HUMAN COGNITIVE PROCESSING is a forum for interdisciplinary research On the tl oI ture
and organization of the cognitive systems and processes involved in speaking
~nd understanding natural language (including sign language) , and their relationship
10 other domains of human cognition , including general conceptual or knowledge systems and processes (the language and thought issue) , and other perceptual or behavioral systems such as vision and non-verbal behavior (e.g. gesture). 'Cognition' should be taken broadly , not only including the domain of rationality , but also dimensions such as emotion and the unconscious. The series is open to any type of approach to the above questions (methodologically and theoretically) and to research from any discipli 肘， including (but not restricted to) di吊 rent branches of psychology , artificial intelligence and computer science , cognitive anthropology , linguistics , philosophy and neuroscience. It takes a special interest in research crossing the boundaries of these disciplines.
EDITORS Marcelo Dascal (Tel Aνiν University) Raymond Gibbs (University of California at Santa Cr，叫 Jan Nuyts (Univer古ity of Antwerp) Editorial address: Jan Nuyts , University of Antwerp , Dep t. of Li nguistics (GER) , Universiteitsplein 1 , B 2610 Wilrijk , Belgium , e-mail:
[email protected] EDITORIAL ADVISORY BOARD Melissa Bowerman (Nijmegen); Wallace Chafr (Santa Barbara, CA) Philip R. Cohen (PO付 land， OR); Antonio Damasio (Iowa City, IA) Morton Ann Gernsbacher (Madison , WI); David McNeill (Chicago , IL) Eric Pederson (Euger陆 ， OR); François Recanati (Paris) Sally Rice (Edmonton , Albe附件; Benny Shanon ljerusalem) Lokendra Shastri (Berkeley , CA); Dan Slobin (Berkeley , CA) Paul Thagard (飞'1aterloo， Ontario)
Volume 1
Ning Yu
The Contemporary Theory of Metaphor A perspectille from Chinese
The Contemporary Theory of Metaphor A perspective from Chinese
NING YU The University of Oklahom
JOHN BENJAMINS PUBLI::'HING COMPANY AMSTERDAM/PHILADELPHIA
(
TM
The paper used in this publication meets the minimum requirements of American National Standard for Information Sciences 一 Permanence of Paper for Printed Library Materials , ANSI Z39.48-1984.
Li brary of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Yu , Ning. The contemporary theory of metaphor : a perspective from Chinese / Ning Yu. p. cm. -- (Human cognitive processing , ISSN 1387-6724; v. 1) Includes bibliographical references and indexes. 1. Metaphor. 2. Chinese language--Figures of speech. 1. Title. 11. Series. PN228.M4Y78 1998 808--0C21 98-6078 ISBN 902722353 X (Eur.) /1 55619201 0 (US) (alk. paper) CIP
2.9. Questions faced by the contemporary theory In his review of Metaphors We Live By (Lakoff & Johnson 1980), Lawler (1983: 205) had this to say about the significance ofthe book to the field of metaphor research: From the viewpoint of a metaphor researcher, this book is ciearly a milestone, but it does not point in any particular direction for further research一-rather， it points in many directions. One obvious suggestion is that other languages than English should be treated along the lines which Lakoff and Johnson lay down. Keesing (1985: 201) also argued that Lakoff and Johnson and many others' discovery in English of the systematic paradigmatic nature of conventiona1 metaphors and their experiential bases ca11ed for more systematic exploration "to m旦p the metaphoric schemata of nçm-Westem peoples." He stressed that "the mapping and analysis of metaphoric schemata in non-Westem languages must be given a high research priority" (p. 214). More recent1y, Mühlhäusler (1995) expressed the urgent need to intensively study ‘ metaphors others live by.' He believed that intensive study of non-Westem metaphoric a1 systems would even help solve problems such as social , technological , environmental , and philosophical , in Westem cultures by "generating a1 temative ways of looking at things" (p. 282).20 In spite of a11 these c a11s, intensive studies of metaphor systems in non-Westem languages , and even in Westem languages other than English , have not been carried out satisfactorily, to say the least.
AREVIEW
47
As 1 see it, the contemporary theory of metaphor sti l1 faces two major questions that require cross-linguistic and cross-cultural research. The first is : whether abstract human reasoning is at least partial1 y a metaphorical version of imagistic reasoning. Lakoff (1 990: 39) sees 也is as "a major question for future research in cognitive linguistics." There exists some evidence suggesting that such abstract concepts as time, states, changes, causes, purposes, quantity scales, categories, as well as emotions, are characterized metaphorically. But to what extent? The existing evidence is mainly 丘om English. But is it true in other languages as well? , \J1 d to what extent is it true in other languages? The second question is that of universality versus relativity. According to Lakoff(1993a: 245) , "Metaphorical mappings vary in universality; some seem to be universal, others are wid巳spread， and some seem to be culture specific." But it is still unknown as to what and how conceptual metaphors are universal , widespread, or culture-specific. Since, as argued, human understanding, meaning, and reasoning are grounded in our embodied experience, and since basic bodily experience should be common among al1 human beings , it can be hypothesized that there exist cognitive universals, as well as linguistic universals. On the other hand, since bodily experience always interacts with specific physical , social , and cultural environmeIits , it is also expected that there should be cognitive variations across cultures and languages. However, to what extent and in what manner cognitive universals and variations exist across cultures and languages is still a largely unexplored area. Regarding the lack of cross-linguistic and cross-cultural studies , Johnson (1 992: 354)21 has made the following incisive statement: Given the nature of our bodies and brains , and given the kinds of physical and cultural interactions we engage in because of the kinds of interests and purposes we have, there may well be universal image schemas, metaphorical concepts, or cognitive structures. Whether there are such universals is an empirical issue. The cross-cultural studies 出at could identify such empirical universals have simply not been carried out extensively enough at the present time. So , we cannot make any strong assertion along these lìnes. Neither, however, can we deny their existence. We wi11 only know the answer when we do the necessary cross-cultural research. Whether certain conceptual metaphors , image schemas , or cognitive prototypes are universal , as 1 believe , awaits further study.
48
THE CONTEMPORARY THEORY OF METAPHOR
Johnson's statement summarizes the situation of cognitive semantics: cognitive semantics has reached a point where it has to be supported by cross-cultural research. My studies presented in the next three chapters a忧empt to make a contribution to this end.
