The knowledge schemas - 客語歇後語之語意分類架構

As mentioned several times in the previous section, frame adjustment occurs if the intended meaning of a two-part allegorical saying is to be successfully inferred.

Now the question arises is: what are the pertinent frames or idealized cognitive models (ICMs), following Lakoff (1987), that serve as the foundation for the

activation of the cognitive mechanisms for such a wealthy array of data to begin with?

The resolution of this issue lies in the exploration of the cultural models behind such a linguistic form (Lakoff 1987, Lakoff and Turner 1989). The first component of a typical two-part allegorical saying often evokes a vivid image of a source domain based on objects or events surrounding folks’ daily life experience. Yet, the intended meaning of the second component often evokes human features or human behavior to tease, to mock, or to instruct.

What is represented by two-part allegorical sayings accords with what is

discussed about proverbs in Lakoff and Turner (1989). In particular, they point out a cultural model that is composed of the Nature of Things and the Great Chain. The chain consists of a vertical hierarchical ranking of forms of being—humans, animals, plants, complex objects and natural physical things. In accordance, a scale of the features that delineate these forms of being is formulated since the inherent features of forms of being result in their behavior and functions. As Lakoff and Turner maintain, the comprehension of language, especially of opaque linguistic forms like proverbs, strongly depends on such an unconscious cultural knowledge. Take the proverb “Big thunder little rain” illustrated in Lakoff and Turner (1989:174f) for example. The surface form depicts a natural event with two sub-events, thundering and raining.

Although the surface form does not say anything about humans, it is to be comprehended as a comment about a person given the fact that proverbs contain matters about human life in general. Such an inference of the intended meaning of a proverb lies heavily on the hearer’s cultural knowledge and the GENERIC IS SPECIFIC

metaphor, as maintained by them.

Indeed, two-part allegorical sayings offer speakers ways of understanding the intricate faculties of human beings through other forms of being. In a two-part

allegorical saying, the first component depicts a vivid and concrete image of things or states-of-affairs, and the second part characterizes either the attributes of the things or

the result / manner of the situations. Like the answer of a riddle, which is deeply embedded in the linguistic expressions, the targeted meaning of a two-part allegorical saying needs to be drawn by an inference from the speakers. Such an inference requires the evocation of knowledge schemas profoundly grounded in the cultural models. In general, the ICMs induced by the first form involve things or

states-of-affairs. Things depicted by the first part, conforming to the basic or extended Great Chain pattern in Lakoff and Turner (1989), come from domains ranging from animals or plants to complex objects or natural physical things. Often, the inherent features or their essential attributes are metonymically highlighted to represent particular features or attributes of human beings. Whereas the data exhibit various forms of being as indicated by the Great Chain, exactly what specific elements in a particular domain are chosen is closely related to specific local cultural practices of Hakka.

Most Hakka people inhabited in less developed areas when they first moved to Taiwan.¹⁶ Their way of life vigorously fostered their cultural conception. They learned to make use of the natural resources around them to live through the hardship.

16 Symbolizing the social status of the Hakka people, the word Hakka [hak⁶ ka¹] literally means ‘guest people’. Two views are held so as to the formation of Hakka people. One view holds that originating from the Central Plains of China, Hakka people, because of foreign invasions, civil wars and other historical reasons, moved southwards to mainly the areas of southern China. Subsequently, after a couple of major moves, some Hakka people finally migrated all the way down to Taiwan around the middle of the nineteenth century (Hashimoto 1973, Luo 1998). Another view holds that the Hakka have developed from southern Gan in the Song Dynasty, with the Hakka dialects bearing features similar to non-Chinese languages such as She and Yao. Afterwards, Hakka migrated southwards to Taiwan in the early Qing Dynasty (Chappell 2001). Refer also to Chappell and Lamarre (2005) for more detailed descriptions.

With astute observations of the weather and the climate, they practiced farming, raising animals for business or food, and growing vegetables to add to their staples.

Hence their language, which is the most salient product of a culture, strongly reflects their cultural conception. Sayings, statements with wise advice of life, especially echo their folk knowledge established through their life.

Take the domain of plants for example first. Chinese mustard is one of the essential staples in Hakka cuisine. Because winter is too cold for rice to grow, during the winter, the rice field is used to grow Chinese mustard instead. The produce is often transformed into several shapes for later use: pickled, preserved or dried. This vegetable hence is a four-season staple for Hakka people. And owing to its importance, it is frequently employed in their language. Moreover, due to the inherent features of Chinese mustard—flourishing in the cold winter, but withering in the hot

summer—the second component of a two-part allegorical saying hence picks up such salient biological features, and in turn, the targeted meanings of the sayings can be easily inferred. Likewise, other than Chinese mustard, sugar canes, bamboos, celery, scallions, radishes are often found expressions in two-part allegorical sayings for the same reasoning. Domains of animals and complex objects exhibit similar

generalizations—expressions from farming are used. Hence, domestic animals such as dogs, cats, chickens, ducks, cows, or pigs are often highlighted in the source domain.

Animals such as mice, foxes, tigers, or snakes, which usually come to steal their crops or fowls, are utilized to represent evil behaviors. In the same vein, expressions of complex objects often come from instruments for farming such as windmills, coir raincoats, oil lamps, or bamboo baskets.

Whereas most pertinent ICMs of Hakka two-part allegorical sayings accord with the universal basic Great Chain proposed in Lakoff and Turner (1989)—with the lower forms of being signifying human affairs—some of them employ expressions related to gods. Although Lakoff and Turner (1989: 204ff) state that the extended Great Chain, which concerns gods or the universe, is central to Western tradition, the linguistic expressions observed in two-part allegorical sayings evoke such extended Great Chain. Gods, especially God of Earth and God of Death, are often made use of in this discourse form. God of Earth, who is believed to protect their lands and crops, is highly respected by Hakka. Nevertheless, because the temple for God of Earth is often built right around their fields, he is like “a member of the family”, who can be teased or ridiculed. On the other hand, God of Death, who is believed to dominate the world after death, is paid great reverence to by them. Because death is both unknown and inauspicious, expressions involving God of Death are often employed to teach or to curse.

That local cultural knowledge is deeply involved in the expressions of this

discourse form can be further evidenced by the following examples. Both Hakka and Taiwanese Southern Min employ the conceptual frame of Chinese mustard in

December, as indicated in (27) and (28). However, the intended interpretations of the two languages are very distinguished due to the different perspectives these two languages take:

¹⁷ December Chinese mustard have center stalks (sincere)

‘Chinese mustard in December—being sincere’

Both cultural models observe the same biological nature of Chinese mustard in December. Nevertheless, whereas Hakka puts emphasis of the action of growing the center stalks, Taiwanese Southern Min focuses on the state of having center stalks.

Consequently, the sound associations of both languages lead to completely different intended meanings even though the source domains and the evoked commonplace knowledge are exactly the same.

17 The spelling of this Taiwanese Southern Min example is based on the Church romanization, adopted from Chen (2004).

在文檔中客語歇後語之語意分類架構 (頁 24-30)