What Animals Reveal about Grammar and Culture: A Study of Animal Metaphors in Mandarin Chinese and English

.

122 • WhatAnimals Reveal about Grammar and Culture Shu-Fen Chen,Li-Chi Lee Chen

high opinion of dogs,while Mandarin speakers despise them (lao3gou3 老狗“old-dog; a cunning

guy" vs.

“

old dog; an experienced person"). In summary,numerous aspects of animal metaphors are

culture-specific and are,therefore,perceived differently by people from diverse cultural backgrounds.

Keywords: animal metaphors, denominal verbs, gender bias, semantic derogation, semantic

.

124 • What Animals Reveal about Grammar and Culture Shu-Fen Chen,Li-Chi Lee Chen

1998 Taipei mayoral election. She has found that metaphors of this class are overwhelmingly

employed by two of the three candidates to denigrate their debating opponents. For instance,the

GOOD MAYOR IS HEN metaphor is employed by one candidate to compare the incumbent mayor

to a rooster,which cannot lay eggs,thereby implicitly criticizing the incumbent mayor's municipal

management. Kuo also notices that the largest number of negative metaphors is found in the final

debate,pointing out the fact that with the coming ofthe election day,the antagonism among the three

candidates seems to increase gradually.1

Although a great deal of research has been done on animal metaphors, what seems to be

lacking is a systematic,cross-linguistic comparison. Therefore,the present study is conducted with

the aim of comparing animal metaphors used in Mandarin and English. In the following,Section 2

describes the theoretical framework of this study and the data used for analysis. Section 3 analyzes

how animal metaphors are used in Mandarin and English,respectively,and explores how the use of

animal metaphors reflects cultural heritage and gender bias in these two languages. Finally,Section 4

summarizes and concludes our findings.

2. Research Framework

Lakoff and Johnson (1980) claim that metaphors are fundamental to the structuring of our

thought and language,and that we often use the concepts from one semantic area to think and talk

about other areas. Conceptual metaphorthe。可 hasbeen remarkably influential in cognitive science,

and has cross-cultural implications. In this study,we are interested in animal metaphors in which

there is a mapping from the domain of animals unto that of human beings. Thetheoretical 企amework

of the present s仙dyis the Great Chain Metaphor proposed by Lakoff and Turner(1989). The basic

Great Chain includes different forms of being. Each form,based on its at仕ibutes and behavior,is

allocated a place in a hierarchy. Humans are the highest order forms of being,and animals the lower

order ones,then plants,complex objects,and natural physical things. In the Great ChainMet叩hor，

“things" are closely related to each other in the world

,and humans are understood metaphorically as

animals and inanimate things. Applying this model to our analysis of animal metaphors,thus,helps

1Although animal metaphors are frequently employed as negative-other presentation in Kuo's (2003) study,she

also indicates that a few instances of animal metaphors are used as positive self-presentation,such as the MAYOR

IS WATER BUFFALO metaphor,which is used as the source domain to embody the mayor's diligence and efforts.It

also functions as a linguistic device for the mayor to exculpate his rude and abrasive rhetorical style,since the water

Shu-Fen Chen,Li-Chi Lee Chen What Animals Reveal about Grammar and Culture

.

125 •

us to see how human traits are mapped onto animals and how animal traits are mapped onto humans.

In particular,there are the conceptual metaphors: HUMANS ARE ANIMALS,OBJECTIONABLE

HUMAN BEHAVIOR IS ANIMAL BEHAVIOR, and OBJECTIONABLE PEOPLE ARE

ANIMALS(Kδvecses2002).

How did these animal-related words acquire, then,their metaphorical meaning? The only

way these meanings can have emerged is that humans attributed human characteristics to

animals and then reapplied these characteristics to humans. That is,animals were personified

first,and then the

“

human-based animal characteristics" were used to understand human

behavior. (K6vecses 2002,125)

To compare how animal metaphors are used in Mandarin- and English-speaking societies,we

also employ

“

semantic molecules" (Goddard 1998; Halupka-Resetar and Radic 2003; Hsieh 2006;

Martsa 1999; Wierzbicka 1985) to analyze our data. In studying animal terms,Wierzbicka (1985)

presents explications that contain semantically complex words. Goddard (1998) goes a step further

in developing Wierzbicka's idea and calls these words "semantic molecules," which are native

speakers' semantic competence or knowledge. As speakers with different cultural backgrounds may

perceive animals differently,which is further reflected in their languages,“semantic molecules"

thus help to explicate why Mandarin and English speakers choose different animals for the same

connotatIon.

The data for the present study consist of animal metaphors used in Mandarin and English,

which may include metaphorical phrases, idioms, slang, proverbs,allusions, habitual collocations,

etc. Fixed expressions and short sentences containing animal terms are also included in our data,

since they have gradually become daily expressions and are used quite often. The Mandarin data are mainly based on the authors' linguistic intuition and knowledge of this language. Internet resources

and The Great Dictionary of the Chinese Language(Han秒u3 Da4 Ci2dian3 漢語大詞典)2are also

used as a supplement to the c。中us of Mandarin. Additional旬，we adoptHan4yu3 Pinlyinl 漢語拼

音 forthe transcription of the Mandarin data. As Mandarin is a tonal language,the number for the

tone will be added beside each transcribed character(i丸 pinlyinl 拼音).3The traditional Chinese

2The Commercial Press.Hanyu Da Cidian (The Great Dictionary of the Chinese Language): CD Rom

Traditional Chinese始rsion3.0(Hong Kong: The Commercial Press,2007).