Chapter 3 Emotion Metaphors
3. 1. Language of emotions l"Em?tion is one of the most central and pewasive aspects of human expenence'j' (Ortony et a1. 1988: 3). Since "cognitions can influence and be influenced by emotions" (p.匀， the study of human emotion constitutes one of the essential components in our probe into human cognition. Emotions and their conceptions cannot be adequately studied without reference to language of emotions. The most readily available nonphenomenal access we have to emotions is through language (Ortony et a1. 1988), and linguistic analysis has long been an essential source of information about emotion concepts (Russell 1995). In her study of everyday conceptions of emotion 企om a semantic perspective，哇!巳r油i~k~(1995: 18) unde飞scores the importance of studying lan. guage in general: "Language is a light which i1luminates certain aspects of reality , while leaving other aspects in darkness ," and "we cannot study the reality without studying that light, and the effects it has on our vision ofreality." Cognitive semantics believes that the conventionalized language uscd to talk about the emotions can be an important tool in discovering the structure and contents of emotion concepts (Kövecses 1990a). The contemporary theory ofmetaphor regards metaphors as playing an important role in the folk and scientific conceptualization of emotion (Kδvecses 1990a). Extensive studies have been made on the function of metaphor in the conceptualization of emotions in English (Fesmire 1994, Kövecses 1986, 1988 , 1990a, 1990b, 1991 , Lakoff 1987a, Lakoff and Johnson 1980, Lakoff and Kövecses 1987). A central claim of these studies is that human emotions , which are abstract in nature , are to a great extent conceptualized and expressed via metaphor grounded in bodily experiences. While this claim is meant to be universal , the evidence supporting it is mainly derived 企om English. The question arises as to whether, and to what extent , the claim can hold up in other
50
THE CONTEMPORARY THEORY OF METAPHOR
languages. Therefore, Kövecses (1990a) suggests that studies be done in similar ways in other languages. He believes th创 the comparisons so derived would no doubt be instructive. In this Chapter, 1 report my study on emotion metaphors in Chinese as compared to those in English. 'l'hestudy should be viewed as part ofthe more recent thrust to push the research on emotion metaphors beyond English to other languages and to conduct it on a cross-linguistic and cross-cultural basis (e.g. Emanatian 1995 , King 1989, Kδvecses 1995a, 1995c, Matsuki 1995 , Sh川 1989). 1 concentrate on two basic emotion concepts: anger and happiness. The English examples cited in this study are mainly taken 企om Lakoff and Johnson (1980) , Lakoff and Kövecses (1987) , and Kövecses (1991 , 1995a, 1995c) , which comprise my reference point for comparison. This study demonstrates that Chinese shares the same generic-Ievel conceptual metaphor ANGER IS HEA T with English. However, this central metaphor then breaks into two subversions in both languages. Wh ile English has selected FIRE and FLUID metaphors, Chinese uses FlRE and GAS for the same purpose. Similarly, both English and Chinese share the UP , L1 GHT and CONTAINER metaphors :in their conceptualizations of happiness , although they differ in some other cases. These two languages also follow the same metonymic principle in talking about anger and happiness by describing the physiological effects of these emotions. A descriptive difference observed throughout the study, however, is that Chinese tends to utilize more bödy-part terms , especially intemal organs , than English in its metaphors and meton严nies of anger, happiness , and other emotional states. A principled explanation of the differences between the two languages is then made on the basis ofreferring to the theories ofyin-yang and of the five elements of Chinese philosophy and medicine. It is suggested that these theories form cognitive or cultural models underlying the metaphorical conceptualization in Chinese.
3.2. Anger metaphors in English In English, according to Lakoff and Kövecses (1987: 197) , "The cultural model of physiological effects , especially the p缸t that emphasizes HEA T, forms the basis of the most general metaphor for anger: ANGER IS HEA T." However, this central metaphor has two versions in English: one where heat is applied to solids; the other where it is applied to fluids. Wh en ANGER IS HEA T is applied to solids , thè version of metaphor is ANGER IS FIRE. Under this conceptual meta-
EMOTION METAPHORS
51
phor, there is a large group of conventionalized expressions which encode and elaborate the general concept in one way or another. For instance: (1 1)
a. b. c. d. e. f. g.
Those are inf1 ammatory remarks. She was doing a slow bum. He was breathing fire. Your insincere apology just added fuel to the fire. After the 缸gument， Dave was smoldering for days. Boy, am 1 bumed up! Smoke was pouring out ofhis ears.
These conv巳 ntionalized expressions could probably cvoke two images of a container. The first and main one is that the body of the angry person is the container and there is a fire buming inside. In the second , the fire is buming outside the body, the cor tainer, heating it and raising the temperature inside. This second image is closely related to the second version of the ANGER [S HEAT metaphor in English: ANGER [S A HOT FLUID [N A CONTA[NER. As the linguistic expressions below show , the subversion ANGER [S A HOT FLUID IN A CONTA[NER also heads a metaphor system fumished with details. (12)
a. b. c. d. e. f. g. h. i.
You make my blood boi l. Simmer down. 1 had reached the boiling point. Let me stew. She was seething with rage. She got all steamed up .Billy's just blowing off steam. He f1 ipped his lid. He blew his top.
The destructive force of anger is obvious: when the hot f1 uid is producing too much steam in the closed container, the steam has to find or force its way out; otherwise it will cause explosion. In addition to the generic-level metaphor ANGER [S HEAT, Lakoff and Kövecses (1987) suggest that , govemed by the comrnon cultural model , English also makes use of a general metonymic principle: THE PHYSIOLOGICAL EFFECTS OF AN EMOTION STAND FOR 四E EMOTION. With this principle , the cultural model yields a system ofmetonymies for anger:
52 (13)
THE CONTEMPORARY THEORY OF METAPHOR
BODY HEAT
a. Don't get hot under the co l1ar. b. Billy's a hothead. c. When the cop gave her a ticket, she got al1 hot and bothered and started cursing. INTERNAL PRESSURE
d. When 1 found out , 1 almost burst a blood vesse l. e. He almost had a hemorrhage. REDNESS IN FACE AND NECK AREA
f. She was scarlet with rage. g. She got red with anger. h. He was flushed with anger. AGlTATION
i. She was shaking with anger. j. 1 was hopping mad. k. He was quivering with rage. INTERFERENCE WITH ACCURA TE PERCEPTION
1. She was blind with rage. m. 1 was so mad 1 couldn't see straight Al1 these expressions , in one way or another, indicate the emotion of anger via its physiological effects on the angry person.
3.3. Anger metaphors in Chinese As shown in the previous section, those conventionalized expressions, which converge on the metaphoric and meton沪nic principles , constitute the systematic conceptualization of anger in English. This kind of systematic conceptualization of emotion in metaphoric and metonymic terms is not specific toEllglish. It is also true in Chinese. 1 have found that the generic-levet c()Il~tlptual metaphor ANGER IS HEA T is exactly applicable in Chinese, and that it als(). yiel d,s two more specific versions. 认Then ANGER IS HEAT is applied to so1idsin Chinese , we get exac t1 y the same metaphorical mapping as ANGER IS FlRE , of which the metaphorical expressions are all quite conventionalized: 22
EMOTION METAPHORS (1 4)
53
a. Bie re wo fa-huo. don't provoke me shoot- Ílre "Don't set me on fire (i.e. Don't cause me to Iose my temper)." b. Ta zheng-zai huo tou shang. he right-at fire head on "He's at the height of flare (i.e. on the top ofhis anger)." c. Ni zai huo shang jia you PRT fire on add "You're pouring oiI on the fire."
you. oiI
d. Nei jiahuo zenme zheme da huo? that guy how so big fire "How come that guy's got such a big fire (i.e. so hot-tempered)?" e. Ta gan-huo hen wang. he liver-fire very roaring "He's got a roaring fire in his liver (i.e. He's hot-tempered)." f.
