英语专业毕业论文范文

辅修专业学士学位毕业论文（设计）题目（中文）： 英语谚语中的比喻修辞 （英文）： The Tropes in English Proverbs 学 院 年级专业 学生姓名 学 号 指导教师 完 成 日 期 年 月The Tropes in English ProverbsWritten bySupervised byA Thesis Submitted to Shanghai Normal UniversityIn Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for The Degree of Bachelor of ArtsForeign Languages College, Shanghai Normal UniversityDecember 2011AcknowledgmentsI want to acknowledge the invaluable help of Ms. Shen, my constant consultant, who has made timely and useful suggestions on working out the outline, refining the earlier drafts and given me enlightening advice throughout the whole process of writing the thesis. I especially appreciate her guidance and wish to extend my sincere gratitude to her.This work also owes much to my dear friends whose encouragement and great help inspires me to make further efforts when I encounter difficulties and was sometimes at loss. My heart-felt thanks are also due to my father and mother, who have been in constant favor of me and offered me the best they could.This thesis would not have been possible without the support and assistance that I received from them. My grateful thanks go to you all. AbstractPeople all know English proverbs are charming. Proverbs are widespread. They are simple but meaningful. They are vivid and humour, which they are the typical examples of aesthetic rhetoric and represents treasure of English language. They are the wisdom of English people. Using rhetoric is an important reason why the English proverbs are charming. Among them, the tropes are the most common rhetoric. Therefore, I analyze the tropes in English proverbs in this paper. Tropes can be divided into simile, metaphor, analogy, allegory, metonymy and synecdoche. This article focuses on simile, metaphor and synecdoche.This paper is divided into four chapters. They are introduction, literature review, analysis and conclusion. The first chapter introduces the tropes of English proverbs. The second chapter makes a simple introduction about the importance of the tropes in English proverbs. Then this paper makes a brief analysis of the simile, metaphor and synecdoche in English proverbs. It includes their definition, structure and semantic effect. The article lists lots of examples to explain them. Sometimes they are explained in Chinese to make readers understand easily. The final chapter concludes the thesis.This article helps us understand the meaning of the tropes in English proverb. If we can understand the semantic effect in English proverbs, we can comprehend and use these English proverbs better than before.Key words: English proverbs; tropes; simile; metaphor; synecdoche摘要英语谚语具有永恒的魅力，英语谚语内容十分广泛，且具有言少意多、言浅意深、生动形象、幽默风趣、观点鲜明等特点，是美学修辞的典范，是英语语言的瑰宝，是英语民族智慧的结晶。其中修辞格的广泛运用是其魅力的一个重要原因，比喻又是最常用的修辞手法。因此在本文中，我详细介绍了英语谚语中比喻修辞的手法并分析。比喻可分为明喻、暗喻、借喻、讽喻、换喻和提喻。本文主要就比喻中的明喻、暗喻、提喻修辞进行深入探讨。本文共分四章。其中第一章对英语谚语的修辞手法做了简单介绍。第二章介绍了英语谚语以及修辞的背景。第三章分别对明喻、暗喻、提喻进行分析，包括他们的定义，结构以及引起的语义效果。文中列举了大量例子来佐证这几种比喻手法，并进行了详细的分析，并在其中穿插了中文解释，帮助我们更容易理解这些谚语的意义。最后，总结全文，这篇文章帮助我们理解了英语谚语中比喻修辞手法的涵义，如果我们能理解这些修辞手法在谚语中引起的效果，那么我们也能更好的理解和应用这些谚语。关键词：英语谚语；比喻修辞格；明喻；暗喻；提喻ContentsAcknowledgments .iAbstract . .ii摘要iii1. Introduction.12. Literature review.23. Simile.23.1 The definition of simile.33.2 The basic format of simile.33.2.1 As style.33.2.2 Like style43.2.3 What style.53.2.4 And style .53.3 The semantic effect of simile54. Metaphor.74.1The definition of metaphor.74.2 The basic format of metaphor.84.2.1 Conceptual metaphor.84.2.2 Coalescent metaphor.84.2.3 Implicative metaphor94.2.4 Symbolic metaphor104.3 The semantic effect of metaphor.105. Synecdoche.115.1 The definition of synecdoche115.2 The basic format of synecdoche.115.3 The semantic effect of synecdoche.126. Conclusion .13Bibliography .151.IntroductionWith regards to the ever lasting charm of the English proverbs, there are various reasons, the most important of which is the extensive use of English rhetorical devices. The rhetorical background of the English proverbs concerns their sources and the tradition of western rhetorics. The purpose of the use of rhetoric such as antithesis, repetition, rhyme and analogy is to make the proverb spread widely.English proverb is a valuable property in British folklore. It embodies the peoples experience of life and struggle, which is the most vivid, harmonious and profound but simple and popular sentence. It is accumulated by hundreds of people from generation to generation.English proverbs are created by working people. It uses short, pithy linguistic forms to express. It often uses tropes, metonymy and contrast to describe the understanding of the laws of nature. English