A COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS OF IDIOMS RELATED TO HUMAN FACIAL APPEARANCE IN CHINESE AND ENGLISH LANGUAGES

International independent scientific journal №80/2025 32 A COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS OF IDIOMS RELATED TO HUMAN FACIAL APPEARANCE IN CHINESE AND ENGLISH LANGUAGES ToktarbekK. Zhumanbekova N. L.N. Gumilyov Eurasian National University Tuleeva C. Kyrgyz State university named after I.Arabaev Zhylkybekuly B. Sh. Ualikhanov Kokshetau University https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.17878292 Abstract Human beings use language to express ideas, share information, and convey emotions. Language is a key tool for communication and thought. Among various language phenomena, idioms are notable for their special structures and cultural significance, attracting researchers worldwide. Understanding idioms can reflect one's language mastery and often involves metaphorical usage, which is significant in rhetoric. Metaphors also influence thinking patterns, and many experts analyze them from a cognitive perspective. Body metaphors are a universal phenomenon, helping people relate to and understand concepts through familiar references like body parts. This article explores the meanings of body idioms in English and Chinese, drawing from authoritative reference books. It seeks to identify similarities and differences in meaning, serving as a helpful resource for learning these idioms and their cultural contexts. The majority of researchers use idioms in English that correlate to chengyu in Chinese, according to several studies conducted both domestically and internationally. In English, idioms have a wide range of meanings. In general, it includes things like slang, colloquialism, allusion, set phrases, and sayings. In a narrow sense, it means “chengyu” in Chinese. This thesis primarily discusses and contrasts 成 语 - chéngyǔchengyu, which is mostly made up of four-character characteristics in Chinese, with the limited meaning of idioms in English. As cognitive linguistics came into being, more and more experts studied idioms focusing mainly on their metaphorical meaning. Therefore, this thesis aims to study body metaphor from the viewpoint of cognitive linguistics. Keywords: idioms, 成语 - chéngyǔchengyu, metaphors, cognitive linguistics Idioms, as a distinctive linguistic phenomenon, often convey a greater expressive power compared to other linguistic forms. This is primarily because individuals tend to interpret idioms through their metaphorical sense rather than the literal meaning of each constituent word. Over time, the conventional use of metaphors tends to diminish their vividness, leading people to acquire the language without recognizing the underlying metaphorical implications embedded in everyday terms. Metaphors play a crucial role in the evolution and transformation of language. Hester noted that an indepth examination of the etymology of words reveals traces of metaphorical influence throughout. With the emergence of cognitive linguistics, an increasing number of scholars have concentrated their investigations on idioms, particularly emphasizing their metaphorical interpretation. Consequently, this thesis intends to explore the concept of body metaphor from the perspective of cognitive linguistics. The cognition metaphor theory shifts the study of metaphor from a purely linguistic phenomenon to a cognitive mechanism central to human thought and action. Scholars argue that metaphors permeate everyday life because the human conceptual system is fundamentally metaphorical. When people encounter abstract or unfamiliar concepts, they rely on concrete experiences to understand them through analogy, association, and similarity—processes that form the basis of metaphorical thinking. Lakoff and Johnson’s influential work Metaphors We Live By (1980) established the framework of Conceptual Metaphor Theory (CMT), introducing key notions such as the source domain, target domain, mapping, invariance principle, image schema, and idealized cognitive models. According to CMT, metaphors are systematic, cognitively grounded structures in which knowledge from a concrete, familiar source domain is mapped onto an abstract target domain, enabling conceptual understanding e.g., Life is a journey, argument is war, time is money. These mappings are unidirectional and rooted in bodily experience, and they preserve the structural integrity of the source domain through the invariance principle. Lakoff and Johnson classify conceptual metaphors into three types: structural metaphors, where one concept is structured in terms of another. Orientational metaphorsbased on spatial oppositions such as updown or inout. Ontological metaphorsconceptualize abstract