Ta da dong gan-hou. he greatly move liver-fire "He got flamed up in liver (i.e. flew into a rage)."
g. Ta qiang-an-xia xin-huo meiyou fazuo. she force-push-down heart-fire not breack-out "She forced her heart fire down, and didn't Iet it break out." h. Ta xin-tou huo qi. he heart-head fire flare-up "Fire started to flare up in his heart (i.e. He flared up with anger)." i.
Ta man qiang nu-huo. he full cavity angry-fire "His thoracic cavity is full of angry fire (i.e. He's filled with anger)."
j.
Ta qi de qi-qiao sheng yan. he get-angry COM seven-aperture emit smoke "He was so angry that smoke was shooting out of his nose and mouth (i.e. He was fuming with anger)."
eyes ，巳ars ，
54
THE CONTEMPORARY THEORY OF METAPHOR
k. Ta wo le yi duzi huo. PRT one belJ y fire she hold-in "She held in a belJ y offire (i.e. She was simmering with rage)." ,1.
Ta huo mao san zhang. he fire rise three zhang "His fire/anger is flaming up as high as ten meters."
m. Ta nu-huo wan zhang. he angry-fire ten-thousand zhang "His angry fire is over thirty-three thousand meters high." As can be seen, while English md Chinese share exactly the same conceptual metaphor ANGER IS F1RE , the actual linguistic expressions they use for the conceptualization may be similar or different. In both languages , the emotion of anger is conceptualized as a destructive force that may be harmful not only to the angry people but also to people around them. Descriptively, a difference between English and Chinese is that Chinese tends to use more body-part words in its conventionalized phrases of anger, as is ilJ ustrated by (14e--k). In these examples , the intemal organs heart and liver, as well as thoracic cavity and belly, are specified as places where ‘ fire bums' when one gets angry. Also , the seven apertures in the head are conceptualized in (l 4j) as the outlets of anger when it gets intense. Intuitively or medicalJ y, excessive anger will hurt one's body, especialJ y certain parts of the body. For now , 1 'You1d suggest that the use of body parts for the conceptualization of anger in Chinese provides a piece of evidence supporting the c1aim that metaphor of emotions cross-linguisticalJy is grounded in bodily or physiological experience. 1 wil1 show how 也is is true later. In contrast to the second English version where ANGER ,IS HEA T is applied to fll日出， the Chinese altemative version is applied to gases , and the conceptual metaphor thus derived is ANGER ISηfE HOT GAS IN A CONTAINER. This metaphor is actualJ y based on our commonsense knowledge of the physical world: when gas c10sed up in a container is heated, it wil1 expand and cause increasing intemal pressure to the container , with an ultimate consequence of explosion if there is no outlet for it. This process of physical reaction is exemplified in the fo lJ owing conventionalized expressions grouped under the GAS metaphor: (15)
a. Wo 1
ke PRT
shou receive
bu-liao unable
zhe在n
wo-nang this-kind hold-in-bag
qi. gas
EMOTION METAPHORS
55
"1 really can't be缸 this kind of bagged gas (i.e. being subjected to this kind of annoyances)." b. Ta pi-qi hen da. she spleen-gas very big "She's got big gas in spleen (i.e. hot-tempered)." c. Ni you fa pi-qi le. you again expand spleen-gas PRT "You again expanded the gas in spleen (i.e. got angry)." xin吨 bu shun. heart-gas not smooth 吨 'm feeling the gas in heart is impeded (i.e. feeling unhappy)."
d. Wo 1
e. Ta zuijin gan-qi yujie. he recent1 y liver-gas pent-up "He's got gas pent up in his liver (i. e. been irritable) recent1 y." f.
Ta bie le yi duzi qi. she hold-back PRT one belly gas "She held back a belly of gas (i.e. was filled with pent-up anger)."
g. Ta zai sheng-men-qi. she PRT prηduee-contained-gas "She's producing contained gas (i.e. sulky)." h. Ta qi-gugu de. he gas-inflate PRT "He's ballooned with gas (i. e. inflated with anger)."
i.
Ta qi-huhu de. he gas-puff-and-blow PRT "He's puffing and blowing with gas (i. e. gasping with anger)."
j.
Ta qi-shi xiongxiong. she gas-force surge-surge "Her fierce air is surging higher and higher (i.e. She's blustering with rage)."
k. Ta nu-qi chongchong. he angry-gas soar-soar "His angry gas is soaring and soaring (i.e. He's in a state of fury)."
56
THE CONTEMPORARY THEORY OF METAPHOR
1.
Ta na wo chu-qi. he take me vent-gas "He took his gas out on me (i.e. vented his anger on me)."
m. Ta nu升 chong-tian. he angry-gas soar-sky "His angry gas is gushing into the sky (i. e. He's in a towering rage)." Here，-.!~~ emotion of a.n，g可 is mapped onto gas.、 Therefore， it can be ‘ re四iv时' into a container (as in 15a). It has its volume (e.g. ‘ big' in 15b) and can be ‘饵' panded' (as in 15c). This will increase the intemal pressure to the container (as in 15d-h). The force of the contained gas can be very strong (as in 15i-屿， ‘ surgl吨， upward as hot gas always does. Wh en increasing the intemal pressure, the gas has to exhaust through some outlet (as in 151), or it may lead to explosion (as in 15m). Although FLUID and GAS are very different source domains , they share some basic metaphorical entailments which , according to Lakoff and Kδvecses (1987) , are details of knowledge carried over from the source domain to the target domain. It is' the identity of these entailments , which include HEAT, INTERNAL PRESSURE , and POTENTIAL AND DANGER OF EXPLOSION , that makes it possible for them to be carried over 企'om different source domains (FLUID and GAS) to the same target domain (ANGER). Although only INTE阳AL PRESSURE is highlighted in the GAS metaphors , as in (1匀， HEAT is understood 企om the common sense: the intemal pressure of gas to its container is increased by the increasing heat. Again, as the examples (15b-f) show , Chinese seems to use mote bodypart nouns than does English in its conceptualization of anger in t町ms ofgas. Also , it is interesting to note that, when the GAS metaphor is used, the associated intemal organs are liver, heart, and spleen, as shown in (lSb-e)户。fthese three , liver and heart also appear in the FIRE metaphors , but spleen never does. In the previous section, it was shown that English follows a general metonymic principle: THE PHYSIOLOGICAL EFFECTS OF AN EMOTION STAND FOR THE EMOTION. Apparently , Chinese obse凹es the same principle, and similar metomymic expressions are found very common in everyday use. For instance:
(16)
BODY HEAT a. Wo
qi gas
de COM
lian-shang face-on
huo-lala fire-hot
de. PRT
57
EMOTION METAPHORS
"1 got so angry that my face was peppery ho t." INTERNAL PRESSURE
b. Bie ba fei gei qi zha don't PRT lung PRT gasexplode "Don't burst your lungs with gas (rage)."
le. PRT
c. Bie qi po le du-pi. belly-skin don't gas break PRT "Don't break your belly skin with gas (rage)." REDNESS IN FACE AND NECK AREA
d. Tamen zheng de gege mian-hong-er-chi. they argue COM everyone face-red-ear-red "They argued until everyone became red in the face and ears." e. Tamen zheng de lian-hong巾 ozi-chu. they argue COM face-red-neck-thick "They argued until their faces tumed red and their necks became thicker." f.
