中西方“水喻”认知象似性考释

摘要

象似性是隐喻思维方式的认知基础。本文通过考察中西方“水喻”的认知象似性，试图解释水喻形成背后的文化成因。分析表明，汉英两种语言中纷繁复杂的水喻的形成主要受几个方面的影响：身体的感知作用，外部的生存环境的作用以及文化哲学观念的过滤作用。总体而言，汉语中的水喻象似性带有感性特征和主观想象的特点，而英语的象似性具有理性的抽象特征。汉英两种语言中的象似都属于创造性的象似。%Iconicity is the cognitive basis of metaphorical thinking. This paper attempts to explore the cultural reasons behind "water metaphors"by ways of examining cognitive iconicity. It is found that physical body perception and concept abstraction are the main sources of water metaphor. Other factors include living environment imitation and the influence of cultural philosophy. On the whole, iconicity in Chinese water metaphors is more distinctive with its sensible and subjective feature, while in English there are more rational metaphors. Iconicity in Chinese, and English as well, is creative by nature.