Abstract:

To elucidate the cognitive mechanisms behind the nomenclature of Chinese medicines and to promote the standardization of their translation, we conducted a classification and quantitative statistical analysis of the naming patterns for 131 medicines in Oversea Materia Medica. Our results revealed that 86 medicines were named by single characteristics such as medicinal parts, shapes, transliterations, folklores, efficacies, growing environment, growing characteristics, colors, and places of origin. The remaining 45 medicines were named by integrating two or more characteristics such as “transliteration + odor” “place of origin + odor” or “shape + odor”. Whether named based on singular characteristics or through the integration of multiple features, the naming of medicinal materials involves the employment of most prominent, easily recognizable, perceptible features to substitute the whole, reflecting the significant role of conceptual metonymy in the naming of medicinal materials. When a single characteristic is insufficient to define a medicinal material, people will unconsciously integrate multiple features for naming, showcasing the universality of conceptual integration in the naming of Chinese herbal medicines. Furthermore, people often rely on the similarity between familiar objects and medicinal materials in terms of shape or efficacy for naming, further illustrating the role of conceptual metaphor in the naming of Chinese herbal medicines. Medicinal parts, such as shapes, efficacies, odors, places of origin, etc., are closely related to the efficacy and identification of medicine; therefore, they are highlighted and used for naming purposes. Since the Oversea Materia Medica is mainly a collection of overseas medicines, the direct transliteration is the most effortless in naming, which makes the proportion of transliteration naming method higher as well.

Key words: nomenclature of Chinese medicine, conceptual metonymy, conceptual integration, conceptual metaphor, Oversea Materia Medica