Ta qi de lian-shang hong-yi-zhen , bai-yi-zhen , she gas COM face-onred-a-while white-a-while qing-yi-zhen, zi-yi-zhen. blue-a-while purple-a-while "She was so angry that her face tumed red, pale, blue, and purple." AGITATION
g. Ta nu fa chong guan. he angry hair push-up hat "His angry hair is pushing up his hat (i.e. He is extremely angry)." h. Ta qi de shu-mei deng-yan. she gas COM upright-brow glare-eye "She was angry with uprlght brows and glaring eyes." i.
Ta qi de chui-huzi deng-yanjing. he gas COM blow-moustache glare-eye "He was so angry that he was blowing his mustache and opening his eyes wide."
58
TIIE CONTEM I'ORARY THEORY OF META" 1I0R
j.
Ta qi de hun咄en fadou. she gas COM whole-body tremble "Her body was shaking all over with rage."
k. Ta qi de shuang-shou chandou. he gas COM both-hands quiver "His hands were quivering with anger."
1.
Ta qi de zhi duo才 iao. he gas COM constantly stamp-foot "He kept stamping his feet with rage."
m. Ta qi de yao-ya-qie-chi. he gas COM gnash-tee也 "He was gnashing his teeth with anger." INTERFERENCE WITH ACCURATE PERCEPTION
n. Woqi de liang yanfa hei. gas COM two eye become black "1 was so angry that my eyes turned blind." o. Wo qi de tou-hun yan斗1Ua. 1 gas COM head-giddy eye-blurred "1 was so angry 也at my head became giddy and my vision blurred." From the English and Chinese examples, we can see that the meton归nic expressions for the emotion of anger are very similar between the two languages. This is expected because, as is assumed, thesé expressions are primarily based on the physiological effects of anger which might be universal among all human beings. As some examples show, however, cultural models do come in and in f1 uence the selection of linguistic expressions for a particular physical experience. A most remarkable descriptive differ:ence between English and Chinese, as manifested in (13) and (16) , is again that Chinese tends ωspecify more body parts in its conventionalized linguistic expressions of anger than English does. In (13) , only head and vessel are specified in two ofthe 14 English examples. In contrast, all 15 Chinese examples in (16) specify one or two body parts, which in c1ude face (four times) , eyes (four times), lungs , belly skin , ears , neck, hair, brows, mustache, hands , fee,t, teeth, head, and the whole body. In short , both English and Chinese make use of body parts in their conventionalized expressions of anger; the difference between them seems to be
'i!)
EMOTION METAI'II0RS
that body parts tend to be implied in English , whereas they are expressed in Chinese. Insumm缸y ， both English and Chinese use the central conceptual metaphor ANGER IS HEAT. But at a more specific level, English selects F1 RE and FLUID metaphors while it is F1RE and GAS metaphors for Chinese. Also , both languages observe the same meton严nic principle , describing the emotion of anger by referring to its related physiological effects. It needs to be noted, however, that there is a very impo口ant difference between Chinese and English in the use of the HEA T metaphor. The difference can be described as in Figure 1. In this figure , the capitalized words refer to abstract conc叩ts whereas the italicized words are lexical items. In English , F1RE and FLUID , the source domains , are mapped onto ANGER , the target domain, with the arrowheads of the line indicating the direction of the mapping. At the lexical level , however, there exists a difference between the word ‘ fire' and the word ‘ fluid. ' The word ‘ fire' has acquired its metaphorical meaning of ANGER. Different 仕om ‘ fire，' the word 'fluid' itself does not have such a metaphorical sense (hence '?'), while the conceptual matching between FLUID and ANGER is realized by those lexical items associated with FLUID ('boiling,' ‘ simmer，'‘ stew ，'‘ seething，，‘ ste缸ned，' etc.). In either case , however , the word ‘ ang饵， is a more basic word that names the ANGER concept literally. On the other hand, in Chinese, the two source domains that are mapped onto the target domain ANGER 缸e F1RE and GAS. At the lexical level , both words huo "fire" and qi "gas" refer metaphorically to the ANGER concept , but they seem to have
English:
SOURCE
TARGET
FIRE fire FLUID
ANGER ANGER ANGER ANGER
q
Chinese:
FIRE huo GAS ql
一一一-anger-一→ >
一--anger 一→
ANGER ANGER ANGER ANGER
Figure 1: An important difJerence between English and Chinese in the conceptualization 01 anger
60
THE CONTEMPORARY THEORY OF METAPHOR
no literal counte叩 art which is more basic and which is equivalent to the English word ‘ anger.' lt also needs to be noted that, although the Chinese words fen and nu (both mcaning ‘ indignation ,,‘ rage ,'‘ fury ,' and ‘ anger') are literal lexical items for the emotion of anger, they are different 企om huo "fire" and qi 飞as" in shades of sense and style and are, by far, less common words which cannot substitute for huo "fire" and qi "gas" most ofthe time. In fact , huo "fire" and qi "gω" are the most basic words referring to the emotion of anger in Chinese, making metaphorical conceptualization of anger lexicalized. For this reason, huo "fire" and qi "gas" are so conventionalized metaphors for anger in Chinese th创 they appear more literal than metaphorical to native speakers of Chinese. It is worth mentioning that the words huo "fire" and qi "gas" are highly derivational, and they form compounds with other words. Here are some examples (the parentheses contain morpheme-by-morpheme translations): 户-huo (shoot-fir时 ， naohuo (irritate-fire) , dong仇 uo (move-fire) , mao-huo (emit-fire), guang-huo (light-fire) , shang-huo (raise-fire) , gua-huo (hang-fire) , sheng-qi (produce自gas) ， dong-qi (move-gas) ，♂w-qi (hang-gas) , and so forth. All of them mean ‘ get angry' in daily use, although a couple of them are marked as ‘ dialectal' in the dictionaries. Based on the examples collected in Chinese, it may be assumed that the selection of intemal organs in the conventionalized metaphors of anger is not random. Specifically, only liver and heart are found in the FIRE metaphors whereas liver, heart, and spleen appear in the GAS metaphors. In a later section , 1 will try to answer some basic questions as to why in Chinese the GAS rather than FLUID metaphor is selected, why Chinese tends to use more intemal organs , and why certain intemal organs are chosen over others in the ANGER metaphors.
3.4. Happiness metaphors in English According to Lakoff and Johnson (1 980) and Kδvecses (1 991)，匾 major conceptual metaphor for the notion of happiness in English is orientational: HAPPY IS UP. Under this conceptual metaphor some conventionalized expressions 红e: (1 7)
a. I' m feeling up. b. That boosted my spirits. c. 扣ly spirits rose.
