Cognitive and Cultural Analysis of English Animal Metaphor
理論研究
作者：張平
【Abstract】Metaphor is not only a language phenomenon but also a cognitive and cultural phenomenon，among which animal metaphor is an important category. The mechanism of animal metaphor is based on the Great Chain Metaphor proposed by Lakoff and Tuner（1989）.
【Key words】animal metaphor； cognitive commonality； conceptual metaphor
Ⅰ. Introduction
From cognitive perspectives， our understanding of the world is experiential and metaphorical. It can be mapped from one conceptual domain to another， and also， the human thought is based on metaphor. This paper chooses animal metaphor mainly because human beings have a close relationship with animal and there is a rich storeof animal metaphors in English. Besides， the focus of animal metaphor but not all types of conceptual metaphorwill make the study more deep and intensive.
Ⅱ. Cognitive Analysis of English Animal Metaphor
2.1 Semantic Duality in Animal Metaphors
When animal images are used to describe human beings， semantic duality occurs. In another word， one single animal image can be used in one context as a complementary meaning， while its derogatory meaning is used in the other contexts.
Afamiliar example is dog. Westerners regard dogs as their best friends， and there are many favorable expressions associated with dogs in English such as "lucky dog"， "every dog has its day". The positive images of dogs are mapped onto human to express a favorable meaning in these expressions. However， there are some dog-related expressions with an obvious derogatory meaning， like "you dirty dog"and "a dog doesn't eat a dog". The derogatory usage of "dog"shows that a dog is still a kind of animal inferior to human beings.