3The number for each tone is as the following: Iis for the high-level tone,2 for the rising tone,3for the low or

Shu-Fen Chen,Li-Chi Lee Chen What Animals Reveal about Grammar and Culture+ 127 +

1. TransitiveVerbs: 戶'xthe people,outfox his followers, parroteve可 word， dog the escapee,

bird-dog the escapee, watchdog the house, hound the politician, ape the policeman, copycat the

teacher，戶rretout the burglar,squirrel away the money,buffalo the audience,wolfthe food down.

2. Intransitive Verbs: worm out of a commitment, chicken out of a fight,pig at the dinner-table,

snake through the cars,duck down,leech (to,onto),rat on the fugitive,clam up,buck up,monkey

with the door,hare down the road,rabbit along at 90 miles an hour (talk fast),s妙lark，crane,be電f

about the food,moused along the parkside,crow about something,peacocked about his ances仕y，

horse around, weasel out of the promises, hare around to her flat, bitch about someone,rat on

each other.

Mandarin,on the other hand,has far fewer animal terms that can be used as denominal verbs,

most of which are static verbs. Among them,many are collocated with human relations or body

parts,as listed below:

I. Dynamic Verbs:

(I)niao3 鳥“bird;to treat someone coldly,not to take someone seriously"

(2)maoi 貓“C的; to bend down like a cat,to stoop,to hide"

2. Static Verbs:

(I )jiipo2 雞婆“chicken-gra吋mother; to be a busybody"

(2)zhuigei 豬哥“pig-elderbrother; to be lustful"

(3)zhuitou2 豬頭“pig-head; to be stupid,to be unaware ofthe present situation"S

(4)gou3tui3 狗腿“dog-leg; to be a lackey"

(5)guilmao2 龜毛“仙rtle-hair; to be picky"

(6) huang2niu2 黃牛“yellow-cattle; to renege on a promise"

(7) lil2 驢“donkey; to make oneself look stupid"

(8)niu2 牛“cattle; to boast,brag,blast,talk big"

的 we can see from the above,there are just a few animal terms in Mandarin that can be used

as denominal verbs. Among them,onlyniao3 鳥 and maoi 貓 aredynamic verbs.Niao3 鳥 conveys

the connotation of

“

treating someone coldly" or

“

not taking someone seriously." It can also be

used as a denominal a吐jective， but the meaning,then,changes. As an a吐jective ， niao3 鳥 is used to

describe that someone or something sucks. The other dynamic verb maoi 貓的 apolysemous verb.

One meaning is“to stoop,"and the other,“to hide." The rest are static verbs. Among them,the first

5Althoughzhu1tou2 豬頭 conveysnegative meanings in most cases,this expression when used as a noun can

be presented positively. Lovers (especially female ones) sometimes usezhultou2 豬頭的 anaddress form when they

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Shu-Fen Chen,Li-Chi Lee Chen What Animals Reveal about Grammar and Culture

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131 •

琴“zither" refers t切O 伊3zhengl 古箏

the wordniωu2 牛‘“‘'ca剖ttle" r昀en良er昀s t切o water bu旺alo， the most valued animal by farmers in traditional

Chinese agricultural society. Therefore,dui4niu2tan2qin2 對牛彈琴 isculture-specific,which means

that

“

to play beautiful music to the wrong audience."

We may know,in passing, that due to the cross-cultural encounter with the U.S. and China,

the Japanese use idioms directly translated from English and Mandarin,as in buta nishinju 豚 ι 真

珠“to cast pearls before swine" and ushi ni taishite koto 0 dannzu 牛仁財 L τ 琴在彈 f “toplay

the Chinese zither to an ox," respectively. However,the Japanese language also has its own idiom

that carries the same connotation: uma no mimi ni nenbutsu 馬仿耳仁念弘“to chant the prayer to

Amida Buddha in a horse's ear."e As for the Japanese idiom,we can still tell fromnenbutsu 念弘“to

chant the prayer to Amida Buddha" that this idiom is culture-specific,in that Japanese people were

for so long Buddhists or Sintoists,and they therefore regard Buddhist prayer/chanting as something

important.

