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Article published In: Beyond Corpus Data — Complementary and Alternative Methods in Cognitive Linguistics
Edited by Anton Granvik, Veera Hatakka, Olli O. Silvennoinen, Riku Erkkilä and Eveliina Mäntylä
[Review of Cognitive Linguistics 23:2] 2025
► pp. 544–572

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Regular article

DOG and CAT proverbs

Cognitive operations and cultural constraints

 | National Chengchi University
 | National Chengchi University
Published online: 23 January 2024
DOI logo with link
https://doi.org/10.1075/rcl.00174.lai
Abstract
This study investigates the cognitive operations and cultural constraints in DOG and CAT proverbs in Taiwan Hakka and English. For understanding and interpreting proverbs, the target themes are categorized into fundamental human virtues, and the cognitive operations are exhaustively examined by Conceptual Blending Theory. It is found that temperance and humanity are the most prevalent virtues profiled in Taiwan Hakka, while wisdom and knowledge are the most dominant ones in English. The analysis explicates that Conceptual Blending Theory can serve as a universally explanatory model, and at the same time, contextual and cultural factors play crucial roles in providing parametric constraints for the use and creation of proverbs.
Article outline
  • 1.Introduction
  • 2.Literature review
    • 2.1Understanding and interpreting proverbs
      • 2.1.1Cognitive perspectives
      • 2.1.2Contextual factors
    • 2.2Animal-related figurative expressions
  • 3.Data and analytic procedure
    • 3.1Data description
    • 3.2Analytic scheme
      • 3.2.1The core virtues and character strengths
      • 3.2.2Conceptual Blending Theory
    • 3.3Analytic procedure
  • 4.Analysis and discussion
    • 4.1Themes and cognitive operations in DOG and CAT proverbs
      • 4.1.1Wisdom and knowledge
      • 4.1.2Temperance
      • 4.1.3Courage
      • 4.1.4Humanity
      • 4.1.5Justice
      • 4.1.6Transcendence
      • 4.1.7Appearance/Personality
    • 4.2Discussion
      • 4.2.1BT in explicating proverbs
      • 4.2.2Cultural constraints: Universality and specificity
  • 5.Conclusion
  • Acknowledgements
  • Notes
  • References
  • Data sources
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