A Study on the Use and Communicative Effectiveness of Chinese Color Metaphors and Metonymies : Based on the Basic Color Words ‘White’, ‘Black’, and ‘Red’
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This paper aims to show that the basic color words ‘white’, ‘black’, ‘red’ have been used either metaphorically or metonymically to vividly express various abstract notions and qualities, which makes communication more effective.
‘White’ has been used to vividly express ‘funeral process’, ‘inefficacy’, ‘humbleness’, ‘counterrevolution’ etc. in terms of metaphorical expressions of ‘白事’, ‘白費力’, ‘白屋’, ‘白色政權’. ‘Black’ has been used to animatedly express ‘wickedness’, ‘illegality’, ‘secrecy’, ‘fairness and impartiality’ in such a metaphorical expression as ‘黑心’, ‘黑地’, ‘黑信’, ‘黑臉包公’ respectively.
‘Red’ has been used to vividly describe ‘happiness’, ‘getting a reception’, ‘success’ in terms of such a metaphorical expression as ‘紅喜事’, ‘紅人’, ‘滿堂紅’ respectively.
‘White’ has been used to refer to ‘大夫’ in terms of ‘白大褂’ based on the conceptual metonymy [OBJECT POSSESSED FOR POSSESSOR].
‘Black’ has been used to refer to a treacherous person in terms of ‘黑心 腸’ based on the conceptual metonymy [BODY PART FOR PERSON].
‘Red’ has been used to refer to ‘嫉妬’ in terms of ‘眼紅’ based on the conceptual metonymy [PHYSIOLOGICAL RESPONSES OF EMOTION FOR THE EMOTION].
In conclusion, the basic color words ‘white’, ‘black’, ‘red’ have been used as either a metaphor or a metonym for the vivid expression of various abstract notions and qualities, which increases the effectiveness of communication. Thus, they have been used as an efficient communicative tool in Mandarin Chinese.
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