proverbs are the summary of social practice. Therefore, English proverbs are concrete and vivid.The use of rhetoric is essential in English writing. With the rhetoric, we can express our thoughts and emotions better. English proverb is a stationary statement that widespread among the masses of people. It plays an important role in language. At the same time, the vocabulary of English proverb is often easy to understand but meaningful.In essence, most of the English proverbs contain tropes, which makes proverbs more specific, concise and euphemism. Generally speaking, the application of tropes in English proverbs can make people understand and remember them more easily.Tropes include metaphor, simile, synecdoche, allegory, metonymy, allegory etc. In some areas, the study of rhetorical is a complex and interesting subject. In this limited space, I would only discuss the applications of three kinds of tropes.2. Literature reviewEnglish proverbs come from the practice and they reflect the practice. They are charming and full of philosophy. They are popular with people and pass down generation by generation. Then why are English proverbs so charming? There are various kinds of reasons. The main reason I think is the extensive use of the rhetoric. Those simple words can tell the reader a complicated principle. That is the benefit of the use of rhetoric.According to the modern view of rhetoric, it aimed at improving the semantic effect. Rhetoric is divided into two parts. They are communicative rhetoric and aesthetic rhetoric. In communication rhetoric, we put the emphasis on the clear content, fluent sentence and strict structure. But in aesthetic rhetoric, we often pay attention to its aesthetics. In aesthetic rhetoric, we can imagine the situation in our mind through its attractive words. Proverb is a language form that all kinds of the language have. They are used almost everywhere. At the same time, proverb is a typical example of aesthetic rhetoric. It is a treasure of the English language. It is the wisdom of the English people. Because of the extensive using of rhetorical in English proverb, it is simple but vivid, pithy but meaningful. We can find many rhetorics in English proverbs. They show the beauty of the English proverbs.On the other hand, trope is the most important and common rhetoric. It is an important part in rhetoric. It is an outstanding symbol in English proverbs. In other words, no tropes, no proverbs.3. SimileSimile is the simplest and basic rhetoric. In order to depict the image of a person or something clearly, people often compare something or someone who has the same characteristics with other person or things. 3.1 The definition of simileA Dictionary of Literary Terms defined simile as：A figure of speech in which one thing is likened to anotherIn such a way as to clarify and enhance an imageIt is explicit comparison (as opposed to the metaphor where comparison is implicit) recognizable by the use of words like or as (Craige 2002:36). The word like and as are called introductory word of the simile. The format of simile is the signified + the introductory word + the signifier. Word like, as, as if, as though, as.as, as.so, similar to, to bear a re-semblance to are common introductory word. The definition of simile in the Word Net English-English dictionary is a figure of speech that expresses a resemblance between things of different kinds (usually formed with like or as).According to this authority and broad definition of simile, it is a rhetoric which manifest one thing like the other thing. In a common way, the signified has the same characteristics with the signifier. There are lots of common introductory words like as, seem, as if, as though, such as and so on. The basic format of simile is A is like B or A is as . as B. It also has other forms: virtual style, that style, than style, the verb style and and style. Simile is usually used in advertisement and technology description text because it shows the similar between one thing and the other thing. Reader can understand the description of the object and spirit easily. Among them, the signified is the object to be described, while the signifier is the object which is familiar to people.3.2The basic format of simile3.2.1 As styleThere are two forms. One is the word aswhich is placed after the word be to act as predicative. Such as: An honest mans word is as good as his bond.