英语基本颜色词的隐喻研究

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1、宁波大学科学技术学院本科毕业设计（论文） ）题目：英语基本颜色词的隐喻研究A Metaphorical Study on the English Basic Color Terms摘要【摘要】 隐喻是词义的主要来源。颜色词中蕴含了很多隐喻含义。本文主要研究英语基本颜色词的隐喻。本文在隐喻投射理论的框架下，借助“黑”，“白”，“红”三个英语基本颜色词作为研究对象就颜色词隐喻根据以及隐喻机制之间的关系等两个方面展开研究。研究发现英语基本颜色词的隐喻机制主要有三种，分别是从具体源域投射到抽象目的域，从具体源域投射到具体目的域以及从抽象源域投射到抽象目的域。同时，本文还发现构词结构相似的颜色词具有相似

2、的隐喻机制，构词结构相似而颜色词词义相反的词，隐喻含义相反。【关键词】基本颜色词；隐喻； 隐喻机制A Metaphorical Study on the English Basic Color TermsAbstract【ABSTRACT】Metaphor is the main way to develop new meanings of words. English basic color terms embody various metaphorical meaning. So this thesis studies metaphors of English basic color te

3、rms. Based on the theory of metaphorical mappings, this thesis cites black, white and red as examples to analyze the groundings of metaphors and metaphorical mechanisms of basic color terms. In terms of physical and emotional experiences, metaphorical mechanisms of English basic color terms are clas

4、sified into three types: 1) mappings between concrete source domains and abstract target domains; 2) mappings between concrete source domains and concrete target domains; 3) mappings between abstract source domains and abstract target domains. Besides, this thesis also finds color terms in similar s

5、tructures share similar metaphorical mechanisms and phrases with opposite color terms have opposite metaphorical meanings.【KEYWORDS】English basic color terms; metaphor; metaphorical mechanismsContents诚 信 承 诺I摘要IIA Metaphorical Study on the English Basic Color TermsIIIAbstractIIIContentsIV1Introducti

6、on11.1Background & Significance11.2Theoretic Framework11.3Subject & Data Collection22Literature Review32.1Previous Studies on Color Terms in Foreign Countries32.2Previous Studies on Color Terms in China33Metaphors of English Color Terms53.1Metaphors Based on Physical Experiences53.2Metaphors based o

7、n Emotional Experiences94Implication and Conclusion134.1Implication134.2Conclusion14References15Acknowledgements1615宁波大学科学技术学院本科毕业设计（论文）1 Introduction1.1 Background & SignificanceThe subject of color terms has attracted many researches in many fields. On the one hand, it directly reflects different

8、cognitions and cultures with different languages; on the other hand, it has a practical meaning for understanding and translation of cultures (Xie Haipin & Zhang Lipin, 2004). The research areas of color terms include philosophy, linguistics, anthology, cognitive, psychology, biology, ethnology and

9、so on. Based on linguistics, there are two research lines: one is about cognitive psychology which is color codabiltity and development of color terms; the other is on the perspective of applied linguistics covering translation, cross-cultural communication, linguistic education and dictionary compi

10、lation. Yet, this thesis focuses on metaphor of color terms. According to CNKI (China National Knowledge Infrastructure), from 1979 to 2008, there are 52 items with the key words of “basic color terms”. There are 28 essays discussing comparisons between Chinese and English color terms in terms of tr

11、anslation, culture, semantics and so on. 16 essays study the basic color terms of other languages, like Chinese, Japanese, Vietnam and so on. One is about the color terms learning of deaf mute children. The rest of the essays focus on English basic color terms from the respect of trade English, tran

12、slation and development. By the above materials, we can find that few people investigate the metaphor of basic color terms. So this thesis will study on this aspect how metaphorical mechanisms work on English color terms. It will enrich linguistic research and benefit linguistic studies that make pe

13、ople better understand metaphors of color terms. On the one hand, they can analogize unknown meaning of other words by applying the rules; on the other hand, people can predict the meaning of some color terms because the different color terms also have inner connection. 1.2 Theoretic Framework Among

