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Overview
Perry Link’s inquiry into the workings of Chinese reveals convergences and divergences with English, most strikingly in the area of conceptual metaphor. Different spatial metaphors for consciousness, for instance, mean that English speakers wake up while speakers of Chinese wake across. Other underlying metaphors in the two languages are similar, lending support to theories that locate the origins of language in the brain. The distinction between daily-life language and official language has been unusually significant in contemporary China, and Link explores how ordinary citizens learn to play language games, artfully wielding officialese to advance their interests or defend themselves from others.
Particularly provocative is Link’s consideration of how Indo-European languages, with their preference for abstract nouns, generate philosophical puzzles that Chinese, with its preference for verbs, avoids. The mind-body problem that has plagued Western culture may be fundamentally less problematic for speakers of Chinese.
Product Details
ISBN-13: | 9780674066021 |
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Publisher: | Harvard |
Publication date: | 02/18/2013 |
Pages: | 376 |
Product dimensions: | 9.30(w) x 6.40(h) x 1.30(d) |
About the Author
Table of Contents
Introduction 1
1 Rhythm 21
The Prevalence of Rhythmic Patterns in Daily-Life Chinese 24
Is Rhythm Unusually Common in Chinese? 37
Speakers' Awareness of Rhythm 40
Are There Fads in Rhythms? 44
The Roots of Rhythms 49
"External" Rhythms: Dominant and Recessive 54
Recessive Rhythms of Favor 60
How Recessive Rhythms Affect Structure 68
How Universal Are the Preferred Rhythms of Chinese? 74
Do Rhythms Have Meanings? 82
What Other Formal Features Contribute to Meaning? 94
Can the Users of Rhythm Be Unaware of Its Effects? 109
2 Metaphor 113
How Do Metaphors Work in Ordinary Language? 115
Metaphor and Thought 128
Time 136
Color 147
Up and Down 155
North and South 162
Consciousness 169
The Self in Ancient Thought 171
Privilege in Dyads 174
Metaphors That Chinese and English (Pretty Much) Share 183
Metaphors in Chinese That Diverge from English in Significant Ways 198
Conceptual Differences That Are Rooted in Metaphor 209
Can Conceptual Metaphors Generate Philosophical Problems? 215
The Significance of Similarities and Differences among Conceptual Metaphors in Different Languages 231
3 Politics 234
A Bifurcation 235
Characteristics of the Official Language 243
The Language Game 278
How the Game Is Played: From the Side of the Rulers 295
How the Game Is Played: From the Side of the Ruled 321
Effects of the Language Game in the Mao and the Post-Mao Eras Compared 341
Epilogue 349
Acknowledgments 357
Index 359