Nghiên cứu tri nhận về ẩn dụ dựa trên các giác quan trong tiếng anh va tiếng việt (tt)

same time, the study has a goal of having a closer look at the universality of such models within the source domain of the five basic human senses of vision, hearing, touch, smell and ta

CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION 1.1 Rationale

Cognitive linguistics (CL) originally emerged in the early 1970s attracting many linguists’ interests According to the cognitive approach, linguistic knowledge is considered cognition and thinking Human beings use knowledge and experience of things and events they have and know well to transfer to those other ones in so unfamiliar or abstract concepts, especially in the case of metaphors According to Lakoff and Johnson (1980), “metaphor is a property of concepts, and not of words; the function of metaphor is to better understand certain concepts, and not just some artistic or esthetic purpose” (cited by Kövecses, 2010, p.10) Lakoff and Johnson (1980) also defined that “metaphor is often not based on similarity; metaphor is used effortlessly in everyday life by ordinary people, not just by special talented people; and metaphor, far from being a superfluous though pleasing linguistic ornament, is an inevitable process of human thought and reasoning” (cited by Kövecses 2010, p.10) In other words, in the view of CL, “metaphor is fundamental to language and cognition in that it represents and records how people conceptualize their experiences, attitudes and practices” (Lakoff & Johnson, 1980, p.3) Our own bodies are used as an ideal reference point to describe or refer to something related Kövecses (2002) defines that “although our thoughts have to be done by systematic metaphorical mapping, a common target domain is the human mind and “being such an abstract concept, it is not surprising we employ metaphors for better comprehension” (p 21)

Generally speaking, there have been many cognitive linguistic researches on metaphors based on human body parts in the world

This is understandable; because human body parts are very specific, very close to our lives and most of our understanding We take ourselves to imagine the world, reflect the development path of our awareness by expressing ideas from concrete to abstract By talking, working, and getting feelings with the changes we experience, we receive knowledge of parts of our body According to Kövecses (2010), “the human body is an ideal source domain, since, for us, it is clearly delineated and (we believe) we know it well This does not mean that we make use of all aspects of this domain in metaphorically understanding abstract targets” (p 18) Thus, many researches focus on conceptual metaphors based on body parts such

as head, hands, stomach or conceptual metaphors of emotion, love and so on However, there are not still any works of conceptual metaphors based on human senses in detail, especially in English compared and contrasted with Vietnamese Consequently, we would

like to conduct a study entitled “A cognitive study of metaphors based on human senses in English and Vietnamese” by doing a

comparative and contrastive analysis with the hope as an essential study and significance in linguistics

1.2 Aims of study

This thesis aims to extend the later semantic concepts of conceptual metaphors drawing from cognitive linguistic concepts that are relevant and viable to the study through tracking its history and development Specifically, by analysing the metaphorical expressions based on the five basic human senses in English and Vietnamese, this dissertation will find out the mappings between concrete domains and more abstract conceptual domains for setting up the conceptual metaphors The study will also be an examination of the cross-linguistic potential through comparing and contrasting them At the

same time, the study has a goal of having a closer look at the universality of such models within the source domain of the five basic human senses of vision, hearing, touch, smell and taste as well as to find which patterns are unique for conceptual metaphors in each language In particular, the study will point out which source domains share target domains and the “cross-expression” between these senses

1.3 Objectives of the study

The objectives of the study are identifying conceptual metaphors based on the five basic human senses in English and Vietnamese in the view of conceptual metaphor theory to find out the similarities and differences between them through the data collected from the later novels and short stories in these two languages In addition, by approaching the concepts of human senses, the embodied experience of individuals is expressed clearly Additionally, a wide range of metaphors, largely of equivalent meanings are found in both languages

1.4 Research questions

The study aims to answer the following research questions: (1) Which conceptual metaphors based on the five basic human senses are constructed in English and Vietnamese?

(2) In what aspects do English and Vietnamese share the same

or different conceptual metaphors based on the five basic human senses?

