从认知角度看“时间是空间”隐喻
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摘要
2000多年以来，隐喻一直是众多学者注意的焦点，尤其是被修辞学家和批评家所青睐。然而近些年来，隐喻逐渐成为了认知语言学家的研究兴趣所在。他们认为隐喻是人类认知的基本途径和方法而不单单是传统意义上的一种修辞手段。从认知科学角度来看，隐喻不仅应被看作是一种运用语言的方式，它还是人们通过具体事物去认识抽象事物的一种思维方式和认知工具。本文把概念隐喻“时间是空间”作为研究对象，这主要因为在认知语言学领域里，空间占有极其重要的地位。空间是一种基本的本体论范畴，人们往往借助对空间的概念认知去认识和构建其它抽象复杂的概念系统或事物。“时间是空间”隐喻是一种非常普遍的概念隐喻，通过它，人们可以认识和了解那些复杂和抽象的概念。总之，这个隐喻揭示了空间在人们理解时间的过程中所起的重要作用。
本文详细论述了空间和时间这两个域之间的相似性和关联性，并在此基础上分析了人们通过哪些途径利用对空间的体验和认知去认识和理解时间概念。
本文由五章组成。第一章是对以前隐喻认知研究的一个回顾和综述。理查兹、布莱克、莱考夫对隐喻的认知研究做出了巨大的贡献，他们对隐喻工作机制进行了不同深度的研究，形成了一系列理论。这些理论都为空间和时间这两个域的关联性的研究以及空间是通过怎样的途径和映射把时间这一抽象范畴概念化的研究提供了可靠的理论依据和坚实的理论基础。
第二章以自然体验、意象图式和隐喻映射为重点阐述了隐喻认知研究的理论依据。另外，作者还着重强调了相似性在隐喻认知中的重要性，指出它是隐喻的生成基础。
隐喻来源于相似性。通过隐喻的运用，我们可以将A比喻成B。通过将A看成B这一过程，我们能够将B这个域中的特征转移到A域当中去，由此这两个域的相似性就产生了，我们就可以通过一个较熟悉的域去理解、体验和推理另一个新的或抽象的域。“时间是空间”这一隐喻生成了时间和空间这两个域的相似性。那么这两个域之间的相似性究竟是什么?为什么人们习惯用空间概念去定义时间?这两个问题可以在第三章找到答案。在这一章里，作者通过对时间的定义和分类以及对空间的优先性和分类的阐述回答了这两个问题。
第四章从五个方面对怎样通过空间实现对时间的概念化和成形化作了详细
地分析。这五个方面分别是:时间线的方向、时间线的形状、相对于观察者而言
的时间位置、时间组的次序和时间是运动。
第五章阐述了“时间是空间”这一隐喻的文化内涵。隐喻不仅是语言的一部
分，它还是一种文化现象。“时间是空间”隐喻作为汉语和英语这两种语言中都
普遍存在的概念隐喻和这两种文化有着紧密地联系。我们的物理经验和文化观念
为这一隐喻的表达提供了很多可能的基础。这也就是说在理解时间这一概念上，
这两种文化既有相似的一面又有不同的方面。
第六章总结了前面的内容，是本文的结论部分。
Metaphor has attracted the attention for scholars nearly in all fields, especially those of rhetoricians and literary critics for more than 2000 years. Yet in recent years, metaphor has become a focus of interest in cognitive linguistics. The researchers hold that metaphor is a fundamental way of human cognition rather than just a rhetorical device in traditional view. Rising in this change is the view that metaphor is not merely a matter of language, but a mode of thought and an effective cognitive tool for human to know abstract things in terms of concrete ones. Since space enjoys a privileged position as a foundational ontological category in language, and since the human conception of space seems to structure other parts of the conceptual system through metaphorical mappings, this study chooses to focus on TIME AS SPACE metaphor. TIME AS SPACE metapor is one of the pervasive conceptual metaphors by which people perceive and understand the complicated and abstract concepts. On the whole, this metaphor rev
eals that the spatial orientation plays an important role in people's understanding of time. This paper intends to give an analysis of the similarities between the concrete domain of space and the abstract domain of time and in which way and how time is understood and reasoned about through spatial terms.
This paper consists of five chapters. Chapter One gives an overview to the historical background of the cognitive study of metaphor. Richard, Black and Lakoff are presented respectively. Their studies contribute a lot to clarify the cognitive mechanism of metaphor and pave the way of elaborating the relationship between space and time and how the later one is constructed in the term of the former one metaphorically.
