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Article published In: Review of Cognitive Linguistics
Vol. 19:2 (2021) ► pp.563–589

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Cultural conceptualisations of loong (龙) in Chinese idioms

 | Southwest University
 | Southwest University
Published online: 11 October 2021
DOI logo with link
https://doi.org/10.1075/rcl.00095.wen
Abstract
This study investigates the abundant metaphorical meanings of the term loong (‘dragon’) in Chinese idioms and the cognitive and cultural factors that influence those meanings from the perspective of Cultural Linguistics. To this end, we present a systematic categorisation of the idiomatic expressions involving the term loong in Mandarin Chinese based on three conceptual metaphors: a human being is a loong, a concrete entity is a loong, and an abstract object is a loong. We then elaborate on the cultural conceptualisations of loong from three perspectives: cultural schemas, cultural categories, and cultural metaphors. The results of the study show how the metaphorical conceptualisations of loong are profoundly influenced by Chinese culture. The resulting study is intended to add to the pool of studies which lend support to the view that a fine-grained study of the metaphors of a particular culture and their linguistic realisation can shed light on how culture influences human cognition. Finally, the study calls for a clearer integration of cultural approaches into conceptual metaphor theory and it explores some possibilities in this regard.
Article outline
  • 1.Introduction
  • 2.Background and review
    • 2.1Cultural cognition and cultural conceptualisation
    • 2.2Conceptual metaphor and cultural metaphor
    • 2.3Previous studies on cultural conceptualisations in Mandarin Chinese
  • 3.Data description and analysis
    • 3.1a human being is a loong
    • 3.2a concrete entity is a loong
    • 3.3an abstract object is a loong
    • 3.4Summary of results
  • 4.Discussion
    • 4.1Cultural categories of the term loong
    • 4.2Cultural schemas of the term loong
    • 4.3The role of culture in cultural metaphors of the loong
  • 5.Conclusions and prospects
  • References
References (41)
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