EMOTION METAPHORS
61
d. Thinking about her always gives me a lift. e. We had to cheer him up. f. They were in high spirits. These expressions are in effect grounded in our bodily experience. They arise from the fact that as humans we have upright bodies. The erect posture typically goes with positive emotional as well as physical states , whereas the opposite is true with a drooping posture. Closely related to the HAPPY IS UP metaphor is another conceptual metaphor of upward orientation: BEING HAPPY IS BEING OFF THE GROUND (Kövecses 1991). Instances of this type include: (18)
a. b. c. d. e. f. g. h.
1 was flying high. She was on cloud nine. l' m six feet off the ground. We were in the clouds. 1 was .i ust soaring with happiness. After the exam, 1 was walking on air for days. They were riding high. 1 was floating.
AccordingωKδvecses (1 991), this metaphor may be in part concemed with birds , which are often viewed as symbols of 仕eedom， and therefore associated with happiness. Kövecses (1991) suggests that another m句 or metaphorical conc叩t ofhappiness in English is HAPPINESS IS Ll GHT, under which the metaphorical expressions 红e， for instance:
(19)
a. b. c. d. e. f. g.
When she heard the news, she lit up. Nothing to woπy about, brighten up. He radiates joy. She has a sunny smile. You are the sunshine in my life. He was gleaming. She was shining withjoy.
Again, these expressions are motivated by the experiential basis under1ying them. When one becomes happy, his or her complexion and eyes tums brighter. The brightness is then an assumed expressive response observed in
62
THE CONTEMPORARY THEORY OF METAPHOR
happiness. The light appears to derive 企om the intemal energy characteristic of a happy person. A third m司jor metaphor conceptualizing happiness is the CONTAINER type , namely HAPPINESS OR JOY IS A FLUID IN A CONTAINER , which in fact is a specific-level instantiation of the more general metaphor THE EMOTIONS ARE FLUIDS IN A CONTAINER. The conventionalized linguistic expressions encoding this conceptual metaphor in English include: (20)
a. b. c. d. e.
We were full ofjoy. The sight filled them withjoy. Joy welled up inside her. 1 brimmed over with j 'O y when 1 saw her. She couldn't contain her joy any longer. f. He was overflowing wi也 joy. g. He was bursting with joy. h. My heart is filled with joy
The container is the body ~n (20a-g) and the heart in (20h). Apparent1 y, the CONTAINER metaphor here is very different from the one with anger. As K，δvec ses (1991) points out, the emotion of anger is conceived of as the hot fluid inside a cl'Osed container, but with happiness the temperat町e of the fluid is n'Ot specified. We can assume, h'Owever, that it is warm rather than too hot or to'O cold. Kövecses (1991) also observes that the container for happiness exists in two varieties. In one the container is open and the emotion-fluid ‘ overflows' when its quantity exceeds the capacity of the container, as in (20d-f). In the other the container is closed and ‘ bursting' with increasing amount of emotionfluid inside , as in (20g). This indicates that the person is unable to control his or her em'O ti 'On. What distinguishes this container 企om the anger one, however, is that it w i11 not explode since 也ere is no excessive intemal pressure caused by to'O much heat. Generally, happiness as a positive em'Otion provides people with more vitality rather than destructive force. In addition to the above happiness metaphors, Kövecses (1991) a1 so exemplifies the existence of conventionalized expressions metonymic of the emotion of happiness. As the case with anger, these metonymic expressions are based on some 'behavioral reactions to happiness , such as JUMPING, DANCING , SMILING, and BRIGHT EYES. Thus , in English there are : (21)
阳MPING
a. He jumped for joy.
EMOTION METAPHORS
63
b. He was leaping withjoy. DANCING
c. We were dancing withjoy. d. They'kicked up their heels. e. She had a bal1. SMILING
f. Shewas smiling with happiness. g. They were all smiles. h. He grinned from ear to ear. i. He was all teeth. REACTIONS IN EYES
j. Amusement gleamed in his eyes. k. His eyes glinted when he saw the money. 1. His eyes were shining. m. Her eyes were sparkling like diamonds.
The typical expressive responses associated with happiness help express the concept of happiness in a metonymic fashion. They compose a system of metonymic expressions , converging on the general metonymic principle 出at physiological effects of an emotion stand for the emotion.
3.5. Happiness metaphors in Chinese Chinese seems to sh缸e some major conceptual metaphors with English. First, orientational metaphor HAPPY IS UP is found underlying a large group of conventionalized lexical expressions which express happiness in terms of an upward orientation. Again, most of them are so conventionalized that they 缸e by no means taken as metaphorical by native speakers. 也e
。2)
a. Ta hen gao-xing. he very high-spirit "He is very high-spirited (happy)." b. Ta hen xing-fen. he very spirit-lift "He is very spirit-lifted (excited)."
64
THE CONTEMPORARY THEORY OF METAPHOR
c. Tamen qingxu gao-zhang. they mood high-rise "Their spirits are running high." d. Tamen gege qingxu gao-yang. they everyone mood high-raise "They're all in high-raised spirits (i.e. high in spirits)." e. Ta xÎng-tou hen gao. he spirit-head very high "The head ofhis spirits is very high (i. e. He's in high spirits)." f.
Ta zheng zai xing-tou shang. he PRT at spirit-head on "He is at the head (height) ofhis spirits."
g. Zhe-xÎa tiqi le wode xingzhi. my mood this-moment raise PRT "This time it lifted my mood (or interest)." h. Ta deyi yangyang. she complacency raise-raise "She looked triumphant." i.
Ta yangyang zi-de. he raise-raise self二 satisfied "He is very pleased with himself."
Obviously , the data 企om Chinese support the c1 aim that metaphorical orientations are not arbitrary , but have a basis in the physical and cultural experience (Lakoff and Johnson 1980). It is apparent that English and Chinese are very similar in this aspect, that is , the concept HAPPY is oriented UP while SAO or UNHAPPY is orienteáooWN. 24 Howev. er, there cannot always be a one-to-one relationship between English and Chinese due to cultural differences. For example , the conc叩tual metaphor BEING HAPPY IS BEING OFF THE GROUNO does not seem to be applicable in Chinese. The reason for the difference, 1 think, is that in Chinese, while BEING HAPPY IS BEING UP , this upw缸d orientation has its upper limi t. It is desirable only when it reaches as high, and stays in the air as long, as one can ‘ jump' or ‘ leap ,' as shown in (27a-c) below; that is , being momentarily offthe ground. It fol1ows that being sustainedly off the ground is undesirable: it is not mapped positively onto happiness , but negatìvely onto complacency. Thus, when the
EMOTION METAPHORS
65
Chinese say Ta piaopiaoran "He's floating ," or Ta you zai yunli-l也'uli le "He is again in clouds and fog ," it means that the person is so smug that he has lost his senses. This is contr缸y to the accepted virtues of modesty and steadiness. Chinese believe in the saying Deyi buneng wangχing "When complacent , one should not forget one's manner (Don't let complacency turns one's head)" and jiao ta shi di "One should have one's feet planted on solid ground (Be eamest and down-to-earth)." Being sustainedly off the ground is seen, in this culture , as being out of self-control and, therefore , is not good. Although happiness should be oriented upward, it should also be ‘ we l1-grounded. ' The fo l1owing lexical examples , which form a complimentary-derogatory contrast , should provide some indirect linguistic evidence in support of the claim that being sustainedly offthe ground is not so desirable in Chinese: (23)
Complimentary compounds meaning ‘ steady and firm': a. wen-zhong "stable and heavy" b. chi-zhong "steady and heavy" c. chen-wen "weighty and stable" Derogatory compounds meaning ‘企ivolous and superficial': d. qing-fu "light and floating" 巳 qing-piao "light and drifting" f. piao-fu "drifting and floating"
Here the words in (23a-c) all have semantic features of [+downward] and [+on-the-ground] , whereas those in (23d-f) are featured by [+upward] and [+off-the-ground]. The complimentary-derogatory contrast, as 1 tend to believe , reflects the established values in the Chinese culture. Although some English metaphorical conc叩ts such as BEING HAPPY IS BEING OFF THE GROUND are not. applicable in Chinese, Chinese also has some that are not applicable in English. An example is HAPPINESS IS FLOWERS IN THE HEART. For instance: (24)
a. Ta xin-li le kai le hua. she heart-inside happy bloom PRT flower "She's so happy that flowers are blooming in her heart." nu-fang. b. Ta xin-hua he heart-flower wildly-bloom "Flowers are blossoming wildly in his heart."