14、 theories of metaphor, metaphorical mechanism is the most attractive subject for the reason that it is an essence of metaphor. By looking into metaphorical mechanism, people will better understand metaphor, like its essence, functions, ect (Shu Dingfang 2000: 152). Metaphorical mechanism, for short,

15、 is to study how to create metaphorical meaning. According to Lakoff and Johnsons book Metaphors We Live By (1980:5), the essence of metaphor is understanding and experiencing one kind of thing in terms of another. Therefore, there is a set of systematic correspondences between the source and the ta

16、rget in the sense that constituent conceptual elements of concept B correspond to constituent elements of concept A. Technically, these conceptual correspondences are often referred to as mappings (Zoltn Kveces, 2002). The two concepts (A and B) may be a concrete entity and an abstract concept. Ther

17、e are four types of mappings. Firstly, a concrete entity project to an abstract concept. Secondly, a concrete entity projects to another concrete entity. Thirdly, an abstract concept projects to another abstract concept. Fourthly, an abstract concept projects to a concept entity (Lin Bo & Wang Wenbi

18、n 2003).1.3 Subject & Data Collection As a matter of fact, color terms can be divided into two types: one is basic color terms which are frequently used, like black, blue; another is specific color terms which origins from concrete or natural phenomenon, like raven, violet (Bai Zhimin & Zhu Chengpen

19、g, 1992). As for English basic color terms, they have already reached a common view, they are white, black, red, green, yellow, blue, brown, purple, pink, orange, and grey (Berlin & Kay 1969). This thesis would cite the first three color terms as examples and try to find their common metaphorical me

20、chanisms. They are black, white and red. This thesis will divide metaphorical mechanisms in terms of experiences. The data of English basic color terms have collected from internet and Oxford Advanced Learners English Chinese Dictionary.2 Literature ReviewColor can be seen everywhere. It is a natura

21、l phenomenon that every nation acknowledges them and gives different meaning to color with its cultural features. It is said that there are 4000 kinds of color in the world. But as a matter of fact, it is a continuity of color which is difficult to distinguish the line for red or orange, etc. Though

22、 color is an abstract concept, it is named it is language, so color becomes concerted and dependent from each other (Yan Xinxia, 2003). 2.1 Previous Studies on Color Terms in Foreign CountriesWith the development of human civilization, color research also expands step by step. In the 17th century, t

23、he improvement of natural science promoted the color research in the aspect of physics and optics; in the 18th century, the boom of philosophy initiated aesthetic studies of color; in the 19th century, the rise of cultural anthropology laid foundation for cross-cultural of color studies. By the 20th

24、 century, linguists joined in and made a lot of contributions (Yang Youlin, 2003). So now the areas of color terms touch upon philosophy, linguistics, anthropology, cognitive psychology, biology, ethnology and so on.The color study of science is begun by Newton. He proved the existence of the miscel

25、laneous colors with the help of the prism. It helps to further development of the cognitive linguistic interpretation of color terms (Xu Yanli 2006). Later people were interested in the numbers of color terms in different cultures. Most people consider the more advanced civilization would have more

26、color terms than backward one. As a result of linguistic studies on color terms, Sapir-Whorf Hypothesis advanced that the natural linguistic system can affect peoples world view. This Hypothesis also proved that the number of color terms was influenced by culture which determined their different sem

27、antic. It was not challenged until at the end of the 1960s. In 1969, an ethnographer, Brent Berlin and a linguistic Paul Kay published an influential book Basic Color Terms: Their Universality and Evolution which concluded eleven basic color terms in the world.2.2 Previous Studies on Color Terms in

28、ChinaIn China, studies on color terms are not as fast as western countries. But Chinese scholars have been working hard on this issue and have achieved many conspicuous results. Most essays study basic color terms on the perspective of contrastive research between English and Chinese. Some discuss t

29、he comparisons of different color terms in terms of cultural impact. Such as Cultural Information of Color Lexicon in Chinese and English was proposed by Zhang Yan (2004). She found that in different cultural backgrounds, the basic color terms matching other phrases may be different in associative m

30、eaning. Some would prefer to study translation of basic color terms. The number of English-Chinese color terms is approximately the same, but they belong to different language system with different culture system, so they have different connotations. Like Na Chengcang (2005) had Tentative Study on C