(3) Which source domains share target domains in English and Vietnamese?

(4) What are the “cross-expressions” between the five basic human senses?

1.5 Scope of the study

For the sake of the thesis, we deliberately limit the study to the

basic and primary senses of human: vision, hearing, touch, smell, and taste through metaphorical expressions which are derived from

English and Vietnamese novels and short stories published during the year 2000 to the present Because of time, space as well as knowledge limitations, this analysis focuses on the semantic features

in details in terms of these five basic human senses, which are considered as source domains, with their entities and activities listed

in the thesis

Notably, these terms are used as the specificities of the five basic human senses Therefore, we do not consider the meanings of these single words, but focus our interest in their underlying prototypical semantic content To avoid misunderstanding source domains with their sensory words, in the view of CL, they are capitalized: VISION, HEARING, TOUCH, SMELL, TASTE and are discussed in the such same order in the analysis chapter four, five and six

1.6 Significance of the study

Theoretically, the study supplements some more illustrative evidence from English and Vietnamese to the original theory of metaphors in the view of Cognitive Linguistics

Practically, the study provides a systematic description, analysis, comparison and contrast of the conceptual metaphors based

on the five classical human senses in English and Vietnamese in the light of Conceptual Metaphor Theory The study has found 19 conceptual metaphors constructed in both languages The study has also proved the share of the conceptual metaphors based on the five basic human senses between English and Vietnamese conclusively

Notably, the thesis has found out source domains which share target domains in the conceptual metaphors as well as the “cross-expressions” between the five basic human senses in metaphorical expressions In addition, the explanations for those situations have been given to make clear the determining elements of linguistics Generally, the study surely assists teachers, students and translators of English and Vietnamese in understanding and dealing with these conceptual metaphors in their works

1.7 Organization of the study

The thesis consists of 7 chapters:

Chapter 1 – Introduction

Chapter 2 – Literature review

Chapter 3 – Research Methodology

Chapter 4 – Conceptual metaphors based on human senses in English

Chapter 5 – Conceptual metaphors based on human senses in Vietnamese

Chapter 6 – A cross-linguistic analysis

Chapter 7 – Conclusion

CHAPTER 2 LITERATURE REVIEW 2.1 Cognitive Linguistics

2.1.1 The concepts of cognitive linguistics

2.1.2 Main tenets in Cognitive Linguistics

2.2 Conceptual metaphor

2.2.1 The views of conceptual metaphor

2.2.2 Related concepts

3.3.2 Analytic and synthetic methods

3.3.3 Qualitative and quantitative method 3.3.4 Comparative and contrastive method 3.3.5 Deductive and inductive methods

3.4 Summary

CHAPTER 4 CONCEPTUAL METAPHORS BASED ON HUMAN SENSES

IN ENGLISH 4.1 Conceptual metaphors based on vision

Table 4.5: Distribution of CMs based on vision in English

Conceptual metaphors

Numbers

of ME (…/311)

Percentages (%)

4.2 Conceptual metaphors based on hearing

Table 4.9: Distribution of CMs based on hearing in English

Conceptual metaphors

Numbers

of ME (…/144)

Percentages (%)

1 AN INTELLECTUAL ACTIVITY IS

2 GETTING INFORMATION IS HEARING 26 18.06

3 HUMAN EMOTION IS HEARING 8 5.55

4.3 Conceptual metaphors based on touch

Table 4.12: Distribution of CMs based on touch in English

Conceptual metaphors ME (…/184) Numbers of

Percentages (%)

1 AN INTELLECTUAL ACTIVITY IS

TOUCH

147 79.89

2 HUMAN EMOTION IS TOUCH 37 20.11

4.4 Conceptual metaphors based on smell

Table 4.16: Distribution of CMs based on smell in English

Conceptual metaphors Numbers of ME (…/36)

Percentages (%)

4.5 Conceptual metaphors based on taste

Table 4.19: Distribution of CMs based on taste in English

Conceptual metaphors Numbers of ME (…/15)

