A Comparative Study Of "Heart" And "Heart" Cognition

Metonymy and Metaphor are important topics in the study of cognitive linguistics. Since 1980s, people gradually realized that Metonymy and Metaphor are not only rhetorical means, but also human being’s important cognitive modes. People have realized the importance of heart, which act as one of the body’s vital organs early. Correspondingly, "x/n/heart" has been granted abundant meanings.This paper takes "xin" and "heart" as the main research object, summing up their extended senses according to their different extended modes on the basis of metonymy and metaphor theories in cognitive linguistics. After a comparison between the two, a conclusion is drawn:the extended senses of "xin" and "heart" are basically same, but there are still some differences. The differences are specifically manifested in four aspects:xin has the meaning of indignation and conscience while "heart" doesn’t have; "heart" can mean "be brave", but "xin" cannot; because of different language typologies, "heart" can change its part of speech, but "xin" cannot; the main deference between the two is:"heart" has a lower usage frequency compared with "xin" under their own linguist context. Finally, this paper attempts to make an analysis of the reason that leading to this phenomenon from the perspective of cognitive. The embodied mind, the cognitive unconsciousness and the metaphorical thought mainly lead to the consistence of their extended senses. The influences of philosophy, religion and Chinese medicine theory mainly lead to the differences of their extended senses and usage frequency.