entities as objects or substances. Overall, conceptual metaphors are pervasive, systematic, and grounded in human embodied experience, forming an essential cognitive tool for understanding abstract domains across languages and cultures [1]. Idioms are a language's treasures that have been honed after many years of use. These are set phrases or sentences with clear structures and extensive meanings. Idioms are frequently used to convey ideas in people's daily lives and academic But the meanings of the majority of idioms are metaphorical. Individuals who are International independent scientific journal №80/2025 33 unfamiliar with an idiom are unable to comprehend it based solely on its surface meaning. As a result, studying the meaning construct of idioms is becoming increasingly crucial. In Chinese, 成语chéngyǔchengyu is a special linguistic expression. As we know idioms in Chinese are mostly consist of four characters pursuits. Different dictionaries provide varying definitions for the Chinese term 成语 (chéngyǔ), i.e., idiom. Below, we present the definitions given by the Xiandai Hanyu Dictionary (the second edition), the Oxford Advanced Learner’s English-Chinese Dictionary, and the Chinese-English Dictionary in a tabular format. Chart1 definition for成语chéngyǔchengyu in different sources Xian Dai Han Yu (the second edition) dictionary set phrase which people habitually use, has definite structure and intact meaning. Oxford Advanced Learner’s English-Chinese Dictionary idiom is defined as a group of words whose meaning is different from the meaning of the individual words. Chinese-English Dictionary chengyu is also translated into set phrase; idiom. In fact, the first one is equivalent to fixed sentences and phrases, and the third one is equivalent to idioms or chengyu. Set phrase and idiom are all close to the meaning of 成语chéngyǔespecially the last one is usually used as the equivalent of chengyu used in most researches. According to A Contemporary English-Chinese Dictionary with Two Solutions, idiom in English has two meanings: a phrase which means something different from the meaning of the separate words; the way of expression typical of a person or a people in their use of language. The definition makes it clear that idioms have certain traits. First, the majority of Chinese idioms have a “four-character structure,” which reflects their succinct nature. It is not as rigid as the English idiom structure. Although they are very rare, non-four-character feature idioms do exist in Chinese. English idioms, of course, also have specific structures of their own. Second, they are fixed in both word order and structure. In other words, the sequence of each word in the phrase cannot be altered, nor can any of the words themselves be substituted. For example: in English lose one’s headfigurative meaning is to panic, act irrationally, or lose selfcontrol in a stressful or dangerous situation. In Chinese, such situations is described like 手足无措 - shǒuzúwúcuòliterary meaning is “someone didn’t know that where to put his hands and feet”, in its figurative meaning “to not know what to do in a difficult situation.” And there is another example in English: have an eye for/onfigurative meaning is to have a talent for noticing, appreciating, or judging something; to be good at recognizing quality, beauty, or detail. In this case Chinese use 别具只眼Bié jù zhī yǎn- “to possess a unique eye” in its literary meaning, but in figurative meaning to describe “a unique perspective or special insight of someone.” As for the Chinese body idioms of the head class, the structural mode is multiple. Since Chinese idioms are a “four-character” structure, in one idiom, the body words can be put in any place of the character. Therefore, according to the position of head class words in Chinese idioms, we divided them into nine different kinds. The structure features are shown in detail in picture 1. the placement of head class terms within a idiom body words in 1st place: 耳鬓厮磨 body words in 2nd place: 昂首阔步 body words in 3rd place: 出人头地 body words in 4th place: 不足挂齿 body words in 1st and 2nd place: 耳目一新 body words in 1st and 3rd place: 唇枪舌剑 body words in 1st and 4th place: 目不转睛 body words in 2nd and 4th place: 瞠目结舌 body words in 3rd and 4th place: 掩人耳目 International independent scientific journal №80/2025 34 Picture1. The placement of head class terms within idioms In contrast to Chinese body idioms, English body idioms do not exhibit a consistent structural format. Nonetheless, an exploration reveals certain structural characteristics that are prevalent. The predominant structural patterns predominantly consist of verb constructions, including “verb+noun,” “verb+noun+pronoun,” and “verb+noun+prepositional phrase.” For instance, examples