Chapter Two sets up the theoretical framework underlying the cognitive linguistic approach to metaphor, where the natural experience, image schema and the metaphorical mapping are evaluated. In this chapter, similarity, the creative base of metaphor is also illustrated and emphasized.
Metaphor is the creation of similarity. By metaphorization, we can conceptualize
A as B. By seeing A as B, we can transfer the attributes of domain B onto domain A, and thus similarity between these two domains is created so that we could understand, experience, or reason about a new or abstract domain in terms of a better known or structured one. The TIME AS SPACE metaphor creates the similarity between space and time. Then what is the similarity between time domain and space domain? Why do people use spatial concept to conceptualize time? These two questions will be solved in Chapter Three. In this chapter, the definition and the categorization of time and the primacy and the dimensionality of space are elaborated respectively.
Chapter Four makes a detailed analysis of how does time is conceptualized and shaped in terms of space from five aspects like: orientation of the time-line, shape of the time-line, position of time relative to the observer, sequences of time units, time as motion.
Chapter Five illustrates the cultural connotation of TIME AS SPACE metaphor. Metaphor is not only a part of language, but a kind of phenomenon of culture. TIME AS SPACE metaphor, as one of the conventional metaphor pervasive in both Chinese and English language is also closely attached to the two cultures. And our physical and cultural experience provides many possible bases for TIME AS SPACE metaphor. That is to say there are similarities shared by these two languages in understanding the time concept, and they also differ in some side issues.
Chapter Six summarizes the previous chapters and draws a conclusion.
本文详细论述了空间和时间这两个域之间的相似性和关联性，并在此基础上分析了人们通过哪些途径利用对空间的体验和认知去认识和理解时间概念。
本文由五章组成。第一章是对以前隐喻认知研究的一个回顾和综述。理查兹、布莱克、莱考夫对隐喻的认知研究做出了巨大的贡献，他们对隐喻工作机制进行了不同深度的研究，形成了一系列理论。这些理论都为空间和时间这两个域的关联性的研究以及空间是通过怎样的途径和映射把时间这一抽象范畴概念化的研究提供了可靠的理论依据和坚实的理论基础。
第二章以自然体验、意象图式和隐喻映射为重点阐述了隐喻认知研究的理论依据。另外，作者还着重强调了相似性在隐喻认知中的重要性，指出它是隐喻的生成基础。
隐喻来源于相似性。通过隐喻的运用，我们可以将A比喻成B。通过将A看成B这一过程，我们能够将B这个域中的特征转移到A域当中去，由此这两个域的相似性就产生了，我们就可以通过一个较熟悉的域去理解、体验和推理另一个新的或抽象的域。“时间是空间”这一隐喻生成了时间和空间这两个域的相似性。那么这两个域之间的相似性究竟是什么?为什么人们习惯用空间概念去定义时间?这两个问题可以在第三章找到答案。在这一章里，作者通过对时间的定义和分类以及对空间的优先性和分类的阐述回答了这两个问题。
第四章从五个方面对怎样通过空间实现对时间的概念化和成形化作了详细
地分析。这五个方面分别是:时间线的方向、时间线的形状、相对于观察者而言
的时间位置、时间组的次序和时间是运动。
第五章阐述了“时间是空间”这一隐喻的文化内涵。隐喻不仅是语言的一部
分，它还是一种文化现象。“时间是空间”隐喻作为汉语和英语这两种语言中都
普遍存在的概念隐喻和这两种文化有着紧密地联系。我们的物理经验和文化观念
为这一隐喻的表达提供了很多可能的基础。这也就是说在理解时间这一概念上，
这两种文化既有相似的一面又有不同的方面。
第六章总结了前面的内容，是本文的结论部分。
Metaphor has attracted the attention for scholars nearly in all fields, especially those of rhetoricians and literary critics for more than 2000 years. Yet in recent years, metaphor has become a focus of interest in cognitive linguistics. The researchers hold that metaphor is a fundamental way of human cognition rather than just a rhetorical device in traditional view. Rising in this change is the view that metaphor is not merely a matter of language, but a mode of thought and an effective cognitive tool for human to know abstract things in terms of concrete ones. Since space enjoys a privileged position as a foundational ontological category in language, and since the human conception of space seems to structure other parts of the conceptual system through metaphorical mappings, this study chooses to focus on TIME AS SPACE metaphor. TIME AS SPACE metapor is one of the pervasive conceptual metaphors by which people perceive and understand the complicated and abstract concepts. On the whole, this metaphor rev
eals that the spatial orientation plays an important role in people's understanding of time. This paper intends to give an analysis of the similarities between the concrete domain of space and the abstract domain of time and in which way and how time is understood and reasoned about through spatial terms.
