Metaphor and hyperbolic expressions of emotion in Mandarin Chinese conversation

Abstract

This paper investigates hyperbolic expressions of emotion in Mandarin Chinese conversations in Taiwan for two dimensions: how hyperbole is realized via a variety of syntactic devices based on metaphor, and how hyperbole takes affective stance to evidence speakers’ intersubjectification. It is shown that syntactic devices utilized to render hyperbole include polysyndeton, extreme case formulation, resultative verb construction, and four-word idiomatic construction. Highly understood in metaphorical senses, hyperbolic expressions of emotion have rich data revealing that hyperbole draws on metaphor as a bedrock mechanism. This paper argues that it is the analogical and imaginative capacities of metaphor that opens up possibility for speakers to talk about exaggerative interpretations of events, which further increase speakers’ intersubjectification to indicate their stance for interactive purposes.