Time Is Water A Metaphorical Conceptualization of Time in Chinese.docx
- 文档编号:27665413
- 上传时间:2023-07-03
- 格式:DOCX
- 页数:19
- 大小:27.95KB
Time Is Water A Metaphorical Conceptualization of Time in Chinese.docx
《Time Is Water A Metaphorical Conceptualization of Time in Chinese.docx》由会员分享,可在线阅读,更多相关《Time Is Water A Metaphorical Conceptualization of Time in Chinese.docx(19页珍藏版)》请在冰豆网上搜索。
TimeIsWaterAMetaphoricalConceptualizationofTimeinChinese
TimeIsWaterAMetaphoricalConceptualizationofTimeinChinese
Received22March2015;accepted7May2015
Publishedonline26June2015
Abstract
AconceptualizationofabstracttimeinChinesecanbeinstantiatedby‘TimeisWater’.Timeisuniversallyimportantinahumanbeing’sdailylife,yetitisconceptuallyabstract.Thisabstractionoftimecanbeunderstoodthroughtheconceptofmetaphor.AlthoughtheEnglishandChineselanguagessharemanymetaphoricalconceptionsoftime,thereisoneparticularmetaphorinChinathatisnotascommonlyinstantiatedinEnglish?
CTimeIsWater.Threereasonscanbeprovidedfortheconceptualizationofthismetaphorandwillbediscussedinthispaper:
waterisoneofthefivebasicelementsinChinesephilosophy;conceptualizationoftimeaswaterinChineseisquitesystematicandtimeandwatersharemanysimilarities;Confucius’wordshaveagreateffectforthemetaphoroftimeaswatertobepervasiveinChinese.CulturalunderstandingsoftheChinesepeoplewillbeshowntoimpacttheirlanguageproductionthroughmetaphoricalconceptualization.
Keywords:
INTRODUCTION
Twoimportantconceptsoftheworldweliveindealingwithspaceandtime.Timeplaysavitalroleinourdailylife.Time,however,isanabstractconcept.Wecannottouchit,smellit,tasteit,hearit,andseeit,althoughwecantalkaboutit.Itcannotbefeltbypeople,althougheveryonehassenseoftime.“Timeisperhapstheonlyfeatureofourexistencewhichweallagreeexistsdespitethefactthatwehaveabsolutelynodirectevidenceofitsexistence.Wehavenosensoryperceptionoftimewhatsoever,wecannotseeorhearortouchitnormeasureitdirectly.Iftimeexistsatall,itexistspurelyasanepiphenomenonofeffectsonourselvesandthethingsaroundus”(Janda,2002,p.3).
Wecanexperiencetime.Whatweknowabouttimeisexactlythemoment,justnow,comparedwiththepastandthefuture.Wecanexperiencetimethroughobservationofchangesaroundus.Wecanexperiencetimethroughtheeventsgoneandtheeventscoming.Wecanexperiencetimethroughtheappearanceanddisappearanceofobjects.“We,observers,experiencecontinuousunidirectionalchangethatmaybemarkedbyappearanceanddisappearanceofobjectsandevents.”(Li,2006,p.12).
Sohowexactlydopeopleunderstandtime?
Cognitivelinguisticshavemadealotofstudiesconcerningwiththat.Wehavemadeagoodassumptionthatmetaphoricalconceptualizationoftimeisabetterwayforpeopletounderstandtime,andstudiesonthefunctionofmetaphorintheconceptualizationoftimearequiteextensive.Thecommonclaimofthesestudiesfocusesononetopic,timeasanabstractconcept,ismostlyunderstoodthroughmetaphor. Languagesoftheworldproviderichdataontheuseofspatialmetaphorstounderstandtime(Lakoff&Johnson,1999;Zhao,2001;Janda2002,Jing,2003;Radden&Hamburg,2003;Hu,2004;Chen&Huang,2006).“Theimpactofspatialorientationforhumanthoughtand,inparticular,ourunderstandingoftimehasoftenbeennoted.”(Radden&Hamburg,2003,p.1).
InEnglish,metaphoroftimeiswidelystudied.Besidesconceptualizationoftimeasspace,thereareothermetaphoricalconceptualizationsoftime.LakoffandJohnson(Lakoff&Johnson,1980,Lakoff,1993)havetalkedalotaboutthemetaphorsoftimeandtheysuggestthatTIMEISMONEY;TIMEISMOVINGOBJECTS.