Percentages (%)

690

Percentages (%)/690 /each sense

CHAPTER 5 CONCEPTUAL METAPHORS BASED ON HUMAN SENSES

IN VIETNAMESE 5.1 Conceptual metaphors based on vision

Table 5.1: Distribution of CMs based on vision in Vietnamese

Conceptual metaphors

Numbers

of ME (…/379)

Percentages (%)

5.2 Conceptual metaphors based on hearing

Table 5.2: Distribution of CMs based on hearing in Vietnamese

Conceptual metaphors

Numbers

of ME (…/108)

Percentages (%)

1

AN INTELLECTUAL ACTIVITY IS

HEARING

59 54.63

2 GETTING INFORMATION IS HEARING 35 32.41

3 HUMAN EMOTION IS HEARING 14 12.96

5.3 Conceptual metaphors based on touch

Table 5.3: Distribution of CMs based on touch in Vietnamese

Conceptual metaphors

Numbers

of ME (…/182)

Percentages (%)

1 AN INTELLECTUAL ACTIVITY IS TOUCH 82 45.05

2 HUMAN EMOTION IS TOUCH 100 54.95

5.4 Conceptual metaphors based on smell

Table 5.6: Distribution of CMs based on smell in Vietnamese

Conceptual metaphors

Numbers

of ME (…/22)

Percentages (%)

AN INTELLECTUAL ACTIVITY IS

SMELL

EXPERIENCE IS SMELL 3 13.64 HUMAN EMOTION IS SMELL 9 40.91 JUDGMENT IS SMELL 2 9.09

5.5 Conceptual metaphors based on taste

Table 5.10: Distribution of CMs based on taste in Vietnamese

Conceptual metaphors

Numbers

of ME (…/42)

Percentages (%)

Percentages (%)/733 /each sense

Table 6.1: Comparison and contrast between CMs based on

vision in English and Vietnamese

Conceptual metaphors English

(311 - 45.07%)

Vietnamese (379 - 51.71%)

6.1.2 Hearing

Table 6.2: Comparison and contrast between CMs based on

hearing in English and Vietnamese

Conceptual metaphors English

(144 - 20.87%)

Vietnamese (108 - 14.73%)

Table 6.3: Comparison and contrast between CMs based on

touch in English and Vietnamese

Conceptual metaphors English

(184 - 26.67%)

Vietnamese (182 - 24.83%)

Table 6.4: Comparison and contrast between CMs based on smell

in English and Vietnamese

Conceptual metaphors English

(36 - 5.22%)

Vietnamese (22 - 3%)

1 AN INTELLECTUAL ACTIVITY IS SMELL 25 69.44% 8 36.36%

2 INTEREST IS SMELL 7 19.45% 0 0%

3 EXPERIENCE IS SMELL 4 11.11% 3 13.64%

4 HUMAN EMOTION IS SMELL 0 0 9 40.91%

5 JUDGMENT IS SMELL 0 0 2 9.09%

6.1.5 Taste

Table 6.5: Comparison and contrast between CMs based on taste

in English and Vietnamese

Conceptual metaphors English

(15 - 2.17%)

Vietnamese (42 - 5.73%)

6.1.6 “Cross-expressions” between human senses

Figure 6.1: “Cross-expressions” between human senses in

Vietnamese 6.1.7 Summary

Table 6.6: Comparison and contrast between CMs based on HSs

in English and Vietnamese

Conceptual metaphors English Vietnamese

1 AN INTELLECTUAL ACTIVITY IS VISION x x

2 HUMAN EMOTION IS VISION x x

6 GETTING INFORMATION IS HEARING x x

7 HUMAN EMOTION IS HEARING x x

8 AN INTELLECTUAL ACTIVITY IS TOUCH x x

9 HUMAN EMOTION IS TOUCH x x

10 AN INTELLECTUAL ACTIVITY IS SMELL x x

Now we focus on each case in turn

6.2.1 Vision, Hearing, Touch, Smell - An Intellectual Activity

Figure 6.2: Source domains share the target domain ‘AN

INTELLECTUAL ACTIVITY’

