IV. ANALYSIS
4.3 Cases Involving Interaction Between Metaphor and Metonymy
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4.3 Cases Involving Interaction Between Metaphor and Metonymy
As mentioned previously, metaphor and metonymy are not just figures of speech in literature. Rather, they are conceptual in nature. In addition to individually
functioning as cognitive mechanisms, metaphor and metonymy interact ubiquitously in our languages. Classifiers and measure words in proverbial expressions in
Taiwanese Hakka are found to display metaphorical and metonymic interactions. For example, rhid4 du2shi gai3 fo2 (一肚屎个火) ‘a stomachful of fire’ displays the
ANGER IS FIRE metaphor. Furthermore, having a stomachful of fire is metonymically used to stand for anger since increased body heat is one of the physiological effects of anger. The following examples to be elaborated in this section will illustrate how the interaction between metaphor and metonymy is reified in classifiers and measure words in Taiwanese Hakka proverbial expressions. Examples (7) and (8) display the construction [Numeral-MW]. Examples (9) and (10) display the construction
[Attribute-CL]. Examples (11) and (12) display the construction [CL-CL-Predicate].
Examples (13) and (14) display the canonical construction [Numeral-CL/MW-Noun].
Finally, examples (15) and (16) display the construction [Numeral-MW-Noun], but the numeral is restricted to rhid4 (一) ‘one’, denoting wholeness.
Now, let us begin with the following examples displaying the construction [Numeral-MW]:
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diam1-diam1 shid8 sam1 von2gung1
quietly eat three MW‘A person is quietly eating three big bowls of rice—an unnoticed person unexpectedly has an outstanding achievement.’18
(8) 做無一湯匙，愛食一碗公
zo3 mo5 rhid4 tong1shi5 oi3 shid8 rhid4 von2gung1
cook NEG a MW desire eat a MW
‘Without cooking a spoonful of food, a person desires to eat a big bowl of food—as you sow, so shall you reap.’
Both examples display the construction [Numeral-MW], as sam1 von2gung1 (三碗公) ‘three big bowls’ in example (7) and rhid4 tong1shi5 (一湯匙) ‘a spoon’
and rhid4 von2gung1 (一碗公) ‘a big bowl’ in example (8), where the noun is omitted but represented by the measure word. In example (7), von2gung1 (碗公)
‘big bowl’, the measure word as well as a container, is used to stand for the noun
pon7 (飯) ‘rice’, through the
CATEGORY-FOR-MEMBER metonymy within the category-and-member ICM and the CONTAINER-FOR-CONTENT metonymy within the containment ICM. As Kövecses and Radden (1998: 57) put it, “theimage-schematic relationship that holds between a container and things contained in it is conceptually well-entrenched and applies to many standardized situations,
which may lead to metonymy.” Consequently, the content contained in a container
18 Prototypically, von2gung1 (碗公) ‘big bowl’ is used to stand for pon7 (飯) ‘rice’ in this proverbial expression. It can also be used to stand for other food in specific contexts.
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interests us more than the container itself, which leads to the preferred metonymy
CONTAINER-FOR-CONTENT. Then, typically, the average amount of rice that a person can eat is a bowl of rice per meal; occasionally, a person who is taller or heavier may be able to eat more than a bowl of rice. This case, however, implies that a person who is considered to be able to eat one bowl of rice unnoticedly finishes three big bowls of rice instead, signifying that he can eat more than expected. With the property of proverbiality, this proverbial expression associates the domain of rice with the domain of achievement through the ACHIEVEMENTIS AN ENTITY metaphor, allowing us to conceptualize the target concept of achievement via the source concept of rice. Such a metaphor is rooted in the correlation of stature and appetite as well as implicated result and causation in the literal meaning. Simultaneously, the correlation of competence and performance is also reflected in the metaphorical reading. That is, due to limited competence, an ordinary person can only have an ordinary performance; on the contrary, a person with extraordinary ability can contribute to greater achievement than ordinary people do. Hence, the inference of this idiom is that an unnoticed person unexpectedly has an outstanding achievement.