31、auses of Cultural Inequality in English and Chinese Color words and Their Translation Techniques, and he found ways for translation: adding color terms, abandoning color terms, and substituting color terms. Some study on the cognitive approach. The metaphor is an important tool for human beings to u

32、nderstand the world. Many scholars would investigate into metaphorical theory. For example, Yu Yupings (2007) A Cognitive Approach to Studying English Chinese Basic Color Terms explains the cognitive prototypes of colors from the perception of people s vision, the living environment and the social c

33、ulture. Moreover, it does some detailed research into metaphor which color terms may produce in Chinese and English. However, few people focus on the English basic color terms. In CNKI, only three papers research on this respect. One is interpreted the basic color terms development written by B. Ber

34、lin & P. Kay: Basic Color Terms: Their Universality and Evolution. Another is On the Morphological Structure and Semantic Features of the Basic Color Words by Niu Xiaoling (2000). This article gives an introduction of color terms and analysis of their morphological structure and semantic features in

35、 detail. She concludes that color terms can be used to symbolize the abstract things, express people s emotions and sentiments and stand for the characteristics of people and things. The third thesis is Study on Basic Color Terms by Yuan Mingzhong (2002). This paper begins with the fundamental resea

36、rch on color terms such as color categorization, relations between color meanings and scientific knowledge; then focuses on the detailed analysis of semantic content of basic color terms; and discusses the semantic change of color terms in “colorful” expression; finally finds out sex-related differe

37、nce in color vocabulary. Some of theses study on one specific color term. Most researchers will focus on one or two color terms in detail by comparing the similarities and differences between English and Chinese. For instance, Analyzing Semantics of the Basic Color “White” in Chinese and English fro

38、m the Perspective of Cognitive Linguistics studied by Zhu Zhimin and Zhang Zhe (2008). They investigate “white” from the perspective of cognitive linguistics and applying prototype theory, the theory of metaphor and metonymy. Based on the previous researches, this thesis would analyze the metaphoric

39、al mechanisms of basic color terms in detail, and try to find rules beneath various meaning of color terms.3 Metaphors of English Color Terms According to the lecture by Paul Kay, professor Lakoff finds out that color use we can see is not an objective property, but an interactive property which is

40、based on human physiology. In general, color is not just a matter of wavelengths that are reflected. Color has to do with the way that the wavelengths hitting our color cones and the neural circuity in our eyes give rise to an experience that we internally have. For example, it is not true that gras

41、s is green in itself. The greenness has to do with the relation between us and the world. Namely, color is the result of interaction between human beings and the objective world. On the other hand, Eleaner Rosch has concluded that basic level categories are defined by our bodily interactions with th

42、e world. That is the ability to have gestalt perception, from a mental image and interact physically with our body. They are interactive categories and as such, the basic level which is cognitively real and part of our mental structure, is not real in the world. And it means that semantics has to be

43、 embodied, just as we see in the case of color (Lakoff, 2007). In other words, color semantics are closely related to human physiology and human physical and mental experiences. Through human cognitive means (such as metaphor, or metonymy), word meanings would develop from its primary meaning to man

44、y other meanings. Generally speaking, boundless meanings of words are the outcome of metaphor (Zhao Yanfang 2000). And experiences with physical and emotional concepts provide the basis for metaphor and metonymy. In other words, the developments of color semantics largely depend on metaphor in terms

45、 of human physical and emotional experiences. As a matter of fact, by looking into color meanings which are listed in the dictionary, metaphors can be found everywhere. The ways of metaphorical mechanisms can be divided into three kinds in terms of physical and emotional experiences. Besides, a meta

46、phor is composed of a set of mappings between the source and the target domain. And only a part of concept B is mapped onto target A and only a part of target A is involved in the mappings from B (Zoltn Kveces, 2002: 79). 3.1 Metaphors Based on Physical ExperiencesThe classification of the first typ

47、e of metaphor is based on target domain which is projected to physical entities or physiological appearance. Generally speaking, these three color terms black, white and red can be classified into two kinds in terms of different grounds of color metaphors in application.Table 1: Mapping from concret

