A Comparative Semantic Study Of Chinese And English Spatial Terms

The introduction of Ferdinand de Saussure's theory of structural linguistics to Western linguistics in the 19 th century provided the discipline with systematic methods of research and analysis.Saussure used his theory of structuralism to investigate similarities and differences between various Indo-European languages,in doing so performing one of the first formative acts of comparative linguistic research.In addition,the development of computer science has greatly assisted comparative linguists by making possible the use of linguistic corpora for statistical analysis.The strength of this method lies in its ability to monitor the frequency of certain words in different contexts,and analyze the relationship between semantics and context with statistical accuracy,thereby providing the field of semantics with more diverse research methods and precise results.The great majority of scholars approach the semantic study of spatial terms,(also called locatives),from the perspective of cognitive linguistics.George Lakoff and other cognitive linguists claim that when we use spatial terms in ordinary speech,we rely not only their literal meaning but also on their extended meanings.These researchers believe that the metaphorical quality of language proves that our cognitive abilities rely on various flexible metaphorical structures which they call “cognitive metaphor systems”.From the 1970's until now,many Western scholars,as well as many Chinese scholars more recently,have been using the theory of cognitive linguistics to carry out comparative semantic research.In particular,noticeable results have been attained from comparative research of English and Chinese,although most research on spatial terms has been limited to ?,?,?,? and their English counterparts.There are significant semantic differences between these terms in English and Chinese which reflect differences in the cultural contexts of the two languages.Other spatial terms such as ?,?,?,?,?,?,?,?,?,?,and their counterparts in English have not been researched as thoroughly as the aforementioned terms.This paper will conduct comparative semantic analysis on 14 Chinese spatial terms ?,?,?,?,?,?,?,?,?,?,?,?,?,? and their corresponding 23 English spatial terms: on,over,above,up,under,down,below,beneath,front,ahead,before,behind,back,after,in(side),out(side),left,right,north,east,south,west,and center.The study will include analysis of the literal and metaphorical meanings of these terms,in particular investigating the cognitive origins of specific metaphors they express,in an effort to discover the ways in which different cultures,geographies,histories,and customs affect language and thought.