chinese idioms, Chinese animal idioms the Chinese zodiac animals, and Chinese zodiac Idioms firstly. Then it divides the source domain, which can be divided into six kinds: zodiac animals’ body parts as the source domain, actions which human or other animals impose on the zodiac animals as the source domain, zodiac animals’ themselves and their actions as the source domain, zodiac animals have the modifiers as the source domain, zodiac animals’ related things as the source domain,zodiac animals for food as the source domain. Later, Analysis of target domain, which can also be divided into six kinds: the mental class, the moral class, the behavior class, the life class, the situation class and the reason class.The second part, analysis of the basis of metaphorical projection specifically, and analysis of the specific construction process metaphor project from the source domain to the target domain of Chinese zodiac idioms.The third part, analysis of the characteristics of the Chinese zodiac idioms’ metaphor,through analysis, there are three main characteristics of Chinese zodiac idioms’ metaphor.First, the language has the ability to attack. Second, the cross-distribution of metaphorical projection looks like a net. Third, ontological metaphor accounts for majority.The fourth part, exploring the nation cultural causes of producing of Chinese zodiac idioms ’metaphor form four angles: emotional tendency of Han nationality, the view of human- oriented, the production and life, and the national spirit of Han nationality.