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What does water mean to us

water metaphors and metonymies in Chinese and English idioms

 | Southwest University
 | Southwest University
Published online: 28 October 2025
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https://doi.org/10.1075/rcl.00234.che
Abstract
This study employs a corpus-based approach to examine the metaphorical and metonymic uses of water in Chinese and English idioms. The findings indicate that both languages share similar target domains of water metaphors, such as power, thought and emotions, based on shared bodily experiences and the universal attributes of water. However, the conceptual correspondences differ within shared water metaphors (e.g., a human being is water) and metonymies (e.g., part for whole). Additionally, certain target domains of water metaphors are culture-specific, such as music is water in Chinese and holy spirit is water in English. These differences can be explained by the sociocultural factors. Statistical analysis shows that water metaphors are more culturally influenced, leading to greater cross-linguistic variability, while water metonymies remain more stable across languages. Overall, this study highlights the interplay between universal cognition and culture-specific conceptualization in language.
Article outline
  • 1.Introduction
  • 2.Theoretical background
  • 3.Data collection and methodology
  • 4.Results
    • 4.1Universal conceptual metaphors of water in Chinese and English
      • Power is water
      • A situation is water
      • Thought is water
      • A human being is water
      • Money is water
      • The passing time is the flowing water
      • Emotions are water
    • 4.2Variation in water metaphors in Chinese and English
      • 4.2.1Culture-specific metaphors of water in Chinese idioms
        • Movement is water
        • Music is water
      • 4.2.2Culture-specific metaphors of water in English
        • Holy spirit is water
    • 4.3Conceptual metonymies of water in Chinese and English
      • 4.3.1Conceptual metonymies of water in Chinese
        • Instrument for action
        • Place for product
        • Part for whole
        • Carrier for carried
      • 4.3.2Conceptual metonymies of water in English
        • Part for whole
  • 5.Discussion
    • 5.1Common experiential groundings on water metaphors and metonymies in Chinese and English idioms
    • 5.2Cultural filtering in water metaphors and metonymies in Chinese and English
    • 5.3Why are metaphorical differences statistically significant, while metonymic differences are not?
  • 6.Conclusion
  • Notes
  • Abbreviations
  • Appendices
    • Appendix I.The collected idioms of water in Chinese (380)
    • Appendix II.The collected idioms of water in English (136)
  • References
References (46)
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