66
THE CONTEMPORARY THEORY OF METAPHOR
In these two examples, flowers are mapped onto happiness, with ‘ blooming' or ‘ blossoming' suggesting its increasing intensity. This metaphorical conc叩t， though a minor one, is rooted in 也e Chinese culture in which flow町s， particul缸ly ‘big red flowe邸， (da hong hua), are traditionally symbols of happiness. From a cultural perspective，也is FLOWER metaphor reflects the more、 intro verted character of Chinese: reactions to happiness in the heart are highlighted. This serves as a contrast to the English BEING HAPPY IS BEING OFF 四EGROUND metaphor that characterizes a more extroverted character. In the prevìous section, it was shown that happiness is conc叩tualized in English not only in terms ofupward orientation, but also as light or brightness. In fact, the HAPPINESS IS LIGHT metaphor exists in the Chinese conceptual system too.τhis is illustrated by 也e following examples: (25)
a. Tamen gege xing-gao c旬-lie. they everyone spirit-high glow-strong "They're a11 in high spirits and wi也 a strong glow (i.e. in great light)."
巾，
b. Ta rong-guang hu缸白 xi吨 yangyang. he face-light glow happy-air vast-vast "He has a glowing face, and a strong air ofhappiness." c. Ta xi xing 沪1 se. he happiness show in color "His happiness showed in his (facial) ∞lor." d. Ta xiao 址lU yan kai. he smi1e drlve color beam "He smi1ed, which caused his face to beam (i.e. beamed with a smile)." e. Ta xi-xiao yan-kai. she happy-smi1e color-be缸n "She smi1ed happ i1y, her face beaming." It is worth mentioning here that the word yan in (25d, e) means both ‘ color' and ‘ face ,' or rather,‘happy glowing face' in Chinese. A relevant and important fact is that yan , when it means ‘ face ,' is always used, as严nme时ca11y， in a happy but never unhappy sense. Thus, one can say xiao yan "smi1ing face," but not ku yal1 "crying face." In con阳st， with lian， 阻。由er word meaning ‘ face,'
EMOTION METAPHORS
67
也eas严nmetry
in usage is not existent. So one can say , for instance, both xiao face" and ku lian "crying f1ωe." On the grounds that bo也 English and Chinese d叩ict happiness in terms of LlGHT, it is predictable that they both also conceptualize unhappiness or sadness in terms of DARK. 2' The last metaphor to be discussed here is the CONTAINER metaphor, which mapsthe emotion ofhappiness onto a fluid in a container. As mentioned earlier, this is only a particular instantiation of the generic-level metaphor THE EMOTIONS ARE FLUIDS IN A CONTAINER. It is manifested in Chinese by the following examples: lian 飞miling
(26)
a. Ta xin-zhong chongman xi严le. he heart-inside fill happiness "His he缸t is filled with happiness." b. Ta man-xin huanxi. she full-heart joy "Her heart is full of joy." c. Ta zai-ye 缸ma-buzhu xin-zhong de xiyue. sheno-longer press-unable heart-inside MOD happiness 唱 "She could no longer contain the joy in her heart." d. Xiyue zhi qing ru quan-shui liu ru joy MOD feeling like spring-water flow into tade xin-li. her heart-inside "The feeling of joy flowed into her heart like spring water (welled into her heart)." e. Ta man-huai xiyue. he full-bosomhappiness "His bosom is filled with happiness."
Although it is obvious that English and Chinese share the CONTAINER metaphol in expressing happiness, there is a descriptive difference between English and Chinese within the limited scope of ex缸nples given. That is, in English the container is largely the body whereas in Chinese it is mainly the heart inside the body. Given the fact that in English the heart can also be the container of happiness, as in (20h) , and in Chinese such a container can also be a larger
68
THE CONTEMPORARY THEORY OF METAPHOR
body part-bosom or thoracic cavity, as in (26e)-the differenoe betw随任Chi nese and English on this point can be put like this: Chinese places more emphasis on the heart as the container than. does English. In English, ex创呻les without using 吁leart' are very common. on the other hand, in Chinese such examples are rarely, if ever, seen. Generally, heart, and sometimes bosom or chest, are specified as the container ofhappiness. Although the difference here seems to be one of degree, it does contribute to the more general difference between the two languages , namely Chinese tends to use more body parts than does English，缸ld that the djfference in the relative prominence given to the heart as the container of happiness rticely coincides with the difference in national character (between extroversion 阻d introversion) mentioned earlier. When the body is the container, the fluid ofhappiness that overflows is more readily seen than if the heart is the container, because the heart is but an intemal organ and whatever overflows it is still inside the body. Finally, we turn to metonymic expressions of happiness , which are very common in Chinese. In the following are some examples: (27)
JUMPING
a. Haizimen gao-xing de huo-beng luan-tiao. kids high叩irit COM energetically也ip wildly气jump "The kids were jumping and skipping for joy." b. Tamen huan-hu que-归e. they merrily-hail bird-Ieap "They were hailing merrily andjumping like birds." DANCING
c. Tamen xi-归e bian-wu. they happy-Ieap glad-dance "They were jumping and dancing for joy." d. Tamen xing-fen de shou-wu zu-dao. they spirit-lift COM hands-dance foot-dance "They were so happy, their hands and feet dancing (i.e. They were dancing for joy)." SMI Ll NG
e. Ta gao-xing de he high-spirit COM
zuiba dou mouth evcn
he shut
bu long. not close
EMOTION METAPHORS
69
"He was so happy that he could not close his mouth."
f. Ta xiao-rong m缸-mian. she smi1e-expression all-over-face "She had a broard smi1e on her face (was all smi1es)." REACTIONS IN EYES AND BROWS
g. Ta mei-kai yan-xiao. she brow-open eye-smile "Her brows were open and eyes smiling (i. e. She was all smiles)." h. Ta xi-mei xiao-yan. he happy-brow smile-eye "His brows were happy and eyes smiling (i. e. He was al1 smiles)." i.