In example (8), tong1shi5 (湯匙) ‘spoon’ and von2gung1 (碗公) ‘big bowl’, the measure words as well as containers, are used to stand for the noun, i.e., cooked food, through the CATEGORY-FOR-MEMBER metonymy and through the
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CONTAINER-FOR-CONTENT metonymy. Literally, it depicts that a person desires to eat a bowl of cooked food even though the amount of food he cooks is less than a spoon. Metaphorically, rhid4 tong1shi5 (一湯匙) ‘a spoon’ is used to stand for a person’s efforts and rhid4 von2gung1 (一碗公) ‘a big bowl’ is used to stand for the results, where the metaphors EFFORTS ARE ENTITIES and RESULTS ARE ENTITIES are triggered. Due to the contrastive capacity of a spoon and a big bowl, such a
metaphor allows us to quantify the abstract concept of a person’s efforts and results in terms of the cooking utensils. In addition, the social activities, i.e., working hard and gaining results, are compared to household activities, i.e., cooking and eating.
The metaphors in this expression are grounded in implicated result and causation, as well as the correlation of efforts and results. Namely, the amount that a person can eat is a result of how much he cooks. In the same vein, a person will gain the results in accordance to the efforts he makes, just as the proverb says, “You reap what you sow”, a quote from the Biblical New Testament. With the property of affect, this idiom satirically indicates that a person desires to gain more results which are not proportionate to the efforts he pays.
Next, the following cases to be discussed display the construction [Attribute-CL]:
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‘The sitting one does not know the pain that the standing one suffers—people will not know others’ feelings unless they have similar experiences.’
(10) 湖鰍搵泥沙，緊搵緊大條
fu5ciu1 vun3 nai5sa1 gin2 vun3 gin2 tai7 tiau5
loach soak silt more soak more big CL‘A loach’s shape becomes bigger when it is soaked in the silt—things become harder to cope with when getting worse.’
Both examples display the construction [Attribute-CL], where the quantity is not specified. In example (9), as in co1 sa5 (坐儕) ‘sitting person’ and ki1 sa5 (企儕)
‘standing person’, the noun, i.e., ngin5 (人) ‘person’, is represented by the classifier
sa5 (儕) through the
CATEGORY-FOR-MEMBER metonymy. Literally, the expression depicts that the sitting person does not know the pain that the standing one suffers.Metaphorically, the sitting person is mapped onto those who are in more beneficiary status whereas the standing person is mapped onto those who are in less beneficiary status. However, unaware of the pain that other people suffer, those who are in the superior status are still unsatisfied, grumbling about their unsatisfactory status. Such a metaphor is shaped by our sensorimotor system and is grounded in our common experiential basis, i.e., the correlation of the physical gestures and states, as well as implicated result and causation. Namely, it is more comfortable for people to sit than
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to stand since the latter results in a more laborious state than the former does. In addition, this idiom allows us to conceptualize the abstract concept of status via the concrete actors, i.e., the sitting person and the standing person. As an exhortation, this expression advises that we should not complain about our status before we experience the pain other people that are in worse conditions suffer.
Due to the construction of [gin2 (緊)-Verb-gin2(緊)] ‘becoming more and more’, the classifier-proverbial construction following [gin2 (緊)-Verb-gin2(緊)] ‘becoming more and more’ in example (10) is restricted to [Attribute-CL], where the noun
fu5ciu1 (湖鰍) ‘loach’ appearing at the beginning of the expression is suppressed in
the second chunk of the construction. Literally, this expression depicts that due to its mucus, a loach becomes bigger when soaked in the silt. Actually, the novel metaphor
PROBLEMS ARE PERCIPITATES IN A CHEMICAL SOLUTION, which is based on the conventional metaphor PROBLEMS ARE OBJECTS, is activated. As Lakoff and Johnson (1980: 148) put it, “the similarities induced between problems as we
usually experience them and precipitates in a chemical solution are: they both have a perceptible form and thus can be identified, analyzed, and acted upon.” Thus, when a problem is solved, it may disappear just like a precipitate is gone when it is dissolved. This metaphor allows us to comprehend the abstract target concept, i.e., problems getting worse, through envisaging that loaches are getting bigger when
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soaked in silt. In addition, such a metaphor is based on implicated result and causation, giving rise to a causal implicature; since the loach is soaked in silt, its shape will become bigger and bigger. Likewise, since problems get worse, they will become harder to cope with. Furthermore, this metaphor is also grounded in the correlation of the quantity of silt and the physical size of the loach; that is, the more silt a loach is stained with, the bigger it will become. Hence, this expression advises us to solve problems before they become too complex to manage.