This paper consists of five chapters. Chapter One gives an overview to the historical background of the cognitive study of metaphor. Richard, Black and Lakoff are presented respectively. Their studies contribute a lot to clarify the cognitive mechanism of metaphor and pave the way of elaborating the relationship between space and time and how the later one is constructed in the term of the former one metaphorically.
Chapter Two sets up the theoretical framework underlying the cognitive linguistic approach to metaphor, where the natural experience, image schema and the metaphorical mapping are evaluated. In this chapter, similarity, the creative base of metaphor is also illustrated and emphasized.
Metaphor is the creation of similarity. By metaphorization, we can conceptualize
A as B. By seeing A as B, we can transfer the attributes of domain B onto domain A, and thus similarity between these two domains is created so that we could understand, experience, or reason about a new or abstract domain in terms of a better known or structured one. The TIME AS SPACE metaphor creates the similarity between space and time. Then what is the similarity between time domain and space domain? Why do people use spatial concept to conceptualize time? These two questions will be solved in Chapter Three. In this chapter, the definition and the categorization of time and the primacy and the dimensionality of space are elaborated respectively.
Chapter Four makes a detailed analysis of how does time is conceptualized and shaped in terms of space from five aspects like: orientation of the time-line, shape of the time-line, position of time relative to the observer, sequences of time units, time as motion.
Chapter Five illustrates the cultural connotation of TIME AS SPACE metaphor. Metaphor is not only a part of language, but a kind of phenomenon of culture. TIME AS SPACE metaphor, as one of the conventional metaphor pervasive in both Chinese and English language is also closely attached to the two cultures. And our physical and cultural experience provides many possible bases for TIME AS SPACE metaphor. That is to say there are similarities shared by these two languages in understanding the time concept, and they also differ in some side issues.
Chapter Six summarizes the previous chapters and draws a conclusion.
引文
Akhundov, M. Conceptions of Space and Time. Cambridge: The MIT Press, 1986.
Alice Deignan. Metaphor. 北京：北京外文出版社，2001。
Alverson, H. Semantics and Experience: Universal Metaphors of Time in English, Mandarin, Hindi, and Sesotho. London: The Johns Hopkins University Press, 1994.
Bennett, D. C. Spatial and Temporal Uses of English Prepositions. London: Longman, 1981.
Black, M. Models and Metaphor. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press, 1962.
Black, M. More about metaphor. In A. Ortony (ed.), Metaphor and Thought (pp. 19-43). NY: Cambridge University Press, 1979.
Clark, H. H. Space, time, semantics, and the child. In Timothy E. Moore. (ed), Cognitive Development and the Acquisition of Language. New York: Academic Press, 1973.
Ellins, John M. Language, Thought and Logic. Illinois: Northwestern University Press, 1993.
Goatly, A. The Language of Metaphors. London and New York: Routledge, 1997.
Hawkes, Terence. Metaphor. London: Methuen & Co. Ltd., 1972.
John I, Saeed. Semantics．北京：外语教学与研究出版社，2000．
Johnson, M. The Body in the Mind: The Bodily Basis of Meaning, Imagination and Reason. Chicago: The University of Chicago Press, 1987.
Kittay, E.F. Metaphor: Its Cognitive Force and Linguistic Structures. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1989.
Lakoff, G. & Johnson, M. Metaphors We Live By. Chicago: The University of Chicago Press, 1980.
Lakoff, G. & Turner, M. More Than Cool Reason—a Field Guide to Poetic Metaphor. Chicago: The University of Chicago Press, 1989.
Lakoff, G. Women, Fire, and Dangerous Things: What Categories Reveal about the Mind. Chicago: The University of Chicago Press, 1987.
Lakoff, G. The Contemporary Theory of Metaphor. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1993.
Langaker, Ronald. Foundations of Cognitive Grammar, Vol. 1. Theoretical Prerequisites. Stanford: Stanford University Press, 1987.
Leech, G. Semantics. Amsterdam; Benjamins, 1981.
Levison, S.C.Pragmatics. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1991.
Lynne Cameron & Graham Low. Researching and Applying Metaphor. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1999.
Lyons, J. Semantics. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1993.