“Ontology:
timeisunderstoodintermsofthings(i.e.,entitiesandlocations)andmotions.
Timesarethings.
Thepassingoftimeismotion.
Futuretimesareinfrontoftheobserver;pasttimesarebehindtheobserver.
Onethingismoving,theotherisstationary;thestationaryentityisthedeicticcenter.”(Lakoff,1992,p.212).
ItistruethatinChinese,wefindallmetaphorsfortimementionedabove.Forexample:
TIMEISSPACE
a.在八点以前把作业做完。
Zaibadianyiqianbazuoyezuowan.
Eighto’clockbeforehomeworkfinish
Homeworkshouldbefinishedbefore8.
b.3月以后天气慢慢转暖.
Sanyueyihoutianqimanmanzhuannuan.
Marchafterweathergraduallyturnwarm
AfterMarch,theweatherturnswarmerandwarmergradually.
c.比赛在晚上7点举行.
BisanzaiWanshangQiDianJuxing.
Gameatnight7hold
Thegamewillbeginat7pm.
d.这个工作要求一周内完成.
Zhegegongzuoyaoqiuyizhouneiwancheng.
Thisworkrequireoneweekwithinfinish
Thisworkisrequiredtobefinishedwithinoneweek.
e.八小时之外,你爱干啥干啥.
Baxiaoshizhiwai,niaiganshagansha.
Eighthoursoutside,youlovedowhatdowhat
Youcandowhatyouwanttodooutofeighthours.
f.上周连续下了几天雨.
Shangzhoulianxuxialejitianyu.
UpweekcontinuouslyrainPRTafewdays
Lastweekitrainedcontinuouslyforafewdays.
g.我下个月要去北京开会.
WoxiageyueyaoquBeijingkaihui.
IDownmonthgotoBeijinghaveameeting
NextmonthIwillgotoBeijingtohaveameeting.
TIMEISMONEY
a.时间就是金钱,效益就是生命.
Shijianjiushijinqian,xiaoyijiushishengming.
Timebemoney,efficiencybelife Timeismoneyandefficiencyissurvival.
b.我花了两个小时。
Wohualelianggexiaoshi.
IspendASPtwohour
Ihavespenttwohours.
c.你在浪费我的时间。
Nizailangfeiwodeshijian.
YouPRTwastemytime
Youarewastingmytime.
d.节省时间的妙方。
Jieshengshijiandemiaofang.
SavetimeMODtips
Tipsforsavingtime.
e.我没有多少时间.
Womeiyouduoshaoshijian.
Inothavemuchtime
Idon’thavemuchtimeleft.
TIMEISMOVINGOBJECTS
a.开会的时间还没到。
Kaihuideshijianhaimeidao.
MeetingMODtimeyetnotcome
Thetimeforthemeetinghasnotcomeyet.
b.时间飞逝。
Shijianfeishi.
Timeflyby
Timefliesby.
c.收卷的时间已经过了10分钟了.
Shoujuandeshijianyijingguoleshifenzhongle.
PapercollectMODtimealreadypassPRT10minute
Thetimeforcollectingpaperspassedtenminutesago.
d.流淌的岁月给了我美好的记忆.
Liutanddesuiyuegeilewomeihaodejiyi.
FlowMODtimegivemesweetmemory
Pasttimeleftmesweetmemory.
e.2007年就这样溜走了。
2007nianjiuzheyangliuzoule.
2007yearthiswayslipaway
2007passedbylikethis.
f.有谁能让时间停止?
Youshuinengrangshijiantingzhi?
Whocanlettimestop
Whocanstoptime?
Fromthesentencesabove,wefindthatinEnglishandChinesewehavesomesimilarconceptualizationsoftime,whichindicatesthatpeoplespeakingdifferentlanguagescansharethesamepatternofmetaphoricalcognition.
1.TIMEISWATER
AlthoughEnglishandChinesesharesomemetaphoricalconceptionsoftime,weassume,forthesakeofdifferentcultures,thatthereshouldbesomemetaphoricalconceptionsoftimeinChinesewhicharequitedifferentfromthatofEnglish.Inthispaper,ItrytoarguethatalthoughChineseandEnglishsharemostmetaphoricalconceptionsoftime,thereisoneveryimportantmetaphoricalconceptualizationoftime,whichisquiteoverwhelminginChinese:
TimeIsWater.