Table 6.7: Source domains share the target domain ‘AN

6.2.2 Vision, Hearing, Touch, Smell, Taste - Human Emotion

Figure 6.3: Source domains share the target domain ‘HUMAN

6.2.3 Vision and Hearing - Judgment

Figure 6.4: Source domains share the target domain ‘JUDGMENT’

Table 6.9: Source domains share the target domain

Table 6.10: Comparison and contrast between CM based on HSs

in English and Vietnamese

Senses Conceptual metaphors English Vietnamese

five conceptual metaphors which are only found in Vietnamese, HUMAN EMOTION IS SMELL, JUDGMENT IS SMELL, HUMAN EMOTION IS TASTE, HUMAN IS TASTE and THING

IS TASTE

Figure 6.8: Distribution of similarity and difference of CMs of

HSs in English and Vietnamese

In short, in this section, we summarise all presented in chapter six, such as presenting the comparison and contrast between the conceptual metaphors based on human senses in English and Vietnamese, clarifying the “cross-expressions” as well as showing the conceptual metaphors with source domains sharing target domains along to the explanations and items of evidence

CHAPTER 7 CONCLUSION 7.1 Concluding remarks

First, we set up the mappings or sets of correspondences of

the conceptual metaphors based on each sense with the explanations

in each situation The analysis evidences sharing with the previous works of Lakoff and Johnson (2003) and Kövecses (2010) The

analysis focuses on both the source (concrete) and target (abstract) domains of the senses like VISION, HEARING, TOUCH, SMELL and TASTE; the abstract ones are AN INTELLECTUAL ACTIVITY, HUMAN EMOTION, MEETING, JUDGMENT,

LANGUAGE, THING and HUMAN

In English, we discovered 14 conceptual metaphors including four based on vision, three based on hearing, three based on touch, two based on smell and two based on taste In Vietnamese, we set up

18 conceptual metaphors including four based on vision, three based

on hearing, two based on touch, four based on smell and five based

on taste

Secondly, the analysis clarified the big similarities in English

and Vietnamese They share 13 conceptual metaphors with the explanations thanks to the relevant and direct relationship with the external world as well the nature of bodily and social experience (how humans experience with the world), and because English and Vietnamese people are both sets of human-beings Besides, we emphasize that the vision senses in both languages to cover the common amount of conceptual metaphors Notably, the conceptual metaphors based on touch are found similarly in both languages (184 and 182 metaphorical expressions in English and Vietnamese respectively) Additionally, the numbers of the conceptual metaphors based on hearing are extremely common, but the senses

of smell and taste are quite rare in expressing metaphors In particular, we discovered the source domains which share target

domains, such as ‘Vision, Hearing, Touch, Smell - An Intellectual Activity’, ‘Vision, Hearing And Touch - Human Emotion’ and

‘Vision, Smell – Judgment’ (only in Vietnamese)

Thirdly, the study has pointed out some differences between

the two languages, as there are six different conceptual metaphors There are some conceptual metaphors which are coincident or unique to Vietnamese but not English and vice versa It is seen that English tends to describe things and states in a more concrete way than Vietnamese does On the other hand, the influence of natural conditions is also shown in both languages English speakers focus

on experience outside whereas Vietnamese users tend to the inside

of events Therefore, it contains the unique metaphors that are not found in Vietnamese Elsewhere, English tends to focus on the body parts that each natural entity tends to ‘smell’ or ‘sniff’ as individual ones in the metaphor AN INTELLECTUAL ACTIVITY IS SMELL

