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oai:figshare.com:article/34048973 2026-10-01T17:40:43Z category_7 category_45 category_734 category_106 category_135 portal_87 item_type_6 month_year_10_2026

Cognitive Mappings and Cultural Motivations in Chinese <i>Yu</i>-Related Idiomatic Expressions Xu Wen (2708356) Chen Chen (6544) Medicine Sociology Biological Sciences not elsewhere classified Science Policy Computational Biology symbolic network distinct recommends future corpus positive semantic prosody patterns collectively establish nuanced gender pattern materially focused semantics key findings include generate layered meanings grounding abstract mappings dominant cultural metaphor defining cultural metonymy core cultural symbols patterns .</ p chinese conceptual system conceptual system within cultural cultural motivations cultural methods cultural metaphtonymy cultural conceptualizations yu </ yang </ target – tangible attributes study examines research contributes pragmatic contexts offers insights metaphtonymic frameworks metaphoric source junzi </ idiomatic expressions high value epistemic attribute employing metaphoric cosmological framework acoustic property <p>This study examines the cognitive and cultural conceptualizations of <i>yu</i> (jade) through an analysis of 383 Chinese quadrisyllabic idioms, employing metaphoric, metonymic, and metaphtonymic frameworks. By defining cultural metonymy and cultural metaphtonymy, this research contributes to the expansion of cultural–cognitive studies and offers insights into how core cultural symbols are conceptualized in idiomatic expressions. Key findings include: (1) the identification of A HUMAN BEING IS <i>YU</i> as the dominant cultural metaphor, primarily mapping personality traits and talents with a positive semantic prosody and a nuanced gender pattern; (2) metonymic mappings that foreground <i>yu</i>’s acoustic property and cultural-epistemic attribute of high value; and (3) two recurrent metaphtonymic structures – metonymic reduction of metaphoric source and target – which generate layered meanings by grounding abstract mappings in tangible attributes and refining them within cultural-pragmatic contexts. These patterns collectively establish <i>yu</i> as a core philosophical schema within the Chinese conceptual system, motivated by the Confucian <i>junzi</i> ideal and the <i>yin-yang</i> cosmological framework, forming a symbolic network distinct from the materially focused semantics of English <i>jade</i>. This research provides systematic linguistic evidence for the architecture and distinctiveness of this conceptual system and recommends future corpus-based and cross-cultural methods to test the specificity and vitality of these patterns.</p> 2026-10-01T17:40:43Z Text Journal contribution 10.6084/m9.figshare.34048973.v1 https://figshare.com/articles/journal_contribution/Cognitive_Mappings_and_Cultural_Motivations_in_Chinese_i_Yu_i_-Related_Idiomatic_Expressions/34048973 CC BY 4.0