Another example displaying the construction [Attribute-CL] is da2 ng5 sa5
shid8 ng5 shi2 (打魚儕食魚屎) ‘a fisherman sells fine fishing goods but eats fish’s
feces—being frugal’, as da2 ng5 sa5 (打魚儕) ‘fisherman’, where the noun, i.e.,
ngin5 (人) ‘person’, is represented by the classifier sa5 (儕) through the
CATEGORY-FOR-MEMBER metonymy. In addition, if a fisherman eats fish’s feces as described in the second chunk of the proverbial expression, then da2 ng5 sa5 (打魚 儕) ‘fisherman’ can be metaphorically used to stand for a thrifty and economical
person.19
Then, consider the following two examples, where the classifier and the measure word are reduplicated:
19 Thanks to Professor Jui-chuan Yeh for indicating that da2 ng5 sa5 (打魚儕) ‘fisherman’ can be metaphorically used to stand for a thrifty and economical person only when collocated with what is described in this expression.
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zhang1ngied8 ciung5 ngi5ngied8 cam7
January pine February firsam1ngied8 zhung3 zhug4 tiau5-tiau5 sang1
March plant bamboo CL-CL grow
‘If pines are planted in January, firs in February, and bamboos in March, they will flourish—just as we should follow the time to cultivate plants subsequently, so we should follow the proper order and advance step by step when doing things.’
‘Since a person’s desire gets higher one joint after another, he starts to complain about lacking a brewery cellar after the brewage is bestowed to him—a person’s desire is insatiable.’
Both examples display reduplication of a classifier or a measure word, where the reduplication of the classifier and the measure word denotes multitudes of the nouns. In example (11), the noun zhug4 (竹) ‘bamboo’ appearing in the same chunk of the expression is suppressed in the construction [CL-CL-Predicate]. Hence,
20 This case has a legendary origin. Once upon a time, the immortal Dong-bin Lu (呂洞賓) went to a tavern to drink. After drinking three jars of brewage, he asked the owner for more, but the owner apologized to him for running out of brewage. However, Lu still longed to drink, so he took the owner to the well in the backyard and whispered. Suddenly, the water in the well became brewage under his spell. From then on, the owner led a wealthy life. One year later, Lu came over the tavern and was received cordially by the owner. Lu asked the owner if he still had any difficulties. The owner replied: “Thanks for the brewage bestowed upon me, but would you please denote a brewery cellar to me for store?” Laughing loudly, Lu took the owner to the well and whispered: ngin1 sim1 zied4-zied4 go1, rhiu1 ziu2 hiam5 mo5 zo1 (人心節節高，有酒嫌無糟) ‘a person’s desire is insatiable’. Then, the brewage in the well turned into water again.
21 In terms of the test of antonymous adjectives stacking, zied4 (節) ‘joint’ is a measure word in that it is possible to say rhid4 tai7 zied4 se3 zhug4 er5 (一大節細竹仔) ‘a big section of a small bamboo’.
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tiau5-tiau5 sang1 (條條生) literally refers to bamboos’ flourishing. Then, the whole
expression depicts that pines which are planted in January, firs in February, and bamboos in March can grow fast. In other words, if they are planted in the right time, they will thrive and flourish. Furthermore, cultivating plants is metaphorized as doing things. That is, when the plants are cultivated one after another in the right time, they will thrive and flourish; likewise, when we follow a meticulous plan step by step, we have a stronger chance to succeed in doing anything. Hence, this
metaphor allows us to conceive of the abstract concept of being successful by virtue of the concrete acts of cultivating plants timely. In addition, such a metaphor is grounded in correlation in the common experiential basis, inviting a conditional implicature: if pines, firs, and bamboos are planted in the right time, they will thrive and flourish. In the same vein, if we follow a meticulous plan progressively, we will succeed in doing anything. Alternatively, cultivating plants in the right time
contributes to their prosperity. Correspondingly, following a meticulous plan leads to a person’s success. Therefore, this expression implies that the key to success is making a scrupulous plan and realizing it progressively.
