The Metaphor TIME As SPACE: Evidence From English And Chinese

The metaphor study has extended into many fields at present and spatial metaphor is one of hot subjects in linguistic study. Spatial metaphors have the domain of space as their source domain. They map the image-schematic structure of the space domain onto that of nonspatial, abstract domains, thus enabling us to talk about and to think of those nonspatial domains in spatial terms. In the metaphor TIME AS SPACE, time is understood and reasoned about in terms of space.In the English language, it has been pointed out that there are actually two spatio-temporal metaphoric systems (Moving-Time metaphor and Moving-Ego metaphor) and the metaphorical understanding of time in terms of space is a universal cognitive process. Relevant research in China is mostly based on this theory and seems to be insufficient. However, data from English show more complex patterns. According to the Ego-Reference-Point (Ego-RP) or Time-Reference-Point (Time-RP), Nunez and his colleagues divide the spatio-temporal metaphors into Ego-Reference-Point metaphor and Time-Reference-Point metaphor. The distinction between Ego-RP and Time-RP spatializations of time in English is also applicable in Chinese. This thesis, by applying the theories of cognitive linguistics, makes a relatively detailed study of TIME AS SPACE metaphor in Chinese and English and analyzes their similaritiesand differences. Based on the comparative study between English and Chinese, this research reinforces some theories of the contemporary cognitive approach to metaphor: abstract concepts are largely formed and comprehended via metaphor; and metaphor of time, is characterized by cognitive universality and cultural relativity.