Abstract:Metaphor is ubiquitous, which exists in our daily life. Generally，it is defined as a mapping from source domain to target domain. Love is one of the most mysterious and special emotions of human beings. There’re innumerable love metaphors in our daily life. In this paper, the author tries to figure out the similarities and differences of love metaphor in English and Chinese based on abundant corpus. Only in this way can we figure out the underlying reasons of the birth of love metaphors in English and Chinese and provide some help in cross-cultural communication further.

Key words: Comparative study, love metaphor, cross-cultural

CONTENTS

Abstract

摘要

1. Introduction1

2. Literature Review.2

2.1 Metaphor.2

2.2 Love Metaphor.2

 2.3 Language and Culture2

3. Love Metaphors in English and Chinese4

3.1 Love is Journey.4

3.2 Love is War.5

 3.3 Love is Unity5

3.4 Love is Fire. .6

3.5 Love is Plant 7

3.6 Love is Human Body8

 3.7 Love is Sweet Food8

 3.8 Love is Nutrient9

 3.9 Love is Agricultural Product9

 3.10 Love is Predestined Relationship.10

4. Reasons for the Similarities and Differences of Love Metaphors in English and Chinese.11

4.1 Reasons for the Similarities of Love Metaphors in English and Chinese11

 4.1.1 Physiological Experience11

 4.2.2 Basic Life Experience11

4.2 Reasons for the Differences of Love Metaphors in English and Chinese12

4.2.1 Natural and Physical environment12

4.2.2 Religions.12

4.2.3 Social Values.13

5. Conclusion14

Acknowledgements17