Abstract:Flowers themselves are just objective lives. But due to their beauty and the marvelous feeling given to the people, they are gifted some special meanings called flower words. Flowers are mapped to emotion domain, forming a kind of culture and one way to express emotions. To some extent flower words belong to a kind of metaphor.

This paper is an attempt to make a contrastive study on flower words between China and the west from metaphor perspective. The paper compares and analyses flower words between China and the west in three aspects: i.e., metaphor overlap, metaphor vacancy and metaphor mismatch, which reflects that there exist similarities and differences between Chinese and western flower words. Eleven flower samples will be chosen to study. The similarities and differences on flower words between China and the west lie in Chinese and westerners’ modes of thinking, aesthetic psychology, national literary traditions, natural environment and international exchanges. On the whole, the paper offers us a cognitive perspective in understanding flower words and plays an important role in intercultural communication.

Key words: flower  flower words  metaphor  intercultural communication

Contents

Abstract

摘要

Chapter One Introduction -1

1.1Research Background-1

1.2 Purpose of the Study-1

1.3 Methodology and Data Collection-1

1.4 Organization of the Paper-1

Chapter Two Literature Review -3

2.1 The Definition and Property of Metaphor-3

2.2 Working Mechanism of Metaphor-3

2.3 Connections between Metaphor and Flower Words-4

2.4 Previous Studies-4

Chapter Three A Comparative Study of the Flower Words between China and the West-6

3.1 Metaphor Overlap-6

3.1.1 Laurel-6

3.1.2 Peach Blossom-6

3.1.3 Rose-7

3.2 Metaphor Vacancy-7

3.2.1 Flowers Words Particular in China-7

3.2.2 Flowers Words Particular in the West-8

3.3Metaphor Mismatch -8

3.3.1 Red Beans-8

3.3.2 Lily-8

Chapter Four Factors Leading to the Similarities and Differences of Flower Words between China and the West-9

4.1 Modes of Thinking-9

4.2 Aesthetic Psychology-9

4.3 National Literary Traditions-10

4.4 Natural Environment and Social Customs-10

4.5 Language & Culture’s International Exchanges-10

Chapter Five Conclusion-12

5.1 A Summary of the Study..12

5.2 Limitations and Suggestions for Future Research-12

References -13