International Journal of Language & Linguistics

On Metaphor and Metonymy Based on TIME Category in the Oracle-Bone Inscriptions and the Bronze Inscriptions in China Ancient Shang Dynasty Before 3000 yearsi
Tang Jianli, Deng Fei, PhD.

Abstract
Metaphor and metonymy had always being believed as two kinds of figures of speech, but they are recently regarded as two kinds of thinking way, and widely accepted to study the modern language in cognitive linguistics field, especially to study the India-Europe language family. Are they common thinking way to any language? So this paper wants to verify this theory through studying the TIME category of language material based on the ancient language from Sino-Tibet language family. After systematically analyzing the time concepts in the OBI and BI in China ancient Shang Dynasty, we consider that in TIME category, metaphor and metonymy play a decisive role to conceptualize the time, and they have penetrated every level of TIME category – from subordinate category to basic category and super ordinate category. It is true to regard metaphor and metonymy as two kinds of common thinking way.

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