Shu-Fen Chen, Li-Chi Lee Chen What Animals Reveal about Grammar and Culture ◆ 121 ◆ Corresponding author: Li-Chi Lee Chen, E-mail: rikkitainan@gmail.com Manuscript received: 2011/05/30; Modiied: 2011/07/19, 2011/08/10; Accepted: 2011/09/14. What Animals Reveal about Grammar and Culture: A Study of Animal Metaphors in Mandarin Chinese and English Shu-Fen Chen Department of Chinese Literature National Tsing Hua University Associate Professor Li-Chi Lee Chen Department of English National University of Tainan Adjunct Instructor Abstract This study compares the use of animal metaphors between Mandarin- and English-speaking societies. We adopt the Great Chain Metaphor as the theoretical framework, and employ semantic molecules in the analysis. The indings of this study are as follows: First, animal terms in Mandarin and English can be used as denominal verbs. In English, these verbs can be used transitively ( fox the people) and intransitively (chicken out of a ight). By contrast, Mandarin has signiicantly fewer animal terms that can be used as denominal verbs, most of which are static verbs. Among them, many are collocated with human relations ( ji1po2 雞婆 “chicken-grandmother; to be a busybody”) or body parts (zhu1tou2 豬頭 “pig-head; to be stupid”). Animal metaphors relect cultural history, and different animal metaphors used in various cultures may possess the same connotations. For example, metaphors with niu2 牛 “cattle” in Mandarin correspond to those with “horse” in English (li4da4ru2niu2 力大如牛 “power-big-as-cattle; as strong as an ox” vs. “as strong as a horse”). Additionally, metaphors with hu3 虎 “tiger” in Mandarin are similar to metaphors with “lion” in English, most of which are presented positively (hu3jiang4 虎將 “tiger-general; a general as brave as a tiger” vs. “as regal as a lion”). People from different cultures may regard the same animals differently. Dogs, for example, are viewed differently by the two cultures. English speakers have a