Itis also found in Mandarin and English that different birds are used to describe chill bumps,or

the medical term cutis anserine,as injiipi2geldal 雞皮疙瘖“ chicken-skin-bump; chicken bumps"

in Mandarin and

“

goose bumps,goose flesh,or goose pimples" in English. The two languages

choose different farmyard birds to describe a temporary local change in the skin due to cold,fear,

or other stimuli; that is,jii 雞“chicken"is used in Mandarin whereas goose is chosen in English的

denote the same meaning

Having observed the above animal metaphors and noticed that Mandarin and English speakers

may use idioms with the same connotation but different animal metaphors,we can then go on to

consider whether in some fixed expressions in Mandarin and English there are corresponding animal

metaphors. Not surprising旬， from some metaphorical phrases, idioms, slang, proverbs, allusions,

habitual collocations,and so on in Mandarin and English,we have observed that niu2 牛“cattle"in

Mandarin is used similarly to

“

horse" in English in many cases,as listed below:

1. Semantic Molecules: ANIMAL,BODY,BIG,HUGE

Connotation: to boast,brag,blast,talk big

Mandarin: chuiiniu2(pi2) 吹牛(皮)“blow-cattle(skin);to blow an ox"

English: to talk horse

2. Semantic Molecules: ANIMAL,STRONG,POWERFUL

Connotation: strong,powerful

Shu-Fen Chen,Li-Chi Lee Chen What Animals Reveal about Grammar and Culture

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133 •

an old yellow ox does" English: to work like a horse

From the above, it seems reasonable to suppose that metaphors with niu2 牛“cattle"in

Mandarin almost correspond to those with

“

horse" in English. Both Mandarin and English speakers

regard these two animals as being strong and powerful (e.g. ，“li4da4ru2niu2 力大如牛"in Mandarin

and

“

as strong as a horse" in English),and they therefore are used as a standard unit to measure the

power of engines,cars,etc. (e.g. ，“niu2li4 牛力" in Mandarin and“horsepower" in English). These

two animals are also regarded as drinking or eating a lot(e.g. ，“niu2yin3 牛飲" and “niu2si4 牛飼"

in Mandarin and“to eat like a horse" in English) and working hard(e.g. ，“lao3huang2niu2 老黃牛"

in Mandarin and

“

to work like a horse" in English).

The reason why the metaphors ofniu2 牛“cattle"in Mandarin correspond to those of“horse"

in English might be due to their historical backgrounds. In China,the agricultural civilization began

quite early, and cattle have long been used for plowing and fertilization. Horses, however, were

owned by the minority of people at that time,and were mainly used in wars or to pull chariots. For

this reason, the Chinese were more familiar with cattle and were more likely to use them in the

language. Anglo-Saxon England,on the other hand,was an off-shore island in Europe and its people

(the British) lived on fishery and livestock farming. Although they obtained milk,cheese,meat,and

butter from cows (and also from other animals),cows were largely used for food. Horses,on the

other hand,were domesticated to pull chariots and to farm. They meant a lot to the British and were

more likely to appear in the English language. From the above,we know that horses in Anglo-Saxon

England served like cattle in ancient China; they both were kept for plowing and fertilization and were close to people's everyday life.

It seems thatniu2 牛“cattle"and“horse" share many characteristics in common and thus are

used by people with different cultural backgrounds to form idioms that have the same connotation.

In fact, niu2 牛“cattle" andma3 馬“horse" are frequently juxtaposed to form several idioms in

Mandarin,as we can see below:

1. Group I

(1)niu2ma3 牛馬“ cattle-horse; an ox and a horse (to refer to those who are labors or laborious)"

(2) niu2soulma3bo2 牛迪馬勃“ ox-urine-horse-dung; plantains and feces mushrooms (to refer to

those who are humble but talented)"

(3) niu2tong2ma3zou3 牛童馬走“ cattle-child-horse-walk; cowboys and servants (to refer to

those in the position of inferiority)"

Shu-Fen Chen,Li-Chi Lee Chen • What Animals Reveal about Grammar and Culture

134

•

(5) niu2ma3jinljul 牛馬襟楣“ cattle-horse-collar-lapel; a beast in human clothing (to refer to a

well-dressed man ofbeastly temper)"

(6) niu2ma3zou3 牛馬走“cattle-horse-walk; self-effacement in ancient Mandarin,to toil like ox

and horse"

(7) niu2gaolma3da4 牛高馬大“ cattle-tall-horse-big; tall,big,and strong"

(8) zuo4niu2zuo4ma3 做牛做馬“ do-cattle-do-horse; to do cattle and horses (to imply one's

will-ingness to be laborious for others)" 2. Group II

(1) niu2tou2bu2dui4ma3zui3 牛頭不對馬嘴“ cattle-head-not-match-horse-mouth; horses' jaws

don't match cows' heads; incongruous,things that don't agree,irrelevant"

(2) niu2ma3xianglshengl 牛馬相生“ cattle-horse-mutual-bear; hybridization (to imply the loss

of social etiquette and good manners)"

(3) niu2ma句話ngl 牛馬風“ cattle-horse-tone; the tone between an ox and a horse (to refer to things that are irrelevant)"

3. Group III

(1) niu勾i4 牛體“ cattle-[fast horse]; an ox and a winged steed (to refer to a simpleton and a

sage)"

(2) niu2ji4gong4lao2 牛瞋共牢“ cattle-[fast horse]-same-fence; an ox and a winged steed are

fenced together (to imply treating the simpleton and the sage the same way)"

(3) niu2ji4tong2cao2 牛贖同槽“ca前le-[fasthorse]-same-trough; an ox and a winged steed share

the same trough (toimply 仕eating the simpleton and the sage the same way)"

(4) niu2ji4tong2zao4 牛驛同車“ cattle-[fast horse]-same-grass; an ox and a winged steed are fed the same forages (to imply treating the simpleton and the sage the same way)"

From the above,we can see that the idioms containingniu2 牛“cattle"andma3 馬“horse"can

be categorized into three groups,according to how Mandarin speakers perceive these two animals.

