| Conceptual metaphor theory is one of the most influential cognitive metaphortheories in modern times. The basic viewpoints are: metaphor is not only a means ofrhetoric but also an ordinary thinking model and a basic tool of human beings to knowthe world; the essence of metaphor is to understand and experience one thing in termsof another; the thought of human beings is metaphorical and metaphorical language isthe realization of metaphorical thinking.Chinese has developed for a very long time and gains a great many rich and colorfullanguage expressions, which is undoubtedly a large treasury with fruitful metaphors.Landscape culture is the representative words of Chinese culture, which generatesconsiderable metaphorical expressions. At present, most of the articles deal with“water†metaphor in Chinese, but few in “mountain†metaphor. Given such researchsituation, this paper will systematically investigate the “mountain†metaphors inChinese within the framework of Conceptual Metaphor Theory and will try to explorethe following questions:(1) the representation of “mountain†metaphors;(2) theforming mechanism and mapping procedure of “mountain†metaphors;(3) thecognitive functions revealed by “mountain†metaphors.The data adopted by this study mainly come from: Modern Chinese Dictionary,Idiom Advance Dictionary, CCL, essays, newspapers and magazines. After identifying,analyzing and classifying, there exist11conceptual metaphors of “mountain†inChinese: A LONG TIME IS A MOUNTAIN, A LARGE AMOUNT IS A MOUNTAIN,A DIFFICTULTY IS A MOUNTAIN, SOMETHING HEAVY IS A MOUNTAIN,SOMETHING UNCHANGEBLE IS A MOUNTAIN, LIFE IS CLIMBING AMOUNTAIN, A MOUNTAIN IS A HUMAN, A MALE IS A MOUNTAIN, A STATE ISA MOUNTAIN, SUBLIME IS A MOUNTAIN, A PLACE FOR SECLUSION IS AMOUNTAIN.The finding indicates that:(1) the conceptual metaphors of “mountain†in Chineseare of systematicity;(2) the metaphorical mapping and the semantic extension of theseconceptual metaphors are based on the perception and embodiment of people onmountain, against the background of the specific culture of Han nationality. |
