英汉时空隐喻表征的共性与个性

Commonality and Individuality of Spatio-Temporal Metaphorical Representations in Chinese and English

大量的国内外研究表明,英、汉语本族人对时间的理解和心理表征需通过空间概念的映射完成。而这种"时间即空间"的隐喻模式主要分为两类:"时间移动"隐喻和"自我移动"隐喻。本文基于前人对英汉时空隐喻作出的理论探索和实证研究发现:在朝向上,英语本族人更倾向于面朝未来,背对过去;而汉语本族人尽管更频繁地面朝过去,但也不乏面朝未来的情况。在方向上,英、汉语本族人都有横向概念化时间的倾向,但后者同时也具备纵向谈论和思考时间的能力。分析表明,英语和汉语本族人在时空隐喻表征上的共性和个性既包括语言内因(如习惯表达等),也存在语言外因(如身体构造等)。

Ample studies at home and abroad have shown that the understanding and mental representation of time by native speakers of English and Chinese are accomplished through the mapping of spatial concepts.This metaphorical model of“TIME IS SPACE”is characterised by two types of metaphors:“time-moving”metaphor and“ego-moving metaphor”.Based on the theoretical and empirical studies on spatio-temporal metaphors made previously,we find that in terms of orientation,English native speakers tend to face the future and turn their backs to the past;Chinese native speakers face the past more frequently than they would face the future.Direction-wise,both English and Chinese native speakers tend to conceptualise time on a horizontal plane but whereas Chinese native speakers also possess the ability to talk and think about time vertically.The commonality and individuality of spatio-temporal metaphors used by native speakers of English and Chinese are grounded in both intra-linguistic factors(eg.idioms)and extra-linguistic elements(eg.physical structure).