The first group which contains eight idioms shows that niu2 牛“cattle" and ma3 馬“horse" are

treated by Chinese people as the same type of animals. For example,the idiom niu2ma3jinljul

牛馬襟楣 showsthat both niu2 牛“cattle"and ma3 馬“horse"represent any kind of beast,

metaphorically referring to a well-dressed man of beastly temper. The idiomniu2gaolma3da4 牛

高馬大 showsthatniu2 牛“cattle" andma3 馬“horse"are either tall or big,and they are therefore

employed to specify the physical appearance of human beings. The second group,with only three

ttid--a11jjdjJ 有 AM 遇到司 aa' ，

idioms,shows thatniu2 牛“cattle"andma3 馬“horse"are sometimes perceived by Chinese people

.

136 • What Animals Reveal about Grammar and Culture Shu-Fen Chen,Li-Chi Lee Chen Connotation: to confront someone on his/her own territory

Mandarin: lao3hu3zui3shang4ba2mao2 老虎嘴上拔毛“tiger-mouth-pull-bear; to pull a tiger by

its beard"

English: to beard the lion in his den

3. Semantic Molecules: ANIMAL,BIG,STRONG,POWERFUL

Connotation:ωreferto the weaker one under the guise of the stronger one

Mandarin: hu2jia3hu3weil 狐假虎威“fox叩use且tiger-power;a fox under the guise of a tiger"

English: a donkey in a lion's hide; an ass in a lion's skin

4. Semantic Molecules: ANIMAL,FEEBLE,WEAK,POWERLESS

Connotation: A man losing position and influence may be subjected to much indignity.

Mandarin:hu3luo4ping2yang2bei4qωn3qil 虎落平陽被犬欺“tiger-

fall-Ievel-Iand-passive-dog-bully; A tiger going down the levelland may be bullied by dogs." English: Hare may pull dead lions by the beard.

5. Semantic Molecules: ANIMAL,BODY,DANGEROUS

Connotation: not to insult or despise

Mandarin: lao3hu3pi4gu3molbu4de2 老虎屁股摸不得“tiger-ass-touch-not-get;One should not

touch the tiger's ass."

English: One should not twist the lion's tail.

6. Semantic Molecules: ANIMAL,ENERGETIC

Connotation: a fine start and poor finish

Mandarin:hu3tou2she2wei3 虎頭蛇尾“tiger-head-snake-tail; to begin with tigerish energy but

peter out towards the end" English: in like a lion and out like a lamb

From the above idioms, we know that hu3 虎“tiger" in Mandarin corresponds to “lion"

in English, both of which are large, powerful,and flesh回eating animals of the cat family. They

are also thought of as fierce and violent animals that are likely to attack. These two animals,

however,are presented positively by Mandarin and English speakers. In Mandarin,there are many

idioms containinghu3 虎“tiger" that are used positively. For example,Mandarin speakers use

ru2hu3tianlyi4 如虎添翼“like-tiger-add-wing;like a tiger with wings" to refer to a strong person

with added strength andwo4hu3cang2long2 臥虎藏龍“crouch-tiger-hide-dragon;crouching tiger

and hidden dragon" to describe a wealth of talents. In describing a steep terrain which is hard to

climb on,hu3ju4long2pan2 虎踮龍盤“tiger-occupy-dragon-settle;a place where tiger occupies and

龍騰虎躍“御agon-rise-Shu-Fen Chen,Li-Chi Lee Chen What Animals Reveal about Grammar and Culture

.

137 •

tiger-leap; dragons rise and tigers leap" to describe a scene ofbust1ing activity.Hu3 虎“tiger"alone

is also used to describe a brave general,as inhu3jiang4 虎將“tiger-general;a general as brave as a

tiger,"or the camp where the general sta抖，的 in hu3zhang4 虎帳“tiger-camp;general's camp." In

a nutshell,hu3 虎“tiger"in Mandarin is presented positively in many cases and is juxtaposed with

long2 育E “dragon，" a divine animal in Chinese culture.1_。

In English,on the other hand,there are also many expressions that present

“lion" in a positive

way. This might be due to the fact that to the British and many Westerners,lions are the king of

beasts. For example,people will be praised“as regal as a lion,"“as majestic as a lion,"or“as brave

as a lion (or being lion-hearted)." A famous and important writer may also be called a

“literary lion."

In describing the largest or the bestpa此 ofsomething that is divided,the

“lion's share" is employed.

Interestingly,Percy Bysshe Shelley (1792-1822) once wrote a poem in 1819 called

“The Mask of

Anarchy,"in which he described Manchester workers who faced government troops as

“

[rising] like

lions after slumber."

