| Acknowledgements | 第4-7页 |
| Abstract | 第7-9页 |
| 摘要 | 第10-12页 |
| Chapter One Introduction | 第12-19页 |
| 1.1 Background of the thesis | 第12-14页 |
| 1.2 Significance of the thesis | 第14-16页 |
| 1.3 Objectives of the thesis | 第16-17页 |
| 1.4 Framework of the thesis | 第17-19页 |
| Chapter Two Literature Review | 第19-34页 |
| 2.1 Definition and classification of idioms | 第19-21页 |
| 2.2 Idioms researches at abroad: different approaches | 第21-30页 |
| 2.2.1 Formal approaches | 第21-24页 |
| 2.2.2 Functional approaches | 第24-28页 |
| 2.2.3 Psycholinguistic approaches | 第28-30页 |
| 2.3 Idioms researches at home: different perspectives | 第30-33页 |
| 2.3.1 From the linguistic perspectives | 第30-31页 |
| 2.3.2 From the cultural perspectives | 第31-33页 |
| 2.3.3 From the contrastive perspectives | 第33页 |
| 2.4 Comments on the previous researches | 第33-34页 |
| Chapter Three Theoretical Framework | 第34-46页 |
| 3.1 Nature of conceptual metaphor | 第34-36页 |
| 3.2 Definition and classification of conceptual metaphor | 第36-41页 |
| 3.2.1 Structural metaphor | 第37-38页 |
| 3.2.2 Orientational metaphor | 第38-40页 |
| 3.2.3 Ontological metaphor | 第40-41页 |
| 3.3 Metaphorical systematicity | 第41-43页 |
| 3.4 Working mechanism of conceptual metaphor | 第43-44页 |
| 3.5 Metaphorical highlighting and hiding | 第44-46页 |
| Chapter Four Metaphorical Meanings of Chinese and English Horse-related idioms | 第46-74页 |
| 4.1 The conceptual metaphors: horse-related idioms in Chinese | 第47-64页 |
| 4.1.1 PEOPLE ARE HORSES | 第47-57页 |
| 4.1.2 THINGS ARE HORSES | 第57-59页 |
| 4.1.3 STATES ARE HORSES | 第59-61页 |
| 4.1.4 SYMBOLS ARE HORSES | 第61-64页 |
| 4.2 The conceptual metaphors: horse-related idioms in English | 第64-73页 |
| 4.2.1 PEOPLE ARE HORSES | 第66-68页 |
| 4.2.2 THINGS ARE HORSES | 第68-71页 |
| 4.2.3 EMOTIONS ARE HORSES | 第71-72页 |
| 4.2.4 STATES ARE HORSES | 第72-73页 |
| 4.3 Summary | 第73-74页 |
| Chapter Five Contrastive Analysis of Conceptual Metaphors: Horse-Related Idiomsin Chinese and English | 第74-102页 |
| 5.1 Similarities of the Chinese and English horse-related idioms | 第75-83页 |
| 5.1.1 Identical target domain & source domain | 第78-79页 |
| 5.1.2 Causes of the similarities | 第79-83页 |
| 5.2 Differences of the Chinese and English horse-related idioms | 第83-101页 |
| 5.2.1 Different source domain & identical target domain | 第84-85页 |
| 5.2.2 Identical source domain & different target domain | 第85-87页 |
| 5.2.3 Unique horse-related idioms in Chinese and English | 第87-93页 |
| 5.2.4 Causes of the phenomenon | 第93-101页 |
| 5.3 Summary | 第101-102页 |
| Chapter Six Conclusion | 第102-105页 |
| 6.1 Findings and implications | 第102-103页 |
| 6.2 Limitations and suggestions | 第103-105页 |
| References | 第105-109页 |