In fact, a nice nose is considered a remarkable body part of Western people It is an object through which they can view the world and value of the community they are within However, in Vietnamese it also shows the relationship between human emotion, judgment and smell as in the conceptual metaphors HUMAN EMOTION IS SMELL, and JUDGMENT IS SMELL which are not found in English Because of closed and insular way of life and quintessence

of Eastern people, they are sensitive to smell They can feel, be aware of or judge a thing, human through characteristics of smell

For example, aromatic smell is referred to good things, people or ideas and vice versa, rotten smell is implied bad ones Not only for the smell, in the taste, these three conceptual metaphors HUMAN EMOTION IS TASTE, HUMAN IS TASTE and THING IS TASTE are also only found in Vietnamese In particular, for smell, English data has one conceptual metaphor which is not found in Vietnamese,

“cross- expressions” makes perceivers difficult in approaching or relying They use hearing for smell, vision for hearing, touch for taste, hearing for touch, etc In fact, knowledge and beliefs which Vietnamese people have through sense concepts are considered highly valuable as extremely important in daily life In other words, each community holds, rooted from the common knowledge they follow, the underlying social norms permanently also have certain influence on the way they conceptualize the world thanks to linguistic characteristics with certain impact on human minds

In short, with four main findings satisfying the research questions we put for the study, we have enough consolidation for showing the implications for teaching, learning and translating

7.2 Implications from the results

We now present in this section the terms of the conceptual metaphors based on the human senses for second language learning and teaching in semantics as well as in translating

For teachers, they need to approach and understand all main aims of introducing the conceptual metaphors based on human senses to learners to make them aware of the motivation and to help them understand how language works because it regards understanding as a precondition for learning It is helpful if teachers understand the root underlying similarities and differences between English and Vietnamese conceptual metaphors based on the five basic human senses to teach their students the target language We believe that, with a deep understanding of this issue, the teacher can make her/his lesson more interesting

For learners, this will raise learners’ awareness about intercultural differences as well as structuring principles in language and thought Moreover, working with conceptual metaphors based

on human senses in the classroom would help learners to activate the potentials of using the target language in a more meaningful way Conceptual metaphors based on the human senses can be considered one of the ways to build up vocabulary, meanings and the latter, in its own way, determines the comprehension as well as the creation

of a certain metaphor These are all effective for the semantics and advanced translating

For translators and interpreters, it is a task to catch up with the force of the author but at the same time bring relevant communicative effect to his/her target readers and listeners Meanwhile, a contrastive approach in working with conceptual metaphors based on human senses in the target language will make readers and listeners motivated in uncovering the cultural values underlying the target language, which may be different from their mother tongue It is rather important for a translator to thoroughly understand conceptual metaphors of the human senses in the language s/he deals with in doing her/his work

7.3 Limitations of the study and suggestions for further research

The findings of the present study are by no means a complete picture of metaphor The study still has some limitations First, although we have selected the more recent metaphorical expressions based on the five basic human senses from the collected materials, some may be not contained Secondly, the study has not discovered the interaction between the human senses in producing meanings in detail Next, a further limitation of the present study is the semantic field Moreover, the study is deliberately limited in metaphors that base on the five basic human senses, although it is far from being an exhaustive account or representative range of the conceptual metonymy based on human senses in English and Vietnamese

We would like to suggest for the further researches, such as the attention is needed to syntactic and pragmatic features of conceptual metaphors, not only based on human senses, but other senses: balance, sixth sense, temperature, kinesthetic sense, and pain At the same time, the further researches focus on the interaction between senses and especially use modern tools to collect the corpus such as Sketch-Engines, COCA that can help researchers select the corpus fast and effectively

In conclusion, the study of conceptual metaphors based on the five basic human senses in English and Vietnamese has produced the significant results, perhaps the most important of which is the realization that language, body, mind, brain and experience all come together and play an equally crucial role in our metaphorical competence and, consequently, in the study of metaphor It is easy to discover that people living in the West conceptualize most metaphors similarly with Vietnamese thanks to the nature of human - human senses However, some are also different from those in Vietnamese This makes for interesting, great, and varied aspects in linguistic

studies