Abstract：Traditional metaphor studies often focus on its composition and rhetoric function, regarding it as a linguistic ornament used in a special way in the special time and place. However, modern metaphor theory views it as a cognitive phenomenon and a way for human to understand and to conceptualize the world.

There is a certain resemblance between animals’ appearances, habits, characteristics and some phenomena in human society, which has led people to think the similarities between them. One natural outcome of such reflections is that people create idioms connecting the human world and the animal world.

Based on the above factors, this paper makes a comparative study of Chinese and English ‘dog’ related idioms from the perspective of conceptual metaphor, to find the sameness and differences, and discuss the causes of similarities and differences from the cultural model.

In conclusion, the conceptual metaphor that lies behind the “dog” idioms in English and Chinese is the same, that is, “PEOPLE ARE DOGS”. On the one hand, the two languages have sameness of this conceptual metaphor in “dog” idioms, which can be accounted for by people’s similar bodily experiences around the world. on the other hand, the differences reflected in these metaphors related with “dog” idioms are linked with the different cultural models. The findings not only enrich the scope of application of The Conceptual Metaphor Theory, but also benefit English-Chinese translation, foreign language teaching and cross-cultural communication.

Keywords: “dog” related idioms  conceptual metaphor  similarities and differences

Contents

Abstract

中文摘要

Chapter One Introduction-1

1.1 Significance of the Paper-1

1.2 Purpose of the paper-1

1.3 Layout of the Paper-2

Chapter Two  Literature Review-3

2.1 Theoretical Foundation: The Conceptual Metaphor Theory-3

2.2Previous Studies on Metaphor-3

2.3 General Studies on Animal Metaphor-4

Chapter Three  A Comparative study of “dog” Metaphor in English and Chinese-5

3.1 The Metaphors of “dog” in English-5

3.2 The Metaphors of“dog” in Chinese-8

3.3 Similarities and Differences of “dog” Metaphor in English and Chinese-9

3.3.1 Similarities-9

3.3.2 Differences-10

Chapter Four Reasons for the Similarities and Differences of “dog” Metaphor in English and Chinese-11

4.1 Reasons for the Similarities-11

4.2 Reasons for the Differences-12

4.2.1 Different Geography and Living Style-12

4.2.2 Different Historical Backgrounds-13

4.2.3 Cultural Preferences-14

Chapter Five Conclusion-16

References-17