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Description:
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The primary objective of this book is to contribute to the contemporary theory of metaphor from the viewpoint of Chinese so as to help place the theory into a wider cross-linguistic and cross-cultural perspective. Aiming at this primary objective, it explores two major questions faced by the contemporary theory: (1) if abstract reasoning is at least partially metaphorical in nature; and (2) what conceptual metaphors are universal, widespread, or culture-specific. It focuses on (1) metaphors of emotions, (2) the TIME AS SPACE metaphor, and (3) the Event Structure Metaphor. It studies how Chinese is similar to and different from English with regard to these metaphor systems and image schemas involved, and what reasons (cognitive or cultural) can account for the similarities and differences between these two languages. In general, the empirical studies presented in this book reinforce the view that metaphor is the main mechanism through which abstract concepts are comprehended and abstract reasoning is performed. They also support, from the perspective of Chinese, the candidacy of some conceptual metaphors for metaphorical universals. These include, for instance, the ANGER IS HEAT metaphor, the HAPPY IS UP metaphor, the TIME AS SPACE metaphor and the Event Structure Metaphor. It seems that these conceptual metaphors are grounded in some basic human experiences that may be universal to all human beings.
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