VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF POST-GRADUATE STUDIES --------------------- TRẦN THANH PHƢƠNG THE SEMANTICS OF COLOR EXPRESSIONS IN JOHN MILTON’S POEM PARADISE LOST: A CONCEPTUAL- METAPHOR-BASED STUDY (Ý NGHĨA CỦA NHỮNG CỤM TỪ CHỈ MÀU SẮC TRONG BÀI THƠ “THIÊN ĐƯỜNG ĐÃ MẤT” CỦA JOHN MILTON: NGHIÊN CỨU ẨN DỤ Ý NIỆM) M. MINOR PROGRAMME THESIS Field: English linguistics Code: 60220201 HANOI - 2017 LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF POST-GRADUATE STUDIES --------------------- TRẦN THANH PHƢƠNG THE SEMANTICS OF COLOR EXPRESSIONS IN JOHN MILTON’S POEM PARADISE LOST: A CONCEPTUAL- METAPHOR-BASED STUDY (Ý NGHĨA CỦA NHỮNG CỤM TỪ CHỈ MÀU SẮC TRONG BÀI THƠ “THIÊN ĐƯỜNG ĐÃ MẤT” CỦA JOHN MILTON: NGHIÊN CỨU ẨN DỤ Ý NIỆM) M. MINOR PROGRAMME THESIS Field: Linguistics Code: 60220201 Supervisor: Prof. Nguyễn Hòa HANOI - 2017 LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com DECLARATION I hereby, certify the thesis entitled ―The semantics of color expressions in John Milton’s poem Paradise Lost: a conceptual- metaphor- based study ‖ is the result of my own research for the Degree of Master of Arts at the University of Languages and International Studies, Vietnam National University, Hanoi.
The thesis has not been submitted for any degree at any other universities or institutions. I agree that the origin of my paper deposited in the library can be accessible for the purposes of study and research. Hanoi, 2017 Trần Thanh Phƣơng i LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com ABSTRACT Every language has a set of basic color terms. However, these color terms do not divide the meanings of colors in the same place.
In other words, color expressions following Conceptual Metaphor Theory may have various meanings in different languages, and usually contains cultural and even theological background. This paper aims to study the semantics of color expressions in John Milton‘s poem Paradise Lost. The range of color terms is not very extensive as the study pays attention to only five colors red, blue, white, green and black. These five colors develop a particular range of symbolic meanings with religious connotations.
However, the analysis of color terms requires considerable knowledge of various scientific subjects, hence, the study adopts an interdisciplinary approach as evidence on the meaning of color terms is obtained from literature, theology as well as cognitive science. Specially, this article also represents the process of classifying, analyzing, mapping and conceptualizing the color expressions. The findings of the study reveal that color vocabulary is structured into two concepts, namely of light and darkness. At the same time, through analyzing these expressions, a short comparison between color expressions in English and in Vietnamese is described so as to make the research useful for learners.
ii LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com ACKNOWLEDGEMENT I would like to express my profound gratitude to my supervisor, Prof. Nguyễn Hòa whose encouragement, guidance and support enabled me to develop an understanding of the subject and to accomplish the final version of the thesis as expected. Especially, I owe my deepest gratitude to my family, friends, and colleagues whose encouragement helped me finish this work. Last but not least, I offer my regards to all of those who supported me in any respect during the completion of the study.
iii LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com TABLE OF CONTENTS Declaration .iii Table of contents.iv PART A: INTRODUCTION…………………………………………………………. Scope of the study………………………………………………………………. Aims of the study. Organization of the study………………………………………………….4 PART B: DEVELOPMENT Chapter I: Literature review ……………………………………………………….5 Chapter II: Theoretical background …………………………………………….
Conceptual Metaphor Theory and Conceptual metaphor ………………. Types of conceptual metaphor …………………………………………. Basic color terms and classification of colors …………………………….17 Chapter III: Methodology ……………………………. Methods of the study …………………………………………………….
Data collection instruments ………………………………………………….18 Chapter IV: Results and Findings ………………………………………………….The concept of color terms in John Milton’s poem Paradise Lost …………. The concept of black in John Milton’s poem Paradise Lost …….1 BLACK IS HELL …………………………………………. BLACK IS DARKNESS …………………………………. BLACK IS DEATH ……………………………….
The concept of white in John Milton’s Paradise Lost:………………….…29 WHITE IS LIGHT …………………………………………. 29 iv LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail. The concept of blue in John Milton’s poem Paradise Lost: ….30 BLUE IS HEAVEN ………………………………………………………. The concept of green in John Milton’s poem Paradise Lost….
GREEN IS HOPE …………………………………. GREEN IS LIFE ……………………………. The concept of red in John Milton’s poem Paradise Lost …………. RED IS BLOOD …………….
RED IS LOVE ………………………. The concept of light and darkness in John Milton’s poem……….34 Paradise Lost PART C: Conclusion and suggestions for analyzing the meanings of color terms…. Implications of the study…………………………………………………………. Limitations of the study ………………………………………………………….
Suggestions for further studies. I v LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com PART A: INTRODUCTION 1. Rationale Color terms seem to be an extraordinarily interesting field of study not only for anthropologists, physiologists and psychologists, but also for linguists, who made a significant contribution to the study of color terms such as Brent Berlin and Paul Kay (Basic Color Terms: Their Universality and Evolution, 1969) and Doris L. The current study is an attempt to investigate the semantics of color expressions in John Milton‘s poem Paradise Lost from a conceptual metaphor perspective.