Lyons，J．Linguistic Semantics: An Introduction．北京：外语教学与研究出版社，2000．
MacCormac, Earl R. A Cognitive Theory of Metaphor. Bradford Book, The MIT Press.
Miller, G. Images and Models, Similes and Metaphor. In Ortony, A. (ed.) Metaphor and Thought 2nd ed. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1993.
Richards, I.A. The Philosophy of Rhetoric. Oxford, England: Oxford University Press, 1965.
Sacks, Sheldon(ed.). On Metaphor. Chicago: The University of Chicago Press, 1979.
Svorou, S. The Grammar of Space. Amsterdam: Benjamins, 1993.
Turner, M. Death is the Mother of Beauty. Chicago: The University of Chicago Press, 1987.
Ungerer, F. & H.J. Schmid. An Introduction to Cognitive Linguistics. London: Addison Wesley Longman Limited, 1996.
Yu, N. The Contemporary Theory of Metaphor: A Perspective from Chinese. Arizona: The University of Arizona, 1998.
Zdravko Radman. Metaphors: Figures of the Mind. Dordrecht/Boston/London: Kluwer Academic Publishers, 1997.
李福印 & Koenraad Kuiper．Semantics：A Course Book．上海：上海外语教育出版社，1999。
范文芳：《隐喻理论探究》，《山东外语教学》，1997，1。
董莉：《空间隐喻的辩证思考》，《解放军外国语学院学报》，2000 Vol．23，No．6。
耿占春：《隐喻》，北京：东方出版社， 1993。
胡壮麟：《科学理论新发现与语言学新思维》，《外语教学与研究》，1999，4。
蓝纯：《从认知角度看汉语的空间隐喻》，《外语教学与研究》，1999，4。
蓝纯：《从认知角度看汉语和英语的空间隐喻》，北京：外语教学与研究出版社，2003。
李宇明：《空间在世界认知中的地位》，《湖北大学学报(哲学社会科学版)》，1999，Vol．26 No．3。
林书武：《国外隐喻研究综述》，《外语教学与研究》，1997，1。
林书武：《隐喻研究的基本现状、焦点及趋势》，《外国语》，2002，1。
聂亚宁：《Beyond的中心—边缘意象图示和空间意义概念隐喻意义初探》，《外语与外与教学》，2002，2。
束定芳：《论隐喻的本质及语义特征》，《外国语》，1998，6。
束定芳：《隐喻学研究》，上海：上海外语教育出版社，2000。
陶文好：《论over的空间和隐喻特征》，《外语与外与教学》，1997，4。
陶文好：《论up的空间和意义认知》，《外语学刊》，2000，40
吴国盛：《时间的观念》，北京：中国社会科学出版社，1996。
吴静，王瑞东：《空间隐喻的英汉对比研究》，《山东外语教学》，2001，3。
于善志：《英语空间介词及其隐喻派生》，《山东师大外国语学院学报》，2002，1。
张其昀：《运动义动词“上” “下”用法思考》，《语言研究》，1995，1。
赵艳芳：《隐喻的认知基础》，《解放军外国语学院学报》，1994，2。
赵艳芳：《认知的发展与隐喻》，《解放军外国语学院学报》，1998，8。
赵艳芳：《认知语言学概论》，上海：上海外语教育出版社，2001。
赵英玲：《英语空间性隐喻的特征分析》，《外语学刊》，1999，3。
张蓓：《试论隐喻的认知力和文化阐释功能》，《外语教学》，1998，2。
周榕：《隐喻认知基础的心理现实性》，《外语教学与研究》，Vol．33 No．2。
周榕：《时间隐喻表征的跨文化研究》，《现代外语》，2001，1。
Alice Deignan. Metaphor. 北京：北京外文出版社，2001。
Alverson, H. Semantics and Experience: Universal Metaphors of Time in English, Mandarin, Hindi, and Sesotho. London: The Johns Hopkins University Press, 1994.
Bennett, D. C. Spatial and Temporal Uses of English Prepositions. London: Longman, 1981.
Black, M. Models and Metaphor. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press, 1962.
Black, M. More about metaphor. In A. Ortony (ed.), Metaphor and Thought (pp. 19-43). NY: Cambridge University Press, 1979.
Clark, H. H. Space, time, semantics, and the child. In Timothy E. Moore. (ed), Cognitive Development and the Acquisition of Language. New York: Academic Press, 1973.
Ellins, John M. Language, Thought and Logic. Illinois: Northwestern University Press, 1993.
Goatly, A. The Language of Metaphors. London and New York: Routledge, 1997.