So f:缸， it is possible to build up the hypothesis that hu3 虎“tiger"and “lion" are used by

Mandarin and English speakers, respective旬， to form idioms with the same connotation because

these two animals live in different areas. More specifically,Chinese people in ancient times lived in

mountainous areas where tigers were seen very often,as we can see from another idiom in Mandarin

shan1 zhong 1wu2lao3hu3, hou2zi5cheng1da4wang2 山中無老虎，猴子稱大玉“mountain­

center-without-tiger,monkey-call-big-king; When there is no tiger in the mountains,monkeys will

be the king." Lions,on the other hand,are not indigenous animals of China. This is based on the

observation that lion totems have never been found to appear in the utensils of the Shang Dynasty,

nor has lion appeared in the oracle bone inscriptions (Wu 1984).

In fact,lions were from India. It is believed that when the Emperor Zhang of the Eastern Han

reigned in 87 A.D.,the King of Parthia (a small country in western regions) presented a lion to

him as a tribute (Yu 2006). In addition,with the introduction of Buddhism into ancient China,the

image of lion gradually appeared there, and the translation of Sanskrit Buddhist scriptures had an

immense influence on the Chinese language,including the lexicon (Zhu 1992, 1993). For example,

shi1zi5hou3獅子吼“lion-roar;lion's roar" is a metaphor in Buddhism whichrefersωthepreaching

of Buddha that shakes the world (Schafer 1963),and it is now broadly used to refer to the howIs of a

shrew.

10Although dragon has long been thought ofas a vicious and evil animal in the Western culture,Chinese people

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Shu-Fen Chen,LιChiLee Chen What Animals Reveal about Grammar and Cultureφ139 •

(2) Neutral: None (3) Negative:

a.lao3gou3 老狗“old-dog;an old dog,ref切ingto a cunning guy"

b.gou3guanl 狗官“dog-o伍cer;a dog-like government0伍cial，referring to a bad or corrupted

government official"

c.gou3ji2tiao4qiang2 狗急跳牆“ dog-haste-jump-wall; Despair gives courage to a coward."

d.gou3zhang4ren2shi4 狗仗人勢“dog-rely-human-force;A dog threatens other people on the

strength ofits master's power."

e.ji1 ming2gou3dao4 雞鳴狗盜“chicken-call-dog-steal; to pretend to be chicken and dog to

steal"

f.lang2xinlgou3fei4 狼心狗肺“wolf-heart-dog-Iung; as rapacious as a wolf and savage as a

cur"

g.gou3 tou2junlshi1 狗頭軍師“dog-head-soldier-teacher;a dog-headed army advisor,

referring to someone who is a good-for-nothing advisor"

h.guo3xie3penltou2 狗血噴頭“dog-blood-spray-head;to spray one's head with a dog's

blood,implying a torrent of abuse"

i. gou3yan3kan4ren2dul 狗眼看人低“ dog-eye-Iook-human-Iow; to look down upon people

like a dog (damned snobbish)"

J. g伊ouωdZl叫zui叫Ji山3欠tuωdb加u4ch加ulxi的an峙1喀g4.砂yαω2 狗H嘴蜻吐不出象牙“"do嗯g-mo∞u叫t血h-v刊omIιt←-no叫t←t-o吋ou叫t←-引or恥y抗; ad伽og's

mouth(自!thymouth) cannot utter ivory (decent language)"

k.da3luo4shui3gou3 打落水狗“beat-drown-dog; to beat the drown dog,implying kicking the

man when he is down"

1.gou3gai3bu4liao3chi1sh i3 狗改不了吃屎“ dog-change-not-eat-shit; a dog cannot change

the habit of eating shit,implying it is hard to mend one's way"

2.

“

Dog" in English

(1)Positive:

a. Every dog has his/its day. (i.e.,Everyone will get what he deserves.)

b. Love me,love my dog. (i.e.,Accept my friend as yours.)

c. as faithful as a dog (i.e.,very faithful)

d. top/upper/over dog (i.e.,a dominant or victorious person)

e. big dog (i.e.,an important,influential guy)

f. lucky dog (i.e.,a lucky person)

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Shu-Fen Chen,Li-Chi Lee Chen WhatAnimals Reveal about Grammar and Culture

.

141 •

lucky person (i.e.,lucky dog),an important,influential guy (i.e.,big dog), a happy person (i.e.,

gay dog or dog with two tails),etc. Mandarin speakers, on the other hand, often despise such an

animal,and thus a dog is usually associated with a derogatory sense,as we can see in idioms like

gou3zhang4ren2shi4 狗仗人勢 ， lang2xinlgou3Jei4 狼心狗肺 ， gou3yan3kan4ren2dul 狗眼看人低，

and so on. Interestingly,both Mandarin and English have expressions that are used to specify people

as an old dog,as we cansee 企omthe above. Although lao3gou3 老狗 inMandarin literally equals an

“

old dog" in Engli曲， their conversational implicature in both cultures is different. While lao3gou3

老狗 in Mandarin refers to a cunning guy,an

“

old dog" in English refers to an experienced person.

Therefore,when one notices the difference,it would be easy for him/her to understand why Chinese

people would at first feel insulted for being called an

“

old dog,"even though this address form does

not convey any negative meanings in English.