48、e source domain to abstract target domainColor Target domains ExamplesBlackThe surface of entities is in black1. My whole body was black and blue after I fell down. 2. The company has managed to stay in the black for the year ending December 31. WhiteThe surface of entities is in white3. He is very

49、white-livered.4. He is a white feature. RedThe surface of entities is in red5. We took the red-eye to Boston.6. The company has plunged $37 Million into the red. Table 1 shows that metaphor creations are based on human physical experiences. In Example 1, “black and blue” is used to express injuries

50、on somebody. As we all know, the primary meaning of black is very darkest color, like night or coal. When somebody is beaten or falls down, the surface of ones skin would be covered with bruises that appear as a blue, brown or purple mark. The literal meaning of “black and blue” is the color of some

51、thing that is black and blue. With the cognitive understanding, we have metaphorical mapping from concrete domain (the color of something) to abstract domain (a symbol of being beaten). Therefore, the metaphor of “black and blue” is created on the basis of physical experiences.The metaphorical mecha

52、nisms of Example 2 and 6 are the same as the Example 1. The source domain of “be in the black” is to write something with black ink, while the target domain of it means that one company makes profits. Similarly, the source domain of “be in the red” is to write something with red ink, while the targe

53、t domain of it means that one company loses money. These two metaphors project the black color ink to having money and the red color ink to owing money in terms of the appearance of records. Obviously, these metaphors originate from social observation. Namely, people usually use ink to record gains

54、and use red ink to record losses. As time goes, people would like to map the concrete impression (black or red record) onto the abstract meanings (having or owing money). In Example 3, the metaphor “white livered” is developed from human physiological experiences. For one thing, human liver is by no

55、 means white. For another, when people feel afraid, the body reaction of human would turn pale. This is a natural response to the scared things. For this personal experience of human beings, white of skin would add a meaning of timidity. Thus, the “white-livered” would project an abnormal expression

56、 to crowd reaction. The source of domain is a concrete object (an unusual color of liver). And through the interaction of physiological experience and cognitive understanding, the target domain is given the meaning (timid). The appearance of white skin is a crucial factor for this metaphor. As for “

57、white feature” has a similar metaphorical meaning as “white-livered”. It should date back to the cockfight. People always consider that the cook with white tail would be more timid. Thus, being white symbolizes being timid. That is to say, “white” is the key point in creating the metaphorical meanin

58、g of “white feature”. It is based on its physical appearance, then “white” would be endowed the particular metaphorical meaning. This metaphor is more lively when it is mapped from a concrete entity (a feature which is white) to an abstract feeling (timid). The grounding of this metaphor is physical

59、 appearance as well. The metaphor of “red-eye” projects to a flight in a plane at night, on which we cannot get enough sleep. When people mention “red-eye”, eyes which are red would arise in human brain. Then people would consider someone who suffer from aute conjunctivitis or have not enough sleep

60、or just have a cry. Here it focuses on lacking sleep. Human eyeballs are congested when people do not sleep well. This is a normal physiological reaction. Therefore, “red-eye” is a lively phenomenon to express such specific situation that has a plane at night. Generally speaking, the metaphor of “re

61、d-eye” is based on physical appearance.From all the six examples above, we can find that this type of metaphorical meanings come into being by mapping a concrete domain to an abstract domain on the basis of physical experiences. By this means, people can better understand the metaphorical meaning. H

62、owever, this type of metaphors not only exists in black, white and red, but also can be found in other color terms. For examples, I have lived long enough; My way of life is falling into the sear, the yellow leaf. As we all know, usually “yellow leaf” appears in autumn which shows leafs are going to

63、 wither away. The leaf turns into yellow is the result of physical change in autumn, while here the color yellow is mapped to old age or even withered skins which means human being stepping into autumn of life. The metaphor works according to their similar physical looking. As well as the color term

64、s “grey area”, exactly what can be called an offensive weapon is still a grey area. The source domain of this color terms is the place which is grey. The color of grey is the mixture of black and white, so it is difficult to distinguish these black and white. And the target domain of “grey area” mea

65、ns an area of a subject or situation that is not clear or not fit into a particular group and is therefore difficult to define or deal with. That is to say, the metaphor “gray area” is developed from the physical world. All in all, metaphorical meanings of other color terms are partly based on physical experie