A Corpus-based Contrastive Study On The Conceptual Metaphor Of The Color Terms "Black" And "White" Between English And Chinese

Metaphor is an objective reality,which attracts attention of the rhetorician especially the philosopher.It has been an important topic in the field of cognitive science.In the traditional research,metaphor is regarded as a rhetoric and decorative device.However,as the research in this field deepens,the linguists have realized gradually that metaphor is not only a language phenomenon for figure of speech,but also one of powerful tools for human beings to perceive the world.In 1980,the publication of Metaphors We Live By,written by George Lakoff& Mark Johnson,marks the appearance of the conceptual theory.According to this theory,the conceptual system of human beings is structured by metaphor.Metaphor is a cross-domain mapping from the source domain which has a clear construction relatively to the target domain which has a blurry construction,and it makes human beings structure and understand the target domain through the construction of the source domain;metaphor is rooted in the physical experiences of human beings and is pervasive in daily life and languages.This thesis studies the “black” and “white” metaphors based on English and Chinese corpora with the framework of the conceptual theory,making a contrastive study of the two color metaphors between English and Chinese.The English data is from the British National Corpus and the Chinese data is from the Center for Chinese Linguistics PKU in this thesis.The writer calculate the metaphorical usages of the “black” and “white” metaphors,explores and analyzes the similarities and differences of those metaphorical usages as well as the reasons resulting in such similarities and differences.The research results show that firstly,generally speaking,in terms of “black” and “white”,their frequency ofmetaphorical usages in English is inferior to that in Chinese.The frequency of “black” used metaphorically in English is little more than that in Chinese;however,the frequency of “white” used metaphorically in English is less than that in Chinese.Secondly,in English and Chinese,the original meaning of “black” is the color of coal.In the fourteen metaphorical usages of “black”,English and Chinese share the most usages.In English and Chinese,“black” indicates ANGER,MISFORTUNE,EVILNESS,ILLEGALITY,etc.However,the “black” metaphors of SURPLUS and DEPRESSION are exclusive in English;and the “black” metaphors of GRIEVANCE,REACTION,SURPRISE,ATTACK,THE UNREGISTERED are exclusive in Chinese.In contrast with “black”,in both English and Chinese,the original meaning of “white” is the color of fresh snow.In the twenty-two metaphorical usages of “white”,English and Chinese only share little same usages;most of them are unique in each language.In English and Chinese,“white” indicates PURITY,SCARE,BRAINWORK,USELESSNESS,FAILURE,etc.However,the “white” metaphors of KINDNESS,SLEEPLESS,HOPE,COWARDICE are exclusive in English;and the “white” metaphors of DEATH,UNDERSTANDING,SCORN,REBELLION,NOTHING,INNOCENCE,UNGRATEFULNESS,FREE OF CHARGE,POLLUTION,POVERTY,CONFESSION,FOOLISHNESS,STATEMENT are exclusive in Chinese.The“white” has more abundant usages in Chinese relative to the “black”.Finally,the reasons that lead to the similarities of the two color metaphors in English and Chinese are coincidence,cultural fusion and universality of conceptual metaphors;and the reasons that lead to differences of the two color metaphors in English and Chinese are the diversity of natural and physical environment,the diversity of religions and beliefs,the diversity of histories and political factors and the diversity of social conventions and customs.This thesis makes a relatively systematic study of the cross-domain mapping between the target domain and the source domain of color terms,which has some significance theoretically to some extent,it also be of some significance practically in terms of the cross-cultural communication,second language learning and translational practice.