Cognitive Styles Underlying the Contradiction of Temporal Direction Between Chinese Qián/Hòu and Their English Counterparts Forward/Back

Abstract

Drawing on a ground-preference cognitive style on the basis of object-centered value orientation, Chinese prefers to take the structure of temporal sequence as a frame of reference to conceptualize qián (preceding) and hòu (following) in the horizontally temporal relationship. By contrast, in light of a figure-preference cognitive style on the basis of ego-centered value orientation, English tends to conceptualize forward/back in a journey-metaphor frame of reference. In the case of English, a traveler’s face toward the destination in future is regarded as forward, unless the traveler/observer’s direction is eclipsed by the temporal sequence signified in context. The difference between the two cognitive styles leads to a directional discrepancy between qián (preceding)/hòu (following) and their English counterparts forward/back. This rationale clarifies the controversy over whether Chinese takes the past as its normal temporal direction. Further understanding of this issue can help reduce machine mistranslation regarding temporal direction.

I’d like to extend my sincere gratitude to reviewers’ comments on this paper. This research is funded by University of Macau with the file number: SRG2019-00149-FAH.