Ta shu-mei zhan-yan. she smooth-brow stretch-eye "Her brows smoothed and her eyes stretched (i. e. She had a happy face)."
j.
Ta xi-shang mei-shao. he happiness-climb brow-tip "Happiness crawled up to the tips ofhis brows."
Note that in expressing the emotion of happiness in terms of the facial features , Chinese highlights not only eyes, as English does , but also brows. Brows are regarded as one of the most obvious indicators of intemal feelings. This can be further illustrated by some four-character set phrases metonymic of unhappiness: meitou-jinsuo "brows are tight1y locked or knitted," choumei-suoyan "worried brows and knitted eyes," and choumei-kulian ''worried brows and bitter face." Although both English and Chinese use eyes as indicators of happy feeling , a difference seems to be apparent with regard to the focus of emphasis. English emphasizes the increase of brightness of eyes , as (21j-m) show, whereas Chinese focuses on the change in the physical shape of eyes , as il1ustrated by (27g-i). It is arguable that the eye expressions in both English and Chinese are rooted in common bodily experience whi1 e the choice of one aspect over the other for emphasis is largely a matter of cultural convention. From the examples given in 由is section, we can see that Chinese does match English in the use of a number of major conceptual metaphors of happiness. These in c1 ude: HAPPY IS UP, HAPPINESS IS LIGHT, and HAPPINESS IS A FLUID IN A CONTAINER. In addition, Chinese is also similar to English in describing
70
THE CONTEMPORARY THEORY OF METAPHOR
one's happiness by refening to some common behavioral reactions to the emotion , such as jumping, dancing , smiling , and response in eyes and/or brows. That 邸， both languages observe the same metonymic principle. However, English and Chinese dò not share some other conceptual metaphors , as illustrated by (1 8) 企om English and (24) from Chinese. The examples conceming happiness in this section reinforce the observation made in the section 3.3 that Chinese tends to use more body-part nouns in the expression of emot lO ns.
3.6. The underlying model of the metaphors
In this section, 1 位Y to answer two questions that arose in the previous sections. First , as 1 have shown, both English and Chinese utilize exactly the same central conceptual metaphor for anger: ANGER IS HEAT. However, although they both share one subversion of the HEA T metaphor ANGER IS F1RE , they differ in the use ofthe other one: ANGER IS A HOT FLUID IN A CONTA1NER in English, and ANGER IS THE HOT GAS 1N A CONTA1NER in Chinese. While similarities betweeri the languages could be attributed to the common human bodily experience , this question remains to be answered: Why does Chinese differ from English in using the GAS rather than FLUID metaphor? Second , as 1 have suggested, Chinese tends to utilize more body parts 由m English in conceptualizing anger and happiness, and itseems that the selection of certain body parts over others is not all random. The question here is then: Wh y should this be so? However, 1 limit myself to the intemal organs because 1 believe the reason for selecting extemal body parts is ‘ visible ,' and hence relatively app缸'ent. For instance, the reason why Chinese selects eyebrows, in addition to eyes, for the conceptualization of happiness or anger is ‘ visible' there on the face: even children can interpr~t facial expressions and know how to draw the simplest happy and angry faces. In trying to answer the above two questions , 1 offer an underlying model of the conceptual metaphors discussed in the previous sections by referring to some fundamental theories of Chinese philosophy and medicine. These are the theory of yin气yang and the theory of five elements. Chinese medicine applies these theoriës fo aêcount for the relations between humans and nature, between the intemal organs inside the human body, and between the intemal organs and the extemal body p缸ts.
EMOTION METAPHORS
71
To answer the first question, 1 first give the dictionary meanings of the Chinese word qi as follows (企om Wu 1981: 535-536; Wei 1995: 778): (28)
a. gas (as opposed to fluid and solid: 白-qi "poison gas") b. air (dakai chuanghu touyitou qi "open the window to let in some 企esh air") . c. breath (tingxialai xie kou qi "stop to catch one's breath"; qi gong "breathing exercises") d. smell; odor (xiang qi "a sweet smell"; chou qi "a bad odor") e. weather (qiu gao qi shuang "fine autumn weather") f. airs; manner (g uan qi "bureacratic airs") g. spirit; morale (da qi "pump air, i. e. boost the moral巳 or cheer on") h. make angry; enrage (Wo guyi qi ta yixia "1 got him angry on purpose") i. get angry; be enraged (Ta qi de zhi duosuo "He trembled with rage"; Ta shuo de shi qi hua "He just said it to vent his anger") j. bully; insult (ai da shou qi "be beaten and bullied") k. (in Chinese medicine) vital energy; energy of life 1. (in Chinese medicine) certain s严nptoms (of diseases)
Apparent1 y, (28h一j) are the senses direc t1 y related to the discussion of the GAS metaphor. However, (28k, 1), namely the terms in Chinese medicine, are also very relevant, as we will see shortly. Wh at is that ‘ vital energy or energy of life'? And how is it related to ‘ certain symptoms (of diseases)'? According to Chinese medicine (Chen 1989间， the human body is composed of three basic kinds of substance: qi "gas," xue "blood," andjinye "fluids other than blood," which serve as the basis upon which the organs , tissues , and so forth function. The so-called qi is "the moving but invisible, nutritive substance which functions as the motive power for the physiological movement of intemal organs" (Chen 1989b: 1010). Also , qi and blood 缸e both mixed together, and circulate throughjingluo. which is defined in Chinese medicine as "main and collateral channels , regarded as a network of passages , through which vital energy circulates and along which the acupuncture points are distributed" (Wu 1981: 359). However, it is qi that pushes blood forward rather than vice versa. Wh erever qí is locally impeded, it will affect the circulation of blood and local pain may occur as a result of increased intemal pressure in that 缸ea. This is where acupuncture can come in to stimulate the circulation of qi. and hence, ofblood. 1f the impediment is sustained, illness w i11 occur in that area and related areas'
72
THE CONTEMPORARY THEORY OF METAPHOR
Th e causes for the impediment of circulation of qi are various, but negative emotions , especially anger, are most significant. This may point to the reason why qi ís one ofthe basíc words for the emotíon ofanger. Furthermore, the theory of yin-yang also accounts for the reason why Chinese has chosen the GAS metaphor over the FLUID one under the central conceptual metaphor ANGER IS HEAT. Accordíng to this theory, all things ín the universe are govemed by the I凹: of the uníty of opposites , which can be summarized by two Chínese words: yin "feminíne; negative" and yang "masculine; posítíve." Some examples are lisfëd in Table 1 (企omCh巳n 1989a: 997). The opposítes of yin and yang have a set of binary propertíes as are gíven in Table 2(企om Chen 1989a: 997). Considering these two tables , it should be obvíous why Chinese has chosen the FlRE and GAS , ínstead of FlRE and FLUID as in English, for the conceptual metaphor ANGER IS HEAT. Th e fundamental contrast between yih 缸ldyang has cast fire and gas on one hand, and water and all other fluids on the other, into two opposing categories. The former is naturally related to heat, whereas the latter ís closely associated with cold. It should be noted, however, that the theory of yin-yang contrast also states that yin and yang are not only opposed to each other, but a1 so dependent on each other, and can even turn into one another under certain conditions. A simple example is that, in nature. water and other fluíds (yin) evaporate into vapor or gas (yang) when being heated and that vapor or gas (yan g) liquefies (yin) when cold. This dialecticaI nature of yin-yang makes the HOT FLUID metaphor easily understandable tö ChineseTable 1: Some opposites of yin and yang }丁n
Yanι
Moon Sun
Land Heaven
Night Day
Cold Heat
Water Fire
Winter Summer
Weak Strong
Table 2: Some binary properties ofyin and yang
Yang
Stative Dynamic
Controlled Excited
Dim Bright
Cold Hot
Soft Hard
Yin Yang
Passive Active
Covert Overt
Intemal Extemal
Lower
Downward Fluidic Upward Gaseous
ηn
出巳r
EMOTION METAPHORS
73
speaking people, although they themselves have made little or no use of this metaphorical mapping.