(诚实人的诺言, 如同他立下的契约一样可靠). Another is the word as which is placed after the action verb to act as adverbial. For example: Children pick up words as pigeon peas, and utter them as God shall please (小孩学舌如鹦鹉, 再次说出无口误), He bides as fast as a cat bound to a saucer (守候得牢靠就像守候食碟的猫). Sentence which is guided with the word as is relatively rare in English proverbs. However, phrases which are guided with word as can be found everywhere. Such as: as busy as a bee, as deep as the sea, as fine as sand, as gentle as a breeze, as healthy as an ox, as hungry as a wolf , as light as a cloud, as pure as spring water, as regular as the clock, as white as snow, as wild as a tiger.As we can see from these examples, in these phrases, the word as is followed by adjective which describe the characteristics of something to guide the simile. 3.2.2 Like styleSimile guided by the word like can either be placed after the copula or after the action verb. When it comes to the sentence, it is placed after action verbs to serve as predicative. For example: Living without an aim is like sailing without a compass.(无目标的生活,就象无罗盘的航行); A man without religion is like a horse without a bridle.(没有信仰的人就像没有缰绳的马);A man of words and not of deeds is like a garden full of weeds. (只说不做的人,犹如光长野草的花园). A face without a smile is like a lantern without a light (没有笑容的脸蛋犹如没有亮光的灯笼); A broken heart is like broken china: we can mend it , but we can never erase the scars(破碎的心好比破碎的瓷器: 我们可以修补它, 但永远也不可能消除其伤痕); and so on.In the saying, only a few simile which is guided by the word like is placed after action verb to act as adverbial modifier. Such as: A merry heart does good like a medicine (保持快乐的心情就像药物一样有益); They agree like two cats in a gutter. (像沟里的两只猫一样情投意合).On the other hand, English is replete with phrases including words like. Such as: to drink like a fish, to eat like a horse, to fly like a bird, to shine like gold, to sing like a lark, to sleep like a log, to swim like a duck, to twinkle like a star, to work like a horse and so on. In these phrases, the simile guided by the word like is placed after action verb to serve as adverbial modifiers. At this time, the characteristic of the verb is described vividly by using something we are familiar with.3.2.3 What styleThere are two common styles: A is to B what C is to D and What C is to D, A is to B. For example: Reading is to the mind, what exercise is to the body(读书对身心之重,恰如运动之于身体). Intellect is to the mind what sight is to the body (智力对思想犹如视力对于身体一样重要).The word what also can be put at the beginning of the sentence instead of the end of sentence. They are usually used to tell the importance between two things. For example: What the blue print is to the builder, the outline is to the writer (提纲对于作家犹如蓝图对于建筑师一样重要). What salt is to food, that wit and humor are to conversation and literature (妙语与幽默之于会话与文学,恰似盐对于食物一样).The above two examples is the second style. The word that connects main clause and subordinate clause. But usually word thatcan be omitted.3.2.4 And styleIt is a special kind of simile structure, which is common in English proverbs. This particular simile compares two collocation elements which are before and after the word and. But word and in this situation can not be understood as together, it means like here. For example: Love and cough cannot be hid. It means Love is like cough that they could not be escaped from the eyes and ears. In Chinese, it means 恋爱如同咳嗽，难逃人耳目. For another example: Truth and rose have thorns about them.(真理象玫瑰那样多刺). Books and friends should be few but good.(读书如交友，应求少而精)3.3 The semantic effect of simileAll in all, the objects shapes, movements and states can be described vividly in a clear way by using simile.The introductory word in the simile likes a bridge, which links the signified and the signifier closely. People can imagine two things through the introductory words.For example: Ill-gotten wealth is like a palace built on the sand.In this sentence, ill-gotten wealth is the signified, while a palace built on the sand is the signifier. The two things were connected with each other with the word like so that people associated the ill-gotten wealth with the palace build on the sand which is familiar to people. The proverb warns people that we must make money through hard work, or we will worry everyday when we use them. Also it warns that we cannot make money by foul means even though we face difficulties. The proverb Chinese meaning is 财富来得不正当,犹如宫殿建沙上.People may know:Beauty, unaccompanied by virtue, is as a flower without perfume.Beauty is a forever topic, we can say that everybody loves beauty. However, how can we understand the beauty correctly? How can we treat the beauty in and out correctly? We must put the emphasis not only on the appearance but also on their virtue. This proverb shows beauty, unaccompanied by virtue as a flower without perfume. It