隐喻不仅仅是一种语言修辞现象,更重要的是一种认知现象。空间方位概念是人类赖以生存的最基本的概念,被广泛的应用于隐喻。垂直空间概念是最基本的空间方位范畴,汉语中“上/下”及其相对应的“up/down”有大量的隐喻用法。这些隐喻的产生是有理据性的。 Metaphor is not just a linguistic rhetoric, but more importantly, a cognitive phenomenon. The concept of space orientation is the most basic concept that mankind depends on and is widely used in metaphor. The concept of vertical space is the most basic category of spatial orientation. There is a great deal of metaphorical usage of “up / down” and its corresponding “up / down” in Chinese. The production of these metaphors is justified.