A Comparative Study on the Semantic Characteristics of Metaphors Related to Women in Korean and Chinese Proverbs

The purpose of this study is to examine the semantic characteristics of metaphors related to women in Korean and Chinese proverbs. For this study, 205 Korean proverbs and 202 Chinese proverbs were compared and analyzed from the perspective of conceptual metaphor theory in cognitive linguistics. According to the analysis results, using objects, plants, animals, etc. as the source domains, the Korean and Chinese women’s metaphors conceptualize women around status, fate, roles, influences, abilities, appearance, age, personality, words and deeds, etc. Judging from the hierarchy of metaphors, Korean and Chinese show more cultural universalities at higher levels, and show cultural variations better at the lower levels. And Chinese tends to show higher detail with slightly more sub-metaphors than Korean. In terms of highlighted aspects, the related metaphors generally emphasize women’s disadvantageous status, passive existence, and negative aspects of mind and personality while hiding many positive aspects.