The main justification for the study is that much attention has been paid to color terms with deep interest since prehistoric times from early cave paintings to literature. Earlier studies show that, colors were used for treating common and rare diseases by the ancient Egyptians since they believed that colors had totally magical and completely healing power. For instance, the Aztecs used red dyes red dyes in religious ceremonies (Tull, 2013: 336). As far as colors in literature are concerned, they convey deeper meanings to the words which, in turn, help to transform the written content into a more powerful instrument.
Therefore, colors are considered as a deep origin of symbolism as connotative meanings are evoked. For example, color terms appeared in Roman and Greek poems for the symbolic purposes. As in the Iliad and the Odyssey, it could be possible to come across an apparent reference to blue hair and green honey. Smoley (2009: 151) mentioned: ―The poet probably meant to speak of what we would express as yellow honey‖.
The second reason for the study concerned with its topic is that Paradise Lost published by John Milton in 1667 seems to be a long great poem in English language. Moreover, it was recognized as are markable achievement shortly after it appeared, and has provoked a great deal of critical debate in the hundred years that people have been reading and thinking about it. The final reason for the study is that cognitive semantics offers a system of image schemas (Johnson, 1987) which are used to structure the physical experience, and a number of metaphor which help to map the structure of a concrete source domain onto 1 LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com an abstract target domain. These tools are useful in investigating the semantic meanings of color terms in the poem Paradise Lost.
Broadly speaking, there is a vast body of research conducted on color terms in distinct languages, even colors in literature from different cultures. However, as regards the color lexicon based on conceptual metaphor in Milton‘s poem Paradise Lost, it has not been studied so thoroughly yet, therefore, this study is hoped to contribute something to the research of the semantics of color expressions from a conceptual metaphor perspective in John Milton‘s poem Paradise Lost. Scope of the study First, this study mainly focuses on the great poem - Paradise Lost of the famous author - John Milton. It is considered as an epic poem in blank verse by the 17th-century English poet, John Milton (1608–1674).
The first version, published in 1667, consisted of ten books with over ten thousand lines of verse. A second edition followed in 1674, arranged into twelve books (in the manner of Virgil's Aeneid) with minor revisions throughout and a note on the versification. It has been seen by critics to be Milton's major work, and helped solidify his reputation as one of the greatest English poets of his time. The poem concerns the Biblical story of the Fall of Man: the temptation of Adam and Eve by the fallen angel Satan and their expulsion from the Garden of Eden.
The story opens in Hell, where Satan and his followers are recovering from defeat in a war where they waged against God. Satan undertakes the mission alone and he journeys across chaos till he sees the new universe floating near the larger globe which is Heaven. When Satan comes into the Garden of Eden, he sees Adam and Eve and starts to be jealous of them. He overhears them speak of God's commandment that they should not eat the forbidden fruit and relates how the world was created so mankind could one day replace the fallen angels in Heaven.
After that Satan returns to earth and enters a serpent. When finding Eve alone, he induces her to eat the fruit of the forbidden tree. As a result, their innocence is lost and they become aware of their nakedness because Adam also eats the fruit. In shame and despair, they become hostile to each other.
The Son of God descends to earth to judge the sinners, mercifully 2 LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com delaying their sentence of death. Upon his return to hell, instead of a celebration of victory, Satan and his crew are turned into serpents as punishment. Adam is saddened by these visions, but ultimately revived by revelations of the future coming of the Savior of mankind. In sadness, mitigated with hope, Adam and Eve are sent away from the Garden of Paradise.
They come to the conclusion for the reason of choosing this poem in attempt to understand the semantics of color expressions in the poem is that Paradise Lost seems to be the best epic poem of John Milton through ten books. The poem concerns the Christian story of the fall of Satan and his brethren and the rise of Man: the temptation of Adam and Eve by Satan and their expulsion from the Garden of Eden. And, colors in Paradise Lost are deeply rooted into a religious scenario and they serve as a means to express the poet‘s religious convictions. Second, this study mainly concentrates on terms containing color words in John Milton‘s poem Paradise Lost according to the eleven basic color terms, which arein alphabetical order such as ―black, blue, brown, green, grey, orange, pink, purple, red, white and yellow‖.
It may come as no surprise that most of the data include the terms of spectral colors (red, blue and green) and achromatic colors (white and black). In this poem, black color takes precedence over red, blue and white colors. Red color is used five times, blue with one time, green with two times, white with three times, and black with fifteen times. Aims of the study On that account, an in-depth study is carried out to investigate the semantics of color expressions in John Milton‘s poem Paradise Lost from a conceptual metaphor perspective.
As a result, it is possible for Vietnamese learners to understand the meanings of color terms in the poem Paradise Lost and with reference to the use of color expressions in Vietnamese poetry. Research questions Particularly, the study is aimed at answering the following question: 3 LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com What is the semantics of color expressions in John Milton‘s poem Paradise Lost from a conceptual metaphor perspective? 5. Organization of the study The paper consists of three main parts and some appendices: Part A, Introduction, covers rationale, aims, scope, and organization of the study.