The Analysis Of Spatialization Metaphors In English And Chinese--From The Perspective Of Cognition

It is a great leap that the study of metaphors has been conveyed from rhetoric, semantics and pragmatics to cognition because cognitive metaphors extend and deepen the cognitive levels. As Lakoff and Johnson pointed out that many abstract concepts are constituted by spatialization metaphors (SMs) and various languages, cultures and thinking models cause the difference of SMs. Since SMs in Chinese only have been analyzed by Lan (1999), the present study focuses on the comparisons of SM in English and Chinese. In particular, it suggests that: (1). The frequency of SMs is more than spatial orientations per se in English and Chinese. (2). There doesn抰 exist the same priority of spatial orientations and their metaphorical meanings in English and Chinese. (3). Cognitive levels involve three parts ?direct, indirect and deep-level. And the frequency of indirect SMs is less in Chinese. (4). The experiential grounding and realizations of SMs in English and Chinese are generally identical. On this account, SMs are classified into state, time, quantity and social status, and Chinese emphasizes social status. (5). The cognitive levels and realizations are inter-inclusive and dependent. The research proposes the levels of learning prepositions and the relevance of the metaphorical meanings. Then come the implications for ELL/T and dictionary compilation.