[Cognitive Metaphor Analysis of Spatial Dimension Word "Gao Di"] Cognitive Metaphor

Based on metaphor theory, this paper analyzes the initial meanings of spatial dimension words "Gao" and "Low" in spatial domain and their projection to different conceptual domains, and probes into the internal cognitive relationship between their meanings. Keywords: cognitive metaphor of vocabulary in high and low spatial dimensions

Cognitive linguistics holds that metaphor is not only a rhetorical device, but also a way of thinking, which embodies the essential characteristics of the conceptual system on which people think and act, and is the basis of people's cognition, thinking, experience and even behavior.

According to different origins, Leikauf and Johnson classify metaphors into three categories: structural metaphor, entity metaphor and spatial metaphor. Structural metaphor means that a concept is organized and constructed by another concept, that is, a concept with clear structure and clear definition is used to construct another concept with vague structure, vague definition or complete lack of internal structure. Entity metaphor means that we project our experience of real objects and materials onto many abstract objects and treat these abstract things (such as events, activities, feelings, thoughts, etc.). As an entity and substance, it enables us to refer to, classify, combine, quantify and reason many spiritual phenomena that we cannot directly see or touch. Spatial metaphor is a cognitive process that takes spatial concept as the origin domain and maps it to other cognitive domains or target domains to obtain extended and abstract meanings. Spatial metaphor projects some spatial relations and features onto non-spatial relations and features, which can not only concretize and familiarize abstract and unknown concepts, but also inspire readers' imagination and establish correlations between incompatible things. According to Leikauf and Johnson, spatial metaphor comes from direct physical experience, and the basis of experience can be easily found in the materialistic environment of our society. This paper analyzes the metaphorical phenomenon of the spatial dimension word "Gao Xiao".

First, the original meaning of "high and low"

"High, low" and words in other spatial dimensions, such as "big, small", "long, short", "wide, narrow" and "thick, fine", together constitute the basic concepts that people can perceive. The first definition of "height" in Modern Chinese Dictionary, Xinhua Modern Chinese Dictionary and New Century Modern Chinese Dictionary is "the distance from bottom to top is large; Away from the ground (as opposed to "low") "low" is defined as "the distance from the bottom to the top is small; Close to the ground "(as opposed to" high "). Let's look at the original words about "high and low". Tall buildings, highlands, mountains, plateaus, lowlands, valleys and low water levels. When people express the concept of "height", they take the ground plane as the reference object, that is, the farther they extend from the ground, the higher they are, and vice versa. Concept comes into being on the basis of cognitive experience through people's contact with the world. People constantly expand the connotation of concept in long-term cognitive practice, which provides potential possibilities for people to further perceive and describe the world in the future.

The second is the projection of the "high and low" source concept domain to other concept domains.

(a) Projection from spatial concept domain to temporal concept domain

This projection includes "high school" and "college entrance examination". There is a reference point when we talk about "high school and college entrance examination". For example, "high school" is relative to "primary school" and "junior high school"; "College entrance examination" is relative to "senior high school entrance examination". They have a sequential and gradient growth in time distribution.

We believe that honorifics such as "old" and "longevity" are also a kind of expression of time, and such words all indicate that people live long and old, which is also a form of expression of time, so we can think that the word "high" in such words also indicates time domain.

(B) the projection from the concept of space to the concept of family ethics.

This kind of projection includes "Gao Zu", "Gao Tang" and "Gao Grandma". When we say these words, there is a reference in our mind, and that is ourselves. Gao Tang refers to parents; Great-grandfather refers to his father; Great-grandmother refers to her mother. Taking oneself as the reference point, the higher the extension, the higher the generation, which is very similar to people's initial cognitive experience of the concept of "high"

(c) Projection from the field of spatial concept to the field of social concept

This projection mainly refers to the projection of identity and social status. Such as: high position, high position, high salary, noble birth, low status, low status and so on. The "high" here reflects the special class status, superior life enjoyment or higher moral level; Relative "low" reflects low status or social status. These meanings are all formed by the original meaning of "high and low" through spatial metaphor.

(d) Projecting into abstract conceptual fields, such as mind, character, quality, knowledge and thinking.

Such a projection is clever, ingenious, profound, lofty, noble, arrogant, inferior and low-key. The basis of this metaphorical projection is the concretization and materialization of abstract concepts. In this metaphorical projection, people regard abstract concepts, such as "thought, quality and character", as concrete and tangible entities. This is Leikauf's entity metaphor. The original way of human existence is material, and human experience of objects provides a material basis for people to understand abstract concept expression as "entity". To explain this projection fundamentally, we must start with the container metaphor in the entity metaphor. People not only regard themselves as a container, but also project this concept onto other objects, even some intangible abstract things. With the continuous expansion of world experience, people will have the need to concretize and quantify these intangible abstract concepts. Think of these concepts as containers, and the farther they extend, the greater their tolerance may be.

(5) Projection to the state domain

It is also common for "high and low" to be projected into the state domain. Such as: "high mood (enthusiasm)", "happy" and "low" The empirical basis of this metaphor is that people are upright walking animals, healthy people work in a standing or sitting position, seriously ill people are bedridden, and dead people will fall down. When people are in a bad mood, it is just like getting sick, so people use "depression" to describe it; When people are refreshed, they are naturally full of energy, so people use "high" to modify. In other words, being in a positive and good state of movement is often "high" and being in a negative and closed state is "low".

(6) Projection to quantitative domain

It is also common that "height" projects into the conceptual domain of quantity. For example, high output, high wages, low output, low cost, low cost. It can be seen from these words that "high" and "low" are inseparable from quantity, which means that the more quantity, the higher it will be. On the contrary, the smaller the quantity, the lower it will be.

In addition to the projection fields listed above, there are many other fields, such as "high pressure" and "low pressure trough" of meteorological field; "Hypertension" and "high fever" in the field of diseases; "high latitude" and "low latitude" of geographical domain; "High spirits" and "foresight" indicate psychological expectations.

However, as can be seen from the above example, there is not a one-to-one correspondence between the source concept domain and the target concept domain. Because metaphor, whether as a rhetoric or as a cognitive thinking, is based on the similarity of two conceptual domains. The source concept domain usually has various semantic features. When projected into other conceptual domains, we will highlight different features as the basis of similarity. Moreover, in the process of metaphor projection, the semantic features of the source conceptual domain itself also have a process from concrete to abstract. We can see this from the example of projecting social concept domain.

From the metaphorical projection of the spatial dimension word "high, low", we can see that metaphor is not only a rhetoric, but also an important cognitive way of human beings. The ontological characteristics of things expressed by "high and low" have formed a stable psychological image in people's minds. With the deepening of the understanding of the world, people project the empirical characteristics of "high and low" to other conceptual fields. People's cognitive activity is a gradual process, and this projection also shows a corresponding gradual process. The development of human language metaphor is closely related to the development of human vocabulary and human historical experience. People use the similarity of physical basis and psychological experience of things to project the source conceptual domain to the target domain, so that the source conceptual domain can be expanded and supplemented. But this process is not random, but is restricted by people's cognitive experience. Through the comparison and comparison of this similarity, on the one hand, we can better understand the basis of word use, on the other hand, we can also use cognitive ability to understand and grasp the internal relationship between word meanings. More importantly, it will help language users to follow similar principles and laws in the future expansion and development of cognitive activities, and project the source concept domain to the new target concept domain, thus enriching the language and meeting the requirements of our cognitive world.

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(Hua Shujun, Qin Zhen College of Science and Technology, Yanbian University, Yanji, Jilin, 133000)