METAPHORICAL EXPRESSIONS OF ANGER AND HAPPINESS IN ENGLISH AND CHINESE

This article presents a comparative study of metaphorical expressions of anger and happiness in English and Chinese. It demonstrates that En glish and Chinese share the same central conceptual metaphor ''ANGER I S HEAT,'' which then breaks into two sub-versions in both languages. W hereas English has selected ''FIRE'' and ''FLUID'' metaphors, Chinese uses ''FIRE'' and ''GAS'' for the same purpose. Similarly, both Englis h and Chinese share the ''UP,'' ''LIGHT,'' and ''CONTAINER'' metaphors in their conceptualizations of happiness, although they differ in som e other cases. These two languages also follow the same metonymic prin ciple in talking about anger and happiness by describing the physiolog ical effects of these emotions. A descriptive difference observed thro ughout the study, however, is that Chinese tends to utilize more body parts, especially internal organs, than English in its metaphors of an ger, happiness, and other emotional states. A principled explanation o f the differences between the two languages is then made on the basis of referring to the theories of yin-yang and of the five elements of C hinese medicine. These theories form a cognitive or cultural model und erlying the metaphorical conceptualization in Chinese. This study show s that metaphors of anger and happiness are primarily based on common bodily experience, with surface differences across languages explainab le from cultural perspectives. It also provides empirical evidence, fr om a language other than English, to support the claim that metaphor i s essential in human understanding, meaning, and reasoning.