From Body to Meaning in Culture

Papers on cognitive semantic studies of Chinese

Ning Yu | University of Oklahoma

Hardbound – Available

ISBN 9789027232625 | EUR 105.00 | USD 158.00

Paperback – Available

ISBN 9789027232632 | EUR 36.00 | USD 54.00

From the perspective of Cognitive Semantics and Conceptual Metaphor Theory, this collection of papers looks at the relationship between language, body, culture, and cognition. In particular, it looks into the embodied nature of human language and cognition as arising from and situated in the cultural environment. The papers in this collection all attempt to demonstrate, from different angles, the language-body connections that may reflect, to some extent, the mind-body connections as manifested in the interaction between the body and the physical and cultural world. They study language in a systematic way as a window into the human mind. As a collection of papers that focuses on the study of Chinese with a comparative viewpoint on English, it sheds light on the bodily basis of human meaning and understanding in particular cultural contexts.

[Not in series, 149] 2009. xvi, 310 pp.

Publishing status: Available

https://doi.org/10.1075/z.149

Table of Contents

Preface | pp. xi–xvi

Section 1. Bodily experience in feeling and thinking

Chapter 1. Metaphorical expressions of anger and happiness in English and Chinese | pp. 3–37

Chapter 2. Body and emotion: Body parts in Chinese expression of emotion | pp. 39–63

Chapter 3. Synesthetic metaphor: A cognitive perspective | pp. 65–81

Chapter 4. Chinese metaphors of thinking | pp. 83–108

Section 2. External body parts in conceptualization

Chapter 5. The bodily dimension of meaning in Chinese: What do we do and mean with "hands"? | pp. 111–133

Chapter 6. Figurative uses of finger and palm in Chinese and English | pp. 135–152

Chapter 7. What does our face mean to us? | pp. 153–186

Chapter 8. The eyes for sight and mind | pp. 187–212

Chapter 9. Speech organs and linguistic activity and function | pp. 213–240

Section 3. Internal body organs in conceptualization

Chapter 10. Metaphor, body, and culture: The Chinese understanding of gallbladder and courage | pp. 243–262

Chapter 11. Heart and cognition in ancient Chinese philosophy | pp. 263–283

Chapter 12. The Chinese conceptualization of the heart and its cultural context: Implications for second language learning | pp. 285–306

Index | pp. 307–310

“[...] Yu has provided an excellent compilation of perspectives on the relationship between langauge, body, culture and cognition. Those who are interested in cognitive linguistics will find this book to be an invaluable resource as we consider the complex issues concerning embodiment as the very essence of human existence.”

Jingyu Zhang, Shaanxi Normal University, China, in Metaphor & Symbol, Vol. 25:1

“This is a book of remarkable scholarly accomplishment: over the twelve years that the selected papers span, Yu has managed to characterize the basic concepts that structure Chinese language and culture. [...] the volume is a very enjoyable read. To quote one of the analyzed Chinese idioms, trough Ning Yu's "unique eye" (i.e. 'exceptional insight') we definitely gain a clearer picture and a better understanding of the interrelatedness of body, meaning and culture.”

Réka Benczes, Eötvös Loránd University, Budapest, in Review of Cognitive Linguistics, Vol. 8:1 (2010)

“[...] Ning Yu's From Body to Meaning in Culture comprehensively addresses the many links between language, culture, and the body in Chinese. With a writing style that is both insightful and accessible, Ning Yu quite successfully takes on the vast goal of mapping the culturally grounded connections between language and experience in Chinese expressions of emotion, cognition, and moral orientation, among other things. [...] the book is not only relevant for scholars in applied linguistics, Ning Yu's own field, but also contributes to scholarship in applied linguistics, discourse linguistics, and linguistic anthropology, especially in the sense that it provides an initial map for approaching the complexities of discourse in use. [...] It stands strong next to some of the best works in metaphor studies, adding a great deal to the debate about the relationship between language and culture.”

Sonya Pritzker, University of California, in Chinese Language and Discourse, Vol. 1:2 (2010)

“This is a wonderful collection of essays by one of the eminent and best known Chinese cognitive linguists. Over more than a decade Ning Yu has done a great service to cognitive linguistics by applying some of the key concepts of this paradigm of research to Chinese language and culture. His work on metaphor, metonymy, cultural models, and, most importantly, the notion of embodiment has given us new insight into the complexities of how language, body, mind, and culture interact. His studies on Chinese body parts have significantly contributed to our understanding of both the universal and non-universal aspects of the human mind.”

Zoltán Kövecses, Eötvös Loránd University, Budapest

“The book, as a strong thematic collection of papers on Chinese cultural and cognitive linguistics, presents an excellent application of Conceptual Metaphor Theory. But it goes much beyond that by further connecting the study of linguistics with the role of culture in language, highlighting the usefulness of studying cultural conceptualizations through cultural metaphors and cultural models. It in addition makes a compelling case of how language use is embedded in real context and that a full understanding of linguistic semantics can never do without considering its cultural substrates. The book furthermore shows the value of cultural-cognitive linguistics in second language pedagogy by using a full span of Chinese idioms as illustrations that involve various cultural keywords. I believe a book like this is a useful companion on the shelf for anyone who is interested in culture in
language and language in culture.
”

Wei-lun Lu, Faculty of Arts & Masaryk University, in International Journal of Language and Culture, Vol. 5:1 (2018)

Cited by (44)

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2021. Cultural Linguistics and World Englishes: An Overview. In Cultural Linguistics and World Englishes [Cultural Linguistics, ], ► pp. 1 ff.

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2021. Variation in embodied metaphors: A contrastive analysis of taste metaphors in Spanish and English. Complutense Journal of English Studies 29 ► pp. 21 ff.

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2020. Keeping an eye on body parts. In Body Part Terms in Conceptualization and Language Usage [Cognitive Linguistic Studies in Cultural Contexts, 12], ► pp. 216 ff.

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2020. Culture and vision in virtual reality narratives. Foreign Language Annals 53:4 ► pp. 733 ff.

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2015. Metaphorical blends and their function in discourse on society. Cognitive Linguistic Studies 2:1 ► pp. 50 ff.

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Musolff, Andreas

2021. Understanding the Nation as Body/Person from Asian Perspectives: China and Japan. In National Conceptualisations of the Body Politic [Cultural Linguistics, ], ► pp. 159 ff.

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2021. Figurative Conceptualisations of the Nation(-State). In National Conceptualisations of the Body Politic [Cultural Linguistics, ], ► pp. 1 ff.

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2021. Nation, Nationalism and Metaphor. In National Conceptualisations of the Body Politic [Cultural Linguistics, ], ► pp. 15 ff.

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2022. Universality and/or Cultural Specificity of Metaphors and Analogies? NATIONS as BODIES/PERSONS. In Metaphors and Analogies in Sciences and Humanities [Synthese Library, 453], ► pp. 401 ff.

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2014. Advances in Cultural Linguistics. In Approaches to Language, Culture, and Cognition, ► pp. 99 ff.

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2015. Cultural Linguistics and world Englishes. World Englishes 34:4 ► pp. 515 ff.

This list is based on CrossRef data as of 30 september 2024. Please note that it may not be complete. Sources presented here have been supplied by the respective publishers. Any errors therein should be reported to them.

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