Hawkes, Terence. Metaphor. London: Methuen & Co. Ltd., 1972.
John I, Saeed. Semantics．北京：外语教学与研究出版社，2000．
Johnson, M. The Body in the Mind: The Bodily Basis of Meaning, Imagination and Reason. Chicago: The University of Chicago Press, 1987.
Kittay, E.F. Metaphor: Its Cognitive Force and Linguistic Structures. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1989.
Lakoff, G. & Johnson, M. Metaphors We Live By. Chicago: The University of Chicago Press, 1980.
Lakoff, G. & Turner, M. More Than Cool Reason—a Field Guide to Poetic Metaphor. Chicago: The University of Chicago Press, 1989.
Lakoff, G. Women, Fire, and Dangerous Things: What Categories Reveal about the Mind. Chicago: The University of Chicago Press, 1987.
Lakoff, G. The Contemporary Theory of Metaphor. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1993.
Langaker, Ronald. Foundations of Cognitive Grammar, Vol. 1. Theoretical Prerequisites. Stanford: Stanford University Press, 1987.
Leech, G. Semantics. Amsterdam; Benjamins, 1981.
Levison, S.C.Pragmatics. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1991.
Lynne Cameron & Graham Low. Researching and Applying Metaphor. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1999.
Lyons, J. Semantics. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1993.
Lyons，J．Linguistic Semantics: An Introduction．北京：外语教学与研究出版社，2000．
MacCormac, Earl R. A Cognitive Theory of Metaphor. Bradford Book, The MIT Press.
Miller, G. Images and Models, Similes and Metaphor. In Ortony, A. (ed.) Metaphor and Thought 2nd ed. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1993.
Richards, I.A. The Philosophy of Rhetoric. Oxford, England: Oxford University Press, 1965.
Sacks, Sheldon(ed.). On Metaphor. Chicago: The University of Chicago Press, 1979.
Svorou, S. The Grammar of Space. Amsterdam: Benjamins, 1993.
Turner, M. Death is the Mother of Beauty. Chicago: The University of Chicago Press, 1987.
Ungerer, F. & H.J. Schmid. An Introduction to Cognitive Linguistics. London: Addison Wesley Longman Limited, 1996.
Yu, N. The Contemporary Theory of Metaphor: A Perspective from Chinese. Arizona: The University of Arizona, 1998.
Zdravko Radman. Metaphors: Figures of the Mind. Dordrecht/Boston/London: Kluwer Academic Publishers, 1997.
李福印 & Koenraad Kuiper．Semantics：A Course Book．上海：上海外语教育出版社，1999。
范文芳：《隐喻理论探究》，《山东外语教学》，1997，1。
董莉：《空间隐喻的辩证思考》，《解放军外国语学院学报》，2000 Vol．23，No．6。
耿占春：《隐喻》，北京：东方出版社， 1993。
胡壮麟：《科学理论新发现与语言学新思维》，《外语教学与研究》，1999，4。
蓝纯：《从认知角度看汉语的空间隐喻》，《外语教学与研究》，1999，4。
蓝纯：《从认知角度看汉语和英语的空间隐喻》，北京：外语教学与研究出版社，2003。
李宇明：《空间在世界认知中的地位》，《湖北大学学报(哲学社会科学版)》，1999，Vol．26 No．3。
林书武：《国外隐喻研究综述》，《外语教学与研究》，1997，1。
林书武：《隐喻研究的基本现状、焦点及趋势》，《外国语》，2002，1。
聂亚宁：《Beyond的中心—边缘意象图示和空间意义概念隐喻意义初探》，《外语与外与教学》，2002，2。
束定芳：《论隐喻的本质及语义特征》，《外国语》，1998，6。
束定芳：《隐喻学研究》，上海：上海外语教育出版社，2000。
陶文好：《论over的空间和隐喻特征》，《外语与外与教学》，1997，4。
陶文好：《论up的空间和意义认知》，《外语学刊》，2000，40
吴国盛：《时间的观念》，北京：中国社会科学出版社，1996。
吴静，王瑞东：《空间隐喻的英汉对比研究》，《山东外语教学》，2001，3。
于善志：《英语空间介词及其隐喻派生》，《山东师大外国语学院学报》，2002，1。
张其昀：《运动义动词“上” “下”用法思考》，《语言研究》，1995，1。
赵艳芳：《隐喻的认知基础》，《解放军外国语学院学报》，1994，2。
赵艳芳：《认知的发展与隐喻》，《解放军外国语学院学报》，1998，8。
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