人体词“牙/齿”和“tooth”语义转移的认知研究

A Cognitive Study on Meaning Transference of Body-Part Terms"ya/chi"and"tooth"

人体词"牙/齿",对应的英文词"tooth",基本义指称人体重要的部位之一。在漫长的语言演变过程中,主要借助隐喻和转喻的作用下,构成了一个连续统一的语义转移系统——基于突显和邻近原则的转喻所指:"年龄、口味、言语、情感";基于形貌相似的隐喻所指:"齿状物";基于隐喻转喻互动的隐转喻所指:"战争"。这说明了英汉民族某些共同的身体体验决定了认知的相通性。同时,在英汉民族思维中牙齿的言语交际功能都占有很突显的地位,汉民族还注重牙齿的外貌特征。

The body-part term＂ya /ch i＂in Ch inese,togetherw ith its English equ ivalent＂tooth,＂ basically referring to one of m an’s important body parts,has constituted a un ified and continuous system ofm ean ing transference in the long course of lan-guage evolution,predom inantly under the force ofm etaphor and m etonymy-m etonym ical referents based on salience and conti-nu ity：＂age,flavor,speech,emotion;＂ m etaphorical referents based on physical sim ilarity：＂jagged ob ject;＂ m etaphtonym i-cal referents based on interaction between m etaphor and m etonymy：＂war.＂ That proves som e common bod ily experience be-tween the Ch inese and English nations has determ ined the ir cogn itive un iversality.M eanwh ile,the commun icative function of teeth is h ighly salient in both Ch inese and English th ink ing,wh ile the Ch inese peop le also attach importance to the physical features of teeth.