英汉套语隐喻的认知理据考略

Probing into the Cognitive Motivation of Formula Metaphor between English and Chinese

莱考夫和约翰逊在《我们赖以生存的隐喻》中鲜明地指出:隐喻无处不在、无时不有,隐喻不仅是修辞的简单附属品,也是一种由语言承载并凸显的思维方式。以概念隐喻理论为指导,在大量实例的阐释下,试图证明传统意义上的套语是具有隐喻性的。所有的套语概念都是人类在对现实世界反复、多次的体验基础上逐渐形成的,换言之,套语的本质是隐喻性的。英汉语言使用者共同的身体结构及其体验范式决定了两种语言中套语隐喻的趋同性。

In their book, Metaphor We Live By, Lakoff and Johnson pointed out clearly that metaphor is ubiquitous in our daily life ; it is not only a simple rhetorical device, but also a way of thinking expressed by language. It has been postulated, on the basis of theoretical elaboration with adequate instance studies, that the cognitive approach can be introduced to the study of formula be- cause this expressive device possesses all the essences of metaphor from the perspective of Cognitive Linguistics. The formula meta- phors are gradually cultivated upon human beings＇ repetitive and recursive experiences of the real world and cannot be divorced from culture＇ s limitation and reformulation. In other words, formula is metaphorical in essence. The common experiences and body struc- tures of English speakers and Chinese speakers result in the similarity of formula between these two different languages.