Fictive Motion in Chinese and English Tourist Guidebooks

Peggy Wei-lun Tsai, Shelley Ching-yu Hsieh

Abstract


This study focuses on the usage of fictive motion in tourist guidebooks. The analysis for the study draws on the theories of image schema and metaphorical extension (Johnson, 1987; Lakoff, 1987 & 1989). Fictive motion is often used to depict the features of natural scenery and the movement of time. We concentrate on the spatial description of fictive motion with data taken from official tourist guidebooks for seven National Parks in Taiwan. Both the narrations in Chinese and in English versions are analyzed. From the comparison, we attempt to assist tourist comprehension of the narratives in tourist guidebooks. The research results indicate that fictive motion description is often used in the depiction of linear movement or for the location of scenic spots, as for example with The river starts from the mountain in English and yan2 shi2 huan2 rao4 si4 zhou1 ‘the rock surrounded’ in Chinese. There are varied applications of fictive motion in Chinese and English, but fictive motion in both languages also shares common characteristics in spatial description.

Key words: Fictive motion; Tourist guidebooks; Image schema; Metaphorical extension; Spatial description


Keywords


Fictive motion; Tourist guidebooks; Image schema; Metaphorical extension; Spatial description

References


Chang, Chu-lin (張主羚) (2008). Gender roles reflected in Chinese botanical fixed expressions (M. A. Thesis). Taiwan: National Cheng Kung University.

Construction and Planning Agency Ministry of the Interior (內政部營建署) (2009). National Parks of Taiwan. Retrieved February 15, 2010, from http://np.cpami.gov.tw/index.php

Johnson, M. (1987). The Body in the mind: The bodily basis of meaning, reason and Imagination. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.

Lakoff, G. (1987). Women, fire, and dangerous things. What categories reveal about the mind. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.

Lakoff, G. (1989). Some empirical results about the nature of concepts. Mind & Language, 4(1-2), 103-129.

Lakoff, G. & Turner, M. (1989). More than cool reason: A field guide to poetic metaphor. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.

Matlock, T. (2004). Fictive motion as cognitive simulation. Memory & Cognition, 32(8), 1389-1400.

Matlock, T. (2006). Depicting fictive motion in drawings. In J. Luchenbroers (Ed.), Cognitive Linguistics: Investigations across languages, fields, and philosophical boundaries, 67-85. Amsterdam: John H. Benjamins.

Rojo, A., & Valenzuela, J. (2003). Fictive motion in English and Spanish. International Journal of English Studies, 3(2), 123-150.

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DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.3968/j.css.1923669720130902.5010

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