It is notable that, although the GAS metaphor highlights the property of intemal pressure to the container, the intemal pressure cannot be separated from heat, and heat is actually the cause of the increasing intemal pressure, which is the effect. Although heat itself is not highlighted in the GAS metaphors , it is understood 企'om commonsense knowledge that the gas in a closed-up container expands and causes increasing intemal pressure until explosion, with increasing heat. Therefore, both HEAT and INTERNAL PRESSURE are oresent in both FLUID (of English) and GAS (of Chinese) metaphors , although one property is more highHghted in one metaphor than in the other. This difference is also consistent with our commonsense knowledge that the difference between fluid and gas is temperature (i. e. fluid will tum into gas when heated , whereas gas will tum into fluid when cold). Therefore, a FLUID metaphor cannot be an anger metaphor unless HEA T is emphasized, whereas a GAS one can be an anger metaphor without HEA T being highlighted because HEA T is already a necessary condition of GAS. This difference between fluid and gas is obvious in the theory of yin-yang, in which gas is categorized with heat and fluid with cold. It is interesting to note that, in expressing anger in Chinese, the GAS metaphor, with its less emphasis on HEAT, generally indicates less intensity than does the FlRE metaphor, which emphasizes HEAT. This difference suggests that the intensity of anger expressed relates direct1y to the intensity of HEAT in the metaphor. 1 now tum to the second question: Why does Chinese make use of more intemal organs 岛 thanEnglish， and why their specific selection is not random? To answer this question, 1 refer to tht" five-elements theory ofChìnese medicine. According to this theory, the universe is composed of five basic elements-wood, fire , earth , metal , and water-which are in a relation of mutual promotion and restraint, as shown in Figure 2 (企om Chen 1989a: 1000). ln the figtire ,' the lines forming the outer circle indicate the relation of promotion , and the lines forming the inner five-pointed star indicate the relation 0' restraint, with arrowheads indicating directions of promotion or restraint. SpecificaIly, wood promotes fire as its fuel , fire promotes earth because whatever is bumed tums into earth, earth promotes me
74
THE CONTEMPORARY THEORY OF METAPHOR
Figure 2: Relation 01 mutual promotion and restraint between the five elements because all kinds of metal w il1 be melted by fire , and metal restrains wood because metal tools are used to cut wood. It is with this relation of mutual promotion and restraint among the five elements that the balance ofthe universe is achieved. In Chinese medicine, the theory of the tive elements is applied to define nature and the human body as well as the potential relations between them. Natural phenomena, human organs, and human emotions are c1assified，邸， cording to their properties , into five categories headed by the five elements. Some ofthe relevant examples are given in Table 3 (from Chen 1989a: 1001). In Chinese medicine, the intemal organs of primary importance, which are called Zang, inclllde liv(:r~heart， spleen， lungs and kidneys. Each of these are closelý岳阳:e(I iõ an intemal organ of secondary importance called Fu, r臼:pec tively gall , small intestines, stomach, large intestines and bladder. Similarly, the five Zang organs are also each related c1 0sely to a sense organ, accordingly
Tab!e 3: Five categories under thefive elements Elements
Locations Seasons Clirnates Organs
Wood
East Spring Windy
Zang
Liver
Fu
Gall Eyes Anger
Sense Emotions
Metal
Fire
Earth
Sou出
West Center Late summer Auturnn Dry Wet
Summer Hot
Spleen Heart Sma1l intestine Stomach Lips Tongue AnXiety H哩塑mess
Water Nor也
Winter Cold
K.idney Lung Large intestine Bladder Ears Nose Grief Fri肆t
75
EMOTION METAPHORS
eyes , tongue , lips , nose and ears. Therefore , liver and gall ，江e complement缸y to each other in function , and liver disease wi11 usually affect the gall (and vice versa) , and its clinica1 symptoms wi11 show in the eyes. Also , the emotion of anger is regarded as one ofthe major intema1 factors that causes 1iver diseases. It is believed that there exists a corre1ationship between the emotion of anger and 1iver disease. Those who are quick to anger are especially vu1nerab1e to 1iver disease; conversely , thosc with liver disease are symplomatically quick lo anger (Z. Shen 1989). It is a1so be1ieved that the 1iver diseases with excessive heat usually start in spring when the weather is windy and when woods are luxuriant. This is how the theory of five e1ements is app1ied in the Chinese medicine. Wh at is particu1ar1y re1evant here, however, is that the categorization and conceptua1ization based on the fìve-e1ements theory, as is illustrated in Tab1e 3, have actually influenced the usages of the Chinese 1anguage. This influence is 面áñifested in the metaphorica1 use of intema1 organ names to refer to such abstract concepts as emotions. It is now app缸eq!- why Chinese uses more intema1 organ terms in its 四" pression of emotion(The under1ying cognitive model based on the fundamenta1 theories of Chinese medicine has 1ed to a cu1tura1 emphasis in China of sensitivity to the physio10gical effects of emotions on the intema1 organs. This , in tum, has ir由lenced the w可 Chinese peop1e ta1k about emotion叶n the fo110wing, 1 w il1 limit my discussion main1y to the emotions of ang伊er、nd happiness, in keeping with the theme of this chapter, but 1 wi11 also make references to 0也er abstract concepts metaphorically expressed by the names of the interna1 organ~， Let us first consider the on1y positive emotion of happiness in Table 3. As is shown, the intema1 organs categorized with it are the heart and small intestine. Probab1y because the former is viewed as the actua1 container for the emotion of happiness, on1y the heart, but not the small intestine , is used to refeI to happiness metaphorically, as is illustrated in (26) above. However, it shou1d be noted that heart and small intestines do occur in other metaphorica1 expressions; (29) shows some examp1es: (29)
a. Ta xin-chang hen ruan. she heart-intestine very soft "She has a very soft heart." b. Ta zhen shi yige he really is a
"
hao good
xin-chang heart-intestine
d巳
ren.
MOD
man
76
THE CONTEMPORARY THEORY OF METAPHOR
c. Ta zhen shi yige re xin心hang. he really is a hot heart-intestine "He is really a warmhearted person." d. Tade xin-chang zhen ying. his heart-intestine really hard "He is really hardhearted." e. Ta zhen shi yige tie xin- e
