Publications

Publication details [#11554]

Publication type
Article in book  
Publication language
English
Place, Publisher
Cambridge , UK: Cambridge University Press

Abstract

Yu describes how metaphor emerges from the interaction between body and culture in his chapter ("Metaphor from Body and Culture"). He provides a detailed analysis of body-part terms for "face" in Chinese and English to show how metaphors are typically grounded in bodily experiences that are shaped by cultural understandings. Yu also shows how a decompositional analysis based on the distinction between primary and complex metaphors allows us to .determine which aspects of metaphor are bodily or culturally based. Primary metaphors, derived from bodily experience, are likely to be widespread and universal, while complex metaphors, based on basic metaphoric and metonymic mappings and cultural beliefs, are likely to be more culturally specific. (Raymond Gibbs)