In example (12), ngin1 sim1 zied4-zied4 go1 (人心節節高) ‘a person’s desire gets higher one joint after another’ displays the construction [MW-MW-Predicate], where the noun ngin1sim1 (人心) ‘a person’s desire’ is metaphorized as a bamboo
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through the measure word zied4 (節) ‘joint’ . First, the measure word zied4 (節), with the meaning of a joint, is used to stand for a bamboo through the
CATEGORY-FOR-MEMBER metonymy as well as the DEFINING
PROPERTY-FOR-CATEGORY metonymy in that a bamboo joint is an essential property of bamboos. Then, the reduplication of the measure word zied4 (節) ‘joint’ refers to multitudes of bamboo joints. Hence, zied4-zied4 go1 (節節高) ‘getting higher one joint after another’ depicts that bamboos are getting higher one joint after another.
Furthermore, the DESIRE IS AN ENTITY metaphor is activated; namely, the target concept, i.e., people’s desire, is metaphorized as the source concept, i.e., bamboos, allowing us to quantify people’s increasing desire in terms of the increase of bamboo’s height. Therefore, metaphorically, the first chunk of this expression indicates that a person’s desire is insatiable by analogy with bamboos.
Simultaneously, the MORE IS UP metaphor is triggered to construe the target concept, i.e., the increasing desire, via the source concept of up represented by go1 (高)
‘high’. Such an orientational metaphor has a basic correlation in our physical experience since when we add more of a substance to a container, the level goes up.
Similarly, if a person’s desire increases, the level will go up just like the increase of bamboo joints in the vertical orientation. In addition, this expression is grounded in implicated result and causation, giving rise to a causal implicature. In other words,
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the first chunk of the expression serves as the cause of the event expressed in the second chunk; due to a person’s insatiable desire, he still complains about lacking a brewery cellar after given the brewage. Given that elaborated, this expression, however, urges us to hold down our desire since happiness lies in contentment.
Now, consider the following examples displaying the canonical construction:
(13) 泥蛇一糞箕，毋當一尾青竹絲
nai5sha5 rhid4 bun3gi1
common rice paddy snake a MW
m5 dong3 rhid4 mui5 ciang1zhug4si1
NEG compare a CL green bamboo viper‘A wicker scoop of common rice paddy snakes are not as good as a green bamboo viper—a talented man is superior to numerous mediocre men.’
(14) 良言一句三冬暖，惡語傷人六月寒
liong5 ngien5 rhid4 gi3 sam1 dung1 non1
good word a CL three winter warm
og4 ngi1 shong1 ngin5 liug4ngied8 hon5
mean word hurt people June chilly‘A sentence of good words makes people warm in the winter for three years, but a sentence of mean words makes people chilly even in the scorching June.’
Both examples display the canonical constructions [Numeral-CL/MW-Noun]. In example (13), nai5sha5 rhid4 bun3gi1 (泥蛇一糞箕) ‘a wicker scoop of common rice paddy snakes’ displays the construction [Noun-Numeral-MW] and rhid4 mui5
ciang1zhug4si1 (一尾青竹絲) ‘a green bamboo viper’ displays [Numeral-CL-Noun].