3

.2.3.Animal Metaphors Reflect Gender Bias

As some animal metaphors are assigned masculinity and others are attached to femininity,

animal metaphors reflect gender bias in world languages. Ochs's (1992) viewpoint suggests that

gender ideologies can be socialized, supported, and transformed through talk, and in particular,

through verbal practices that recur often in the lives of members of social groups. That is,what

people say actually reflects what they think,and how they describe one thing in terms of another also

represents the way they connect these two things. In Mandarin,for example,metaphors withhu3 虎

“

tiger" are used to specify both women and men,but in completely different manners. This further

reflects gender bias,as we can see in the following:

1. Metaphors withHu3 虎“Tiger"Specifying Women

(1)mu3lao3hu3 母老虎“ female-tiger; a female tiger,referring to a termagant woman"

(2)hu3gulpo2 虎姑婆“ tiger-aunt-grandmother; Tiger Granny,referring to an evil woman"

(3) 的i2hu3xingl 白虎星“white-tiger-star;the White Tiger Star,referring to a woman who brings

hard luck or jinx"

2. Metaphors withHu3 虎“Tiger"Specifying Men

(1)hu3jiang4 虎將“tiger-general; a general as brave as a tiger"

(2)hu方u4wu2quan3zi3 虎父無犬子“ tiger-father-without-dog-son; There will be no laggard

among the children of a brave or talented man."

From the above,we can see that metaphors with hu3 虎“tiger" in Mandarin can be used to

specify both women and men,but these metaphors are used differently. While men are presented

φ142 • What Animals Reveal about Grammar and Culture Shu-Fen Chen,Li-Chi Lee Chen

a negative w呵， as in mu31ao3hu3 母老虎， hu3gulpo2 虎姑婆， and bai2hu3xingl 白虎星.The

semantic molecules applied to the above metaphors may include ANIMAL,POWERFUL,and

VIOLENT,which are supposed to be men's characteristics,not women's.Itis because in traditional

Chinese culture influenced by the philosophy of Confucianism, a good Chinese woman should

obey the Three Obediences and Four Virtues12and should not act like men. As Spender(1998, 17)

observes,“[t]he word for women assumed negative connotations even where it designated the same

state of condition as it did for men.... The only variable is that of sex and this variable is crucial to the

semantic system." Indeed,words which are associated with women are likely to become pejorative.

More specifically,words marked female are marked negative,which is what Schulz(1975) refers to

as semantic derogation of women.13

Dog metaphors also exist in both cultures,and they are frequently used to specify women and

men,as we can see below:

1. Dog Metaphors in Mandarin

(1)Metaphors Specifying Women

a.mu3gou3 母狗“ female-dog; a female dog,bitch"

(2)Metaphors Specifying Men

a.xiao31ang2gou3 小狼狗“ little-wolf-dog; a man kept by a rich woman"

b.hu拼J4wu2quan3zi3 虎父無犬于“tiger-father-without-dog-son;There will be no laggard

among the children of a brave or talented man."

2.Dog Metaphors in English

(1)Metaphors Specifying Women

a. bitch(i.e.,anad的ssform used to insult women)

b. son ofbitch(i.ιanaddress form used to insult a guy)

(2)Metaphors Specifying Men

a. big dog (i.e.,an important,influential guy)

As discussed in Section 3.2.2.,although dogs are said to be faithful friends of human beings

句2TheThree Obediences require that a woman obey the father beforemarriag巴，obey the husband after marriage, and answer to the son after the death ofher husband. The Four Virtues include attention to criteria that women have to

meet to be“virtuous": morality,skill inhandicraf泊，appearance,and propriety in speech (Rubinstein2004,252).

13Also see Pauwels(2003)and Wareing(2004)for the semantic derogation of women. According to Wareing

(2004,80-82),the term“semantic derogation" can be defined as“[the] process of words which refer to women

acquiring demeaning or sexualconnotations ，"的 insome English terms (e.g.,gentleman or lord vs. lady; master vs.

mistress; sir vs. madam; bachelor vs. spinster or old maid). Pauwels(2003,567)also discusses this term from the

feminist perspectives and indicates that as“women [are now] in the new roles or critical linguistic commentators,

norm-breakers,and norm makers,"the awareness of gender bias in language has been raised.

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Shu-Fen Chen,Li-Chi Lee Chen What Animals Reveal about Grammar and Culture

.

143 •

in both cultures,idioms or fixed expressions containing them in Mandarin never convey positive

meanings,and therefore dogs are usually associated with a derogatory sense. Dogs when used to

speci身 people in Mandarin,not surprisingly,are always negative. For example,mu3gou3 母狗 is

used to insult a woman,andxiao3lang2gou3 小狼狗 is used to refer to a man kept by a rich woman

like a toy boy. Even the idiom hu拼t4wu2qωn3zi3 虎父無犬子 showsthat someone described as

a dog is a laggard. In English,on the other hand,dogs are used negatively to present women as in a

“

bitch,"while they can present men positively as in a

“

big dog." Interestingly,while the expression

“

son of bitch" is used to indirectly attack the interlocutor(i.e.,son,the male one),this expression

directly insults the mother of the interlocutor (i.e.,bitch,the female one). There is also a similar

expression in Mandarin,gou3yang3de 狗養的“dog-feed; someone kept by a dog." This expression

does not reflect gender bias in thatgou3 狗“dog" in this expression may refer to the interlocutor's

boss,as we can alsosee 企omanother expression in Mandarin,zou3gou3 走狗“walk-dog; a lackey,a

servile follower,"which is like the word "jackal" in English.

