| Time can be perceived by observing natural phenomena such as the alternation of the day and night from the very beginning of our existence.It can also be perceived in the process of people's growth and aging.Different cultural groups generate different temporal conceptulisations and expressions through the communication among their group members.Temporal words play a very important role in the expression of time in Chinese.This paper selects temporal words from the first eighty chapters of A ream of Red Mansions(Henceforth:ADRM)and its English version as major linguistic data.Based on the cultural conceptualisation theory and combined with the concepts of schema suggested by Lakoff and Johnson,the characteristics of Chinese temporal words are analyzed.The essay has five major findings.Firstly,Chinese temporal words have the characteristics of ambiguity.Secondly,compared with English,more localizers are used in Chinese temporal words,which shows a closer relationship with space.Thirdly,Chinese often consider themselves as the measurement of time,which can reflect in temporal words.Fourthly,Chinese temporal words prefer to express the past meaning.Besides,this paper concludes that about 68%temporal words in ADRM coincide with modern temporal words,which shows that Chinese temporal expressions has not been greatly influenced by foreign ways of recording time after the introduction of Gregorian Calendar,and reveals that cultural and cognitive factors have a profound impact on language. |
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