illustrates such a philosophy: People always praise the beauty. But they praise not only for the pretty appearance but also for pretty heart. Proverbs also touched a deeper problems that lots of people aspire to the outer so that they ignore the external things in real life. In essence, beauty is pure but skin-deep and short lived. Only the beauty with inner virtue is forever.Another example: Reading is to the mind, what exercise is to the body.The main features of this kind of structure is its direct meaning, clear and symmetrical structure, antithesis neat and beautiful sentence patterns. This style of simile is often used to reveal the deeper or abstract meaning so that people can be impressed by these deep significance. What the proverb want to tell us is the importance of reading to the mind. Now it is expressed by the simple and obvious relationship between the body and exercise. It makes people understand easily.Enough is as good as feast.Living in this society, we have lots of demands for material and spirit. Proper desire can encourage one to make bigger progress, but endless desire often can ruin him. Proverb uses the structure that as +adjective +as to link the enoughand feast to illustrate the meaning that true happiness is in a contented mind.4. MetaphorMetaphor is one kind of the tropes. According to the common features between two things, the reader must understand the meaning by himself instead of getting it directly. There are many examples in English proverbs.4.1 The definition of metaphorMetaphor means a comparison made between two things that are alike in certain aspect, but it is suggested rather than explicitly stated without using the word like or as (吕雯 2006: 132)We may summarize the definitions of metaphor as following: in the Websters version, metaphor is seen as a figure of speech; secondly, metaphor is the substitution of one word by another; thirdly, metaphor involves similarity between objects or concepts; finally, metaphor is regarded as a special case of simile(陈明 2003: 5).Metaphor, is an implicit comparison. It is different from the simile. There is no introductory word between the signified and the signifier. The structure of the metaphor is the signified is the the signifier.Metaphor illustrates the objects more vividly and deeply than the simile. Its expression is more strong than the simile. Metaphors often do not use the introductory word. Usually it implies more meaning than the simile and it describe the image more obviously.When two things have the similar characteristics, we often use the word is to link the two things with each other, that is A is B. The relationship between the signified and the signifier is direct and close. It is common in English proverbs. Because of the omission of the introductory word, the proverb become more brief. Metaphor has been divided into four forms. They are conceptual metaphor(概念隐喻), coalescent metaphor(结合型隐喻), implicative metaphor(含蓄型隐喻) and symbolic metaphor(象征隐喻). The use of metaphor makes English proverb vivid. 4.2 The basic format of metaphor4.2.1 Conceptual metaphorAccording to the theory of cognitive linguistics, conceptual metaphor involves two parts. It has a function which is to understand one concept through the other concept. This metaphor can be applied to the formula that X (Noun A) is Y (noun B). So the conceptual metaphor has another name which is called equational metaphor. For example, in the phraseLove is fire, fire is obviously used to compare to the love. As we all know, love is high emotional intensity. The more intense the emotion is, the stronger the feeling of love is. So using the fire to describe the love is vivid and proper. Fire can be lightened, can exist and also can be crushed out. When the fire was lit, the love started. When the fire was burning, the love is existing. When the fire was extinguished, the love finished. In the proverb Love is meat and drink, one of the two concepts is love, and the other is eat and drink. Here eat and drink means nutrition. People cannot live without eating or drinking. To put it another way, it means people cannot live without nutrition. Nutrition is essential to people. Similarly, life is not perfect without love. Love is essential to people, too. Food and drink brings us the physical nutrition so as the love brings us mental nutrition.There are many English proverbs including conceptual metaphor, such as: Life is a journey; The eyes are the window of the soul and so on.In some conceptual metaphors, the two conceptual words can be added one or two modifiers. Such as: A heart without love is a violin without strings, A beaut