Bird metaphors are also used to speci布 women and men in both cultures and further reflect

gender bias. In other words,bird metaphors are more frequently used to speci身 womenin a negative

manner,than tospeci身 men. These metaphors are shown below:

1. Bird Metaphors in Mandarin (1) Metaphors Specifying Women

a.jii 雞“chicken;a female prostitute"

b.ye3jii 野雞“ wild-chicken; a streetwalker"

c.jiipo2 雞婆“chicken-grandmother;to be a busybody"

“

d♂抖i的n叫4j伊jμiυlsiich仰en叫12 牛忱七雞司晨“吭hen-卡可 C∞oc吐k閻吋-a-d由O∞O叫dle-dωO∞O吋]; a hen trying t切oc可 cock-a-

doo-dle-doo"

e.liu2yingl 流鶯“ drift-canary; a streetwalker"

f. lao3bao3 老鴨“old-bustard;a woman running a brothel"

g.hai30ul 海鷗“ seagull; awoman 企equentlyhaving sex with men,,15

(2) MetaphorsSpecifyi時 Men

a.yal 鴨“duck;a male prostitute,,16

b.cai4niao3 菜鳥“vegetable-bird; a new prisoner,a newcomer"

2. Bird Metaphors in English

14Ji1po2 雞婆 inprison argot refers to a female drug addict. 帽Thismetaphor is from prison discourse.

.

144 • What Animals Reveal about Grammar and Culture Shu-Fen Chen,Li-Chi Lee Chen (1) Metaphors Specifying Women

a. hen(i.e.,a middle-aged woman who likes to make a fuss)

b. hen party (i.e.,a party for women exclusively)

c. henpecked (i.e.,a man continually nagged by his wife and completely obedient to her)

d. chick (i.e.,a young woman)

e. pigeon(i.e.,a woman or girl who is easy to be deceived)

(2) Metaphors Specifying Men: none

As we can see from the above, bird metaphors in Mandarin are frequently used to specify

female sex workers or women who behave in a riotous, disorderly, and indecent manner. These

metaphors arejiI 雞 ， ye3jiI 野雞 ， liu2yingl 流鶯 ， lao3bao3 老鴨， and ~叩30ul 海鷗. However,

there is only one found to specify male sex workers (i丸 yal 鴨). The expression pin4jiIsilchen2

枕雞司晨 inMandarin is also used to deride a husband whose wife is the head of the family. In

English,women are also presented as birds,more specifically as hens. The party held for women

exclusively is called a hen party,and a man continually nagged by his wife and completely obedient

to her is described as being henpecked.

Interestingly,the way in which women are characterized as animals also reflects men's various

perspectives towards them,as we can see below:

1. Animal Metaphors Specifying Women in Mandarin:

(1)ma3zi5 馬于“horse-su 伍x;one's girlfriend"

(2)zheng4ma3 正馬“ square-horse; a beautiful woman"

(3) diao4ma3zi5 釣馬于“hook-horse吼lffix;to deceive a woman"

(4)hu2li2jingl 狐狸精“ fox叩irit;a seductive woman"

(5)xiao3ye3maol 小野貓“ little-wild-cat; a pussycat,referring to a sexy woman"

(6) he2donglshiIhou3 河東獅吼“river-east-lion-roar;a jealous wife who howls at her husband"

(7) she2xielmei3ren2 蛇蠍美人“snake-scorpion-beauty;a beautiful but ruthless woman"

2. Animal Metaphors Specifying Women in English:

(1)bat (i.e.,a female prostitute)

(2) alley cat(i.e.,a female streetwalker)

(3) cathouse (i.e.,a brothel)

(4) sex-kitten (i.e.,a sexy woman)

(5) puss(i.e.,a little woman or little girl)

(6) shrew (i.e.,a bad-tempered,vicious woman)

Shu-Fen Chen,Li-Chi Lee Chen What Animals Reveal about Grammar and Cultureφ145 •

(8) 自lly(i.e.,an active little woman)

(9) fox (i.e.,a tempting woman)

(10) vixen (i.e.,a bad-tempered woman)

(11) bunny (i.e.,a tempting woman)

(12) bunny girl (i.e.,a women's image from the Playboy magazine)

From the above,we know that women are frequently depicted as cats in both cultures. In

Mandarin,for example,a sexy,beautiful woman may be calledxiao3ye3maol 小野貓.In English,on

the other hand,a

“

sex-kitten" is used for the same semantic meaning. A female streetwalker may be

referred to as an

“

alley cat,"and a brothel may be called a

“

cathouse." In addition,the pronoun

“

she"

is often used to refer to a cat,even when its sex is unknown. As Goddard (1998,250) concludes,

“

[t]he association between cats and 'femininity

,'

in my view, tells us as much (or more) about

traditional attitudes towards women as it does about cats." The cat metaphors and other metaphors

listed above show how women are viewed. Indeed,women in people's eyes (perhaps in men's eyes

only) can be categorized as different groups of animals. As observed by Whaley and Antonelli(1983),

women are frequently depicted as animals, more specifically as pets (e.g.,sex-kitten),pests (e.g.,

bitch),cattle (e.g.,cow),and wild animals (e.g.,bunnies and foxes).