ForTimeIsWater,wecanfindmanymetaphoricalexpressionsinChinese.Thefollowingaresomeexamples:
1)a.随着时间的流逝,他的心情渐渐恢复了平静。
Suizheshijiandeliushi,tadexinqingjianjianhuifulepingjing.
WithtimeMODflowaway,hismindgraduallyrecovercalm
Astimepassed,hismindgraduallycalmeddown.
b.那些流淌而过的岁月都是什么样子?
Naxieliutangerguodesuiyuedoushishenmeyangzi?
ThoseflowpassMODageallbewhatmanner
Whatismypaststorylike?
c.只觉百年流于一瞬.
Zhijuebainianliuyuyishun.
Onlyfeelhundredyearflowinainstance
Ionlyfeelahundredyearsflyingbyinstantly.
d.当岁月流失,到了生命的尽头,你将什么都带不走,除了那份美好和温馨的回忆。
时光流淌过的地方,一定有一些什么被遗忘在我们来时的路上,只是,走过的时候我们没有意识。
Dangsuiyuliushi,daoleshenmingdejintou,nijiangshenmedoudaibuzou,chulenafenmeihaohewenxindejiyi.Shiguangliutangguodedifang,yidingyouyixieshenmebeiyiwangzaiwomenlaishidelushang,zhishi,zouguodeshihouwomenmeiyouyisi.
Whentimeflowloss,tolifeMODend,youwillwhatallbringnotaway,exceptthatsweetandcozymemory.TimeflowMODplace,surelyhavesomewhatforgotonwecomeMODroad,butwalkpastMODwhenwenoconscious.
Whentimepassesby,totheendoflife,youwon’tbeabletobringwithyouanything,exceptthatsweetandcozymemory.Wheretimepassesthrough,thereissurelysomethingweforgetontheway,butweareunconsciousofthatwhenwewalkthrough.
e.面对时光流逝,作者无限留恋和伤感.我觉得没有为什么,去了就去了嘛,就是流走了,流走就不可能再流回来.
Mianduishiguangliushi,zuozhewuxianliulianheshanggan.Wojuedemeiyouweishenme,qulejiuqulema,jiushiliuzoule,liuzoulejiubukenengzailiuhuilai.
Facetimeflow,authorterriblyreluctantletgoandsad.Ifeelnoreason,gobego,beflowaway,flowawayimpossibleagainflowback.
Facingthepassingbyoftime,theauthoristerriblyreluctanttoletitgoandfeelssadforitsabsence.Ithinkthereisnoreasonforwhathasgone.Itisnotpossibleforwhathasgonetocomeback.
2)a.追忆水样年华.
Zhuiyisishuinianhua.
Recallthewaterytime
Recallthepasttimes.
b.挤出时间.
Jichushijian.
Squeezeouttime
Savetime.
c.岁月冲淡了他的仇恨.
Suiyuechongdanletadechouhen.
Agewaterdownhishate
Timefadedhishateaway.
d.在默默里算着,八千多日子已经从我手中溜去;像针尖上一滴水滴在大海里,我的日子滴在时间的流里,没有声音,也没有影子.
Zaimomolisuanzhe,baqianduoriziyijingcongwoshouzhongliuqu;xiangzhenjianshangyidishuidizaidahaili,woderizidizaishijiandeliuli,meiyoushengyin,yemeiyouyinzi.
Insilentcount,eightthousanddaysalreadyfrommyhandslipaway;asneedlepointonedropofwaterdropinthesea,mydaydropintimeMODflow,nosound,andnotrace. Insilentcounting,eigh
- 配套讲稿:
如PPT文件的首页显示word图标,表示该PPT已包含配套word讲稿。双击word图标可打开word文档。
- 特殊限制:
部分文档作品中含有的国旗、国徽等图片,仅作为作品整体效果示例展示,禁止商用。设计者仅对作品中独创性部分享有著作权。
- 关 键 词:
- Time Is Water Metaphorical Conceptualization of in Chinese
![提示](https://static.bdocx.com/images/bang_tan.gif)
链接地址:https://www.bdocx.com/doc/27665413.html