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Bi yu xing guan yong yu yan jiu = Study of metaphorical idiomatic colloquialisms in Chinese
Other titles
比喻型惯用语研究
Author
Low, Kin Eng
Supervisor
Lim, Buan Chay
Abstract
This honours thesis attempts to look into the study of "metaphorical idiomatic colloquialisms in Chinese" (比喻型惯用语) by investigating the frequency of the various types of colloquialisms found in the dictionary (现代汉语惯用语规范词典), the distinctive characteristics of the modern metaphorical idiomatic colloquialism and the problems of standardization of colloquialisms (惯用语). The following findings are obtained from the course of research:
The quantitative analysis shows that the metaphorical idiomatic colloquialisms are most prevalent (72% as compared to the rest). The usage, expression and word-construction of metaphorical idiomatic colloquialisms in Chinese could be found and derived in many forms. However, as people interact, colloquial expressions have blended into our everyday lifestyle and habits Metaphorical ihomatic colloquialisms can be further classified into three categories: the jie-yu (借喻), an-yu (暗喻) and ming-yu(明喻), with their respective frequencies of 78.4%, 14.2% and 7.4%. There has been much debate on the most prevalent type of colloquial expressions but statistical finding in this research shows that jie-yu(借喻) is the most common.
This research also shows that modem metaphorical idiomatic colloquialism has swept through the new generation and has gained much popularity as compared to the traditional colloquial expressions and the other idiomatic expressions. Due to its concise construction and lively description, metaphorical idiomatic colloquialism has become essential for our everyday usage and is able to create strong impact on bringing messages across, either via writing or conversation.
Given historical, geographical and dialectal variation, attaining standardization in colloquial idioms is a difficult task. To complicate matters, the same expression could present different meanings and impact in different regions.
Although there might be some difficulties in the standardization of the metaphorical idiomatic colloquialism, this type of idiomatic phrases is widely used by people to add colour to the Chinese Language and brighten up our everyday life.
The quantitative analysis shows that the metaphorical idiomatic colloquialisms are most prevalent (72% as compared to the rest). The usage, expression and word-construction of metaphorical idiomatic colloquialisms in Chinese could be found and derived in many forms. However, as people interact, colloquial expressions have blended into our everyday lifestyle and habits Metaphorical ihomatic colloquialisms can be further classified into three categories: the jie-yu (借喻), an-yu (暗喻) and ming-yu(明喻), with their respective frequencies of 78.4%, 14.2% and 7.4%. There has been much debate on the most prevalent type of colloquial expressions but statistical finding in this research shows that jie-yu(借喻) is the most common.
This research also shows that modem metaphorical idiomatic colloquialism has swept through the new generation and has gained much popularity as compared to the traditional colloquial expressions and the other idiomatic expressions. Due to its concise construction and lively description, metaphorical idiomatic colloquialism has become essential for our everyday usage and is able to create strong impact on bringing messages across, either via writing or conversation.
Given historical, geographical and dialectal variation, attaining standardization in colloquial idioms is a difficult task. To complicate matters, the same expression could present different meanings and impact in different regions.
Although there might be some difficulties in the standardization of the metaphorical idiomatic colloquialism, this type of idiomatic phrases is widely used by people to add colour to the Chinese Language and brighten up our everyday life.
Date Issued
2003
Call Number
PL1273 L62
Date Submitted
2003