While animal metaphors used to specify women are often concerned with women's outward

looks or their attraction to men,such as sexine品，those used to speci

fY

men are often concerned with

men's manhood and how they are attracted to women. Some ofthese metaphors are shown below:

1. Animal Metaphors Speci

fY

ing Men in Mandarin:

(1)zhulgel 豬哥“pig-elderbrother; to be lustful"

(2) ai3luo2zi5 矮螺子“ short-mule; a hooligan"

2. Animal Metaphors Speci

fY

ing Men in English:

(1)bull session(i.e.,men's talk)

(2) stag (i.e.,a man who goes to a social gathering alone)

(3) stag party (i.e.,a party for men exclusively)

(4) calf(i.e.,a young man,dumb guy)

(5) ox (i.e.,a dumb guy)

(6) goat (i.e.,a lustful man)

(7) stud,studhorse (i.e.,a manly man)

(8) wolf calling/whistling (i.e.,men greeting or complimenting women)

The above metaphors show that in English men are often described as embodying characteristics

• 146 • What Animals Reveal about Grammar and Culture Shu-Fen Chen,Li-Chi Lee Chen

men' s manhood. Itis also interesting to note that some of the above metaphors are used to describe

how men are attracted to women. In Mandarin,for example,an amorist may be calledzhulgel 豬

哥. In English,a lustful man is described as a goat,and the act that men greeting or complimenting

women is wolf calling or wolfwhistling.

4. Conclusion

In Section 3.1.,we have observed that animal terms in Mandarin and English can be used as

denominal verbs.While some verbs containing animal species are used without any prejudice against

animals,most ofthem put animals in a negative manner (e.g.,zhulgel 豬哥 in Mandarinvs. 于pigat

the dinner-table" in English).

Animal metaphors also reflect the cultural heritage. For instance, English animal metaphors

come from the Bible, Greek mythology, and Western literary works (e.g.,Aesop's Fables,

Shakespeare's opera,etc.). On the other hand,most animal metaphors in Mandarincome 企omthe

Chinese folk stories,myth,and legends. Even though both languages are culture-specific,there are

still some pairs of idioms,phrases,or expressions that apply analogous strategies to create similar

figurative readings that employ different animal metaphors as their sources (e.g.,niu2 牛“cattle" in

Mandarin vs.“horse" in English; hu3 虎“tiger"in Mandarin vs.“lion" in English),as illustrated in

Section 3.2.1.

Our findings also show that people from different cultures may view the same animal

differently. As we have discussed in Section 3.2.2.,while English speakers have a high opinion of

dogs, Mandarin speakers despise such animals. This is further reflected in the idioms in the two

languages (e.g.,Mandarinlao3gou3 老狗 vs.English“、叫O叫l旭d do呵g")

Weh旭av吋ea叫Is叩00吋bs峙er何、ve吋dt由ha剖t animal metaphors rna叮yreflectgende叮rbias. From our discussion in

Section 3.2.3.,we have good grounds for thinking that metaphorical animal terms or expressions

for human beings,especially for women,are often insulting or belittling (e.g., mu3gou3 母狗 in

Mandarin vs.

“

bitch" in English). Even the same animal used to specify women and men is viewed

differently(eι mu3lao3hu3 母老虎 vs. hu3jiang4 虎將 inMandarin).

As pointed out by Lakoff and Johnson (1980),how we think or act is basically metaphorical

in nature. For the ease of understanding,we use animal metaphors to characterize human beings,as

well as nonhuman entities,in terms of animal characteristics and activities. In a nutshell,we can say

with fair certainty that animal metaphors embedded in phrases, idioms,slang,proverbs,allusions,

.

148 • What Animals Reveal about Grammar and Culture

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152 • What Animals Reveal about Grammar and Culture Shu-Fen Chen,Li-Chi Lee Chen

動物洩露了語法及文化的什麼祕密﹒

中英文動物譬喻詞之研究

陳淑芬 中國文學系 國立清華大學 副教授 摘要 陳力綺 英語學系 國立臺南大學 兼任講師 本文冒在探討中英文動物譬喻詞的使用方式，理論架構採用「物種關係鏈譬喻 J '並 應用「語意分子」的分析方式。我們的研究結果如下:一、中英文的動物詞皆可轉化成動詞

使用。英文的此類動詞可同時具及物性(例: fox thepeople) 及不及物性(例:chicken out

of a fight) ;對比之下，中文的名詞動化(去名詞性動詞)較少，且多為狀態動詞，常常和

人際關係詞(例:雞婆)或身體部位詞(例:豬頭)並列使用。二、動物譬喻詞可反映出文 化特色，且不同文化的不同動物譬喻詞可彼此對應。例如，中文跟「牛」有關的動物譬喻詞

常常可對應到英文跟 'horse J 有關的動物譬喻詞(例:中文的「力大如牛」等同英文的，as

strong as a horseJ )。此外，中文跟「虎」有關的動物譬喻詞也常常對應到英文跟 'lion J 有