such as keep one’s head, lose one’s head,” and save one’s face illustrate this pattern. Additional examples include bite one’s tongue, let one’s hair down, get one’s head above water. It is clear that alternative verb structures also exist, such as “verb+pronoun+noun” manifestations like blow up in one’s face, go over one’s head. Furthermore, noun structures are evident in phrases such as an eagle eye and face value; pronoun structures appear in constructions like in the public eye, in over one’s head, and by the skin of one’s teeth. Additional structures formatted as “as...as...” are present in expressions like as poor as a church mouse, as plain as the nose on one’s face, and as rare as hen’s teeth. Moreover, it is noteworthy that certain head class words function as verbs in English; for example, expressions such as nose someone out, head for, head over heels in debt, and face to face illustrate this usage. Conversely, in the context of Chinese head class idioms, the head words cannot be employed as verbs during the examination process [2]. Drawing on Lakoff and Johnson’s Metaphors We Live By (1980)- Conceptual Metaphor Theory, we examined simile-based idioms in Chinese and English. The head is one of the most essential human body parts, and idioms involving this concept are widely used. Humans often conceptualize body parts and internal organs as a primary source domain through which they structure and describe various target domains. Statistical analysis shows that idioms related to the头tóu, 首 - shǒu - head and眼-yǎn, 目mù，睛jīng， 瞳tóngeye constitute a particularly large group. Therefore, we focus on analyzing idioms associated with the concepts of head and eyes. Chart2 idioms with “head” and “eye” in Chinese and English language parts of head example in Chinese example in English 头tóu, 首shǒuhead 垂头丧气, 昂首阔步,当头棒喝, 出人 头地, 独占鳌头, 改头换面, 呆头呆脑, 虚头巴脑, lose one’s head, keep one’s head, lose one’s head, get one’s head above water, have a price on one’s head, go over one’s head, come to a head, head for, head over heels in debt, head over heels in love with someone 眼-yǎn, 目mù，睛jīng ， 瞳tóngeye 别具只眼, 掩人耳目, 耳濡目染, 见钱眼开, 一板一 眼”, 有板有眼, 引人注目, 目不转睛,举 世瞩目, 大开眼 界, 目见耳闻 have an eye for/on, get someone’s eye, cry one’s eyes out, an eagle eye, in the public eye, We use of the word “head” in idioms from both English and Chinese languages. It discusses how the concept of the head has developed metaphorical meanings over time due to its significance in human life and experiences. The head is the uppermost part of the human body and plays a crucial role in perception and cognition. As humans interacted with the world, they used their understanding of the body to create metaphorical meanings for “head” relating it to their observations of animals and daily experiences. The head is often associated with spatial relationships. It serves as a reference point for various positions and movements. For example: 山头 - shāntóumountain head and 树头 - shù tóutree head utilize “head” to indicate locations based on vertical or horizontal orientations. Chinese idioms such as 百尺竿头，更进一步 - Bǎi chǐ gān tóu, gèng jìnyībù – “atop a one-hundred-foot pole, go one step further” in its literary meaning, but in figurative meaning “make still further progress”, the idiom show the head's connection to progress and boundaries. In both cultures, “head” can also signify time, like in the expression 生死关头 - shēngsǐ guāntóu- “the critical moment between life and death” in its literary meaning, and in figurative indicate “a turning point where the outcome is extremely important” and describe important decision points. English idioms, like from head to foot/toe and terms like heads or tails, demonstrates similar metaphorical uses, showcasing the head's position or end of objects. We analyze the significance of “eyes” in Chinese and English idioms, emphasizing their metaphorical meanings in this paragraph. Eyes are described as windows to the heart, signifying their importance in human expression and perception. Eyes have various metaphoric associations. In Chinese, idioms like 大开眼界 - dà kāi yǎnjièit means “to greatly open one’s eyes” in literary, it its figurative meaning “to broaden one’s horizons; to gain new and impressive knowledge or experience; to be amazed by something new”. 