A Comparison of Dog Metaphor in German, Igbo and Chinese

Abstract

This study is a comparative study of dog metaphor in German, Igbo and Chinese. The comparative cognitive analysis of German, Igbo and Chinese animal-related idioms/proverbs was carried out to show how they share common conceptualization, while they reflect different cultural beliefs. Four research questions were used to investigate the animal-related idioms/proverbs in German, Igbo and Chinese. The main aim is to explore the socio-cultural influences upon conceptual domain mapping characterizing the human behaviour is animal behaviour conceptual metaphor upon the metaphoric use of animal-related idioms/proverbs of the three languages and cultures. In order to achieve this aim, we refer to both the Conceptual Metaphor Theory (CMT) and its improved version the Cultural Cognitive Theory (CCT). The data was extracted from a number of idioms/proverbs in German, Igbo and Chinese. The idioms/proverbs were collected from books, internet sources, personal communication and intuitive knowledge. Using data including dog idioms/proverbs, we compare conceptual domain mappings. We also, compare the characterization of dog in the idioms/proverbs in order to identify both the positive and negative attributes in the conceptualization involved in the metaphoric use of dog in the idioms/proverbs of the three languages. The findings of the study show amongst other things that culture-specific features shape the metaphoric use of dog in idioms/proverbs of the three languages. Also, the findings from the culture-specificity in the use of dog metaphor reveal both positive and negative human traits in the three languages under study. In addition, the characterization of the animal behaviour and human behaviour result to both desirable/positive and undesirable/negative traits. Finally, the findings reveal some ways humans are correlated with dog attributions in German, Igbo and Chinese. Further researches requiring broader database and theories are recommended herewith to ascertain cross-cultural variation across other languages and cultures.