What WATER tells: Understanding Views of Life through Water-Based Proverbs In Chinese and Indonesian Language

Water is one of the most common substances on earth and an important resource for all living organisms. Since water is more dominant than the land of Indonesia and Taiwan, it is not surprising that water in different realization is embodied in Indonesian and Taiwanese people’s minds. Thus, we aim at investigating how water is conceptualized by Indonesian and Taiwanese with opinions, values, and attitudes toward life in their cultures. Proverbs were collected from written and electronic sources. They were analyzed by using referential and inferential methods and applying embodiment, blending, and conceptual metaphor theories. The result indicates that Indonesian and Taiwanese use water to show their opinions, values, and attitudes toward life. Both societies have similar embodied experiences but different tendencies in choosing the features, functions, or behaviors of water for the same ideas.