From Body to Meaning in Culture

“[...] Yu has provided an excellent compilation of perspectives on the relationship between langauge, body, culture and cognition. Those who are interested in cognitive linguistics will find this book to be an invaluable resource as we consider the complex issues concerning embodiment as the very essence of human existence.”

“This is a book of remarkable scholarly accomplishment: over the twelve years that the selected papers span, Yu has managed to characterize the basic concepts that structure Chinese language and culture. [...] the volume is a very enjoyable read. To quote one of the analyzed Chinese idioms, trough Ning Yu's "unique eye" (i.e. 'exceptional insight') we definitely gain a clearer picture and a better understanding of the interrelatedness of body, meaning and culture.”

“[...] Ning Yu's From Body to Meaning in Culture comprehensively addresses the many links between language, culture, and the body in Chinese. With a writing style that is both insightful and accessible, Ning Yu quite successfully takes on the vast goal of mapping the culturally grounded connections between language and experience in Chinese expressions of emotion, cognition, and moral orientation, among other things. [...] the book is not only relevant for scholars in applied linguistics, Ning Yu's own field, but also contributes to scholarship in applied linguistics, discourse linguistics, and linguistic anthropology, especially in the sense that it provides an initial map for approaching the complexities of discourse in use. [...] It stands strong next to some of the best works in metaphor studies, adding a great deal to the debate about the relationship between language and culture.”

“This is a wonderful collection of essays by one of the eminent and best known Chinese cognitive linguists. Over more than a decade Ning Yu has done a great service to cognitive linguistics by applying some of the key concepts of this paradigm of research to Chinese language and culture. His work on metaphor, metonymy, cultural models, and, most importantly, the notion of embodiment has given us new insight into the complexities of how language, body, mind, and culture interact. His studies on Chinese body parts have significantly contributed to our understanding of both the universal and non-universal aspects of the human mind.”

“The book, as a strong thematic collection of papers on Chinese cultural and cognitive linguistics, presents an excellent application of Conceptual Metaphor Theory. But it goes much beyond that by further connecting the study of linguistics with the role of culture in language, highlighting the usefulness of studying cultural conceptualizations through cultural metaphors and cultural models. It in addition makes a compelling case of how language use is embedded in real context and that a full understanding of linguistic semantics can never do without considering its cultural substrates. The book furthermore shows the value of cultural-cognitive linguistics in second language pedagogy by using a full span of Chinese idioms as illustrations that involve various cultural keywords. I believe a book like this is a useful companion on the shelf for anyone who is interested in culture in

language and language in culture.

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