摘要

隐喻是一种普遍现象，传统的隐喻学研究把隐喻当作一种修辞手段，而现代隐喻学更把它看作是一种认知现象。大部分日常语言是隐喻的，我们的思维也是隐喻的。隐喻已经成为我们认识世界所必不可少的工具。水是生命之源，是人类的文明的源泉，已渗透于在整个文化中去了。它将在很大程度上反映出一个民族的文化认知模式, 因此对水的隐喻的研究将是对研究文化很有价值的。本文试图对中英文习语中有关“水”的隐喻进行对比研究，以探索中西方相同或不同的文化。
本文中，作者首先回顾了隐喻学研究的发展过程，接着介绍认知语言学关于隐喻的研究。有关“水”的隐喻是最典型的隐喻，中英文中有相同和不同的有关“水”的隐喻。本文主要对中英文习语中有关“水”的隐喻进行了异同对比研究。并从文化对比的角度分析了导致中英文中有关“水”的隐喻表达异同的原因。最后作者为今后对于有关“水”的隐喻对比研究提出了建议。

关键词：水，认知， 隐喻，文化异同

ABSTRACT

Metaphor is a pervasive phenomenon. Traditional studies usually regard metaphor as a rhetoric device, while modern studies view it more cognitively than rhetorically. Most of the everyday language we use is metaphorical and our thinking is metaphorical, too. Metaphor has become an indispensable tool for us to learn about the world around us. Water, as an essential thing of human being and the resource of human being’s civilization, has permeated in culture. Metaphorical expressions with “water” reflect, to a great extent, the culture-bound cognitive model of a particular nation. Thus it is significant to conduct researches on the metaphorical expressions which involve the use of “water” for cultural researches. This thesis tries to carry out a comparative study of metaphorical expressions involving “water” in English and Chinese idioms, which would contribute greatly to our exploration of the similarities and differences between Chinese and western cultures.
In this thesis, the author first reviews the development of the metaphor study, and then introduces the cognitive approaches to metaphor. Metaphorical use of “water” is the most typical metaphor, and there exists similar and different metaphorical expressions involving “water” between English and Chinese. The author makes comparative studies of the metaphorical expressions with the use of “water” in English and Chinese from the aspect of idioms. The similarities and the differences are interpreted from the perspective of both Chinese and English cultures. Finally, the author makes suggestions for further studies on the metaphorical expressions involving “water”.

Key words: water, cognition, metaphor, culture similarities and differences