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Article published In:
Cognitive Linguistic Studies
Vol. 5:2 (2018) ► pp.230–260

Metaphorical motion in Chinese

| Southwest University
| Kisii University

This paper focuses on metaphorical motion in the Chinese language by investigating how various abstract concepts are construed in terms of spatial motion. The claim that the primary metaphor, change is motion, is central to metaphorical motion is confirmed, and we further examine sorts of target domains that are structured by spatial motion, the corresponding mappings in metaphors of entity-location pairs and orientational metaphors. Moreover, we explore how systematicity and complexity have structured the whole system. Through systematicity, coherence between different mappings and within one mapping are analyzed, and two concepts of “event” – event in “event-structure concepts” and in “motion event frame” are observed and are shown to be interrelated. By means of complexity, the specific issue of entity-location duality in metaphorical motion is discussed, and experiential bases – including physical, social and cultural basis for metaphorical motion is also considered.

Keywords: Chinese, entity-location duality, event, metaphorical motion, systematicity, complexity
Article outline
  • 1.Introduction
  • 2.Categories of metaphorical motion expressions and the corresponding mappings
    • 2.1Metaphorical motion in metaphors of entity-location pairs
      • Time
        • a. time is a moving entity
        • b. time is location
      • Emotion
        • a. emotions are moving entities
        • b. emotional states are locations
      • Mental activities
        • a. an idea / a thought / mind / memory is a moving entity
        • b. mental states are locations
      • Sickness
        • a. sickness is a moving entity
        • b. sickness is a location
      • Birth, death and life
        • a. birth/death/life is a moving entity
        • b. death/life is a location
    • 2.2Metaphorical motion in orientational metaphors
      • a. happy is up; sad is down
      • b. more is up; less is down
      • c. high status is up; low status is down
      • d. conscious is up; unconscious is down
  • 3.Systematicity and complexity of metaphorical motion
    • 3.1The issue of systematicity
    • 3.2The issue of complexity
  • 4.Conclusion
  • Acknowledgements
  • References
Published online: 14 February 2019
DOI logo
https://doi.org/10.1075/cogls.00020.sha
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