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Then, ciang1zhug4si1 (青竹絲) ‘green bamboo viper’ stands for poisonous snakes and nai5sha5 (泥蛇) ‘common rice paddy snake’ stands for nonpoisonous snakes through the MEMBER-FOR-CATEGORY metonymy. Hence, the literal meaning of this expression is that a single poisonous snake surpasses a large number of
nonpoisonous snakes. Metaphorically, the domain of snakes is mapped onto that of humans. That is, just as a common rice paddy snake is metaphorized as a mediocre person, so a green bamboo viper is metaphorized as a talented person, where the property of being poisonous in the source domain and the property of being competent in the target domain are highlighted. In addition, the metaphors in this expression are based on the metonymic relationship of category structure, where the relation between a category and members included in the category is widely utilized in metonymy. In this case, namely, the category of nonpoisonous snakes is
represented by its salient member, i.e., a common rice paddy snake, and the category of poisonous snakes is represented by its salient member, i.e., a green bamboo viper.
Furthermore, the metaphors also illustrate the metonymic source of correlation between poison of snakes and its influence on humans, as well as the metonymic source of implicated result and causation: it can be fatal to people even with only a bite by a poisonous snake whereas it may be harmless even with many bites by nonpoisonous snakes. Correspondingly, a man of talent can be powerful and
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influential while a man of mediocrity may be insignificant and unimportant. In other words, although a talented man is outnumbered by mediocre men, the influence of the former is far beyond that of the latter. Hence, we infer that it is the quality rather than the quantity that counts.
With a different word order, example (14) displays the construction
[Noun-Numeral-CL], as in liong5 ngien5 rhid4 gi3 (良言一句) ‘a sentence of good words’, where the noun liong5 ngien5 (良言) ‘good words’ is put forward. First,
liong5 ngien5 rhid4 gi3 (良言一句) ‘a sentence of good words’ and og4 ngi1 (惡語)
‘mean words’ trigger the action of speaking through the OBJECT INVOLVED IN AN
ACTION-FOR-THE ACTION metonymy within the action ICM. Next, the CONDUIT
metaphor, which is elaborated in example (1), is also activated in this expression. In this case, alternatively, a speaker can decide whether to put kind or unkind meanings into words, i.e., to put good or bad objects into containers, and then deliver them through a conduit to a listener. Accordingly, good objects will benefit the one who receives them whereas bad objects will make the receiver suffer for a long time.
Furthermore, metaphorically, the domain of the weather is mapped onto the domain of a person’s affective feelings. That is, a person’s being in a good mood is
metaphorized as the warm weather in winter whereas a person’s being in a bad mood is metaphorized as the chilly weather in July in summer. Such a metaphor is rooted
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in implicated result and causation as well as correlation in that good words often contribute to a person’s good mood while mean words often contribute to a person’s bad mood. In addition, the weather is usually cold in winter; in contrast, it is usually hot in summer. However, even in frigid winter, a sentence of good words can make people warm whereas even in scorching summer, a sentence of mean words can make people chilly. The contrast of the season and the weather intensifies the power of people’s words. So the affective value is that since words have immense power to affect others, people should be prudent in their words, with an aim of avoiding hurting others.
Still some examples display the canonical construction [Numeral-MW-Noun], but the numeral in the construction is limited to one, signifying wholeness. Consider the following two cases:
(15) 一身屎
rhid4 shin1 shi2
a MW22 excrement
‘a bodyful of excrement—discreditable’
22 As Her and Hsieh (2010: 14) indicate, common nouns can easily function as measure words, and many are created with body parts, as duzi (肚子) ‘stomach’ in yi duzi huan zhuyi (一肚子壞主意) ‘a stomachful of malicious intentions’ and lian (臉) ‘face’ in yi lian buyue (一臉不悅) ‘a faceful of displeasure’. The temporary uses of common nouns are measure words. In the same vein, shin1 (身)
‘body’ in rhid4 shin1 shi2 (一身屎) ‘a bodyful of excrement’ in example (15) and du2shi2 (肚屎)
‘stomach’ in rhid4 du2shi2 gai3 fo2 (一肚屎个火) in example (16) are measure words.
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(16) 一肚屎个火
rhid4 du2shi2 gai3 fo2
a MW NOM fire
‘A stomachful of fire—extremely angry’
Similar to examples (13) and (14), examples (15) and (16) also display the canonical construction [Numeral-MW-Noun], where the numeral, measure word,
Similar to examples (13) and (14), examples (15) and (16) also display the canonical construction [Numeral-MW-Noun], where the numeral, measure word,