见钱眼开 - jiàn qiányǎn kāi-“to have one’s eyes open wide at the sight of money”, in its figurative meaning “to be extremely greedy; to be money-oriented; to get excited only when money is involved.” These Chinese idioms reflect their broader mappings than in English, which features phrases like hit the bull’s eyefigurative meaning is to be exactly right or accurate; to do or say something with perfect precision. Both languages use idioms to indicate focus and attention, e.g., Chinese 引人注目 - yǐn rén zhùmù (attract attention) and English keep an International independent scientific journal №80/2025 35 eye on. Idioms in both languages suggest that eyes signify discernment, such as 独具慧眼dú jù huìyǎnunique insight in Chinese and an eagle eye in English. Eyes convey emotions and states. Examples include Chinese idioms like 眉开眼笑 - méikāiyǎnxiàosmiling face and English expressions like make eyes at someone [3]. In total, head-related idioms illustrates how language reflects human experience and perception, linking physical attributes to abstract concepts across cultures. Both English and Chinese leverage the metaphorical potential of the word “head” to convey various meanings related to space, time, and boundaries. And both Chinese and English share metaphorical connections of eyes to attention, insight, and emotion, Chinese idioms exhibit a broader range of meanings. This study mainly explores the English and Chinese body idioms with head class of the human being. According to the data collection, it can be found that body words involved in English and Chinese idioms are roughly the same, and the majority of certain body words are the same. For example, idioms about 头tóu, 首shǒuhead, 眼-yǎn, 目mù，睛jīng， 瞳tóngeye in Chinese and head and eye in English take up the majority in the head class. It shows that English and Chinese people have the same knowledge and experience to know themselves first and to realize the world by using the body words. Therefore, they have common knowledge and understanding to the target domain [4]. Firstly, in the aspect of the structure of idioms, it can be explored that almost all of the Chinese idioms are four-character structures; while English idioms are relatively casual in shape. Secondly judging from the part of speech, Chinese body idioms are mostly verbal phrases and then the adjective phrases. In addition, the majority of them are emotion metaphors for describing people’s states or emotions and expressing their thoughts and feelings. In English body idioms, the verb structure is most used. Furthermore, some body words can be used as verbs by themselves to construct idioms such as head for, head over heels in debt. This usage does not exist in Chinese body idioms. There are also some similarities and differences between the analyses of English and Chinese idioms on the process of mappings from the source domains to target domains. Due to various reasons, it mainly chooses certain human body words with the highest frequency as objects to conduct this study. Each body part or organ has its own position, function, and other special attributes. The characteristic is that the formation of English and Chinese body metaphors is both based on these attributes of human body parts or organs as the source domains mapping onto other target domains. Through exploring idioms’ meaning construct, it can be found that there are nearly identical target domains both in English and Chinese, which shows that not only English people but Chinese all have same perception process and experience of knowing world. The difference is mappings to the target domains sometimes render non-correspondence. Then it will construct different metaphorical meanings [5]. For example, 泉眼 in Chinese the mouth of spring in English. For the same target domain: spring. Chinese people are used to adopt characteristics of eye眼 , while English people use mouth. That is because English and Chinese people live in different cultural background and have different experience and thinking. Moreover, in the process of analyzing body idioms’ metaphorical meaning by conceptual integration theory, the activation of people’s common knowledge and cultural background is very important in the stage of completion. Only in this way, can the emergence structure come into being in the final stage. Therefore, when different people sometimes look at the same thing, they see it totally different. References: 1. Lakoff, G. and M. Johnson. Metaphors We Live By[M]. Chicago: The University of Chicago Press. 1980. 2. Liu Zhuo. The Metaphoricity of English BodyPart Idioms. // Journal of Shenzhen University (Humanities and Social Sciences Edition). 2007(6): 132135. 3. Heng Xiaojun. An Analysis of the Semantic Features of English and Chinese Idioms. Journal of //Anhui Normal University (Humanities and Social Sciences Edition). 2007.05, 35(3): 357-360. 4. Sun Yulan A Study on the Metaphors of the English and Chinese Body-Part Word ‘Eye’” // Journal of Liaocheng University (Social Sciences Edition), 2009(2). 5. Lili. A Comparative Study of Body-Part Idiom Metaphors in English and Chinese. Master’s Thesis. Tianjin University of Technology. 6. Xiandai Hanyu Cidian (The Second Edition) [M]. 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