A Contrastive Study of English and Chinese Metaphoric Cognition of Visceral Organs — A Case Study of “Heart”

Abstract

Metaphor is not only a linguistic phenomenon but also a way through which the humans see the world. Metaphor can be seen everywhere in our daily life, serving as a bridge that leads people to the understanding of complex things. “Heart” is one of the most important visceral organs in the human body, with diverse metaphorical implication. This essay will take “heart” as an example for the contrastive study of Chinese and English metaphorical cognition of human visceral organs as heart is the most influential visceral organ and it is the most complex for cognition. The study will pay an emphasis on the aspects shared by the two languages and also the differences between them, in order to improve people’s understanding of human body metaphor.