四字成語在中文此一語言能力中佔極重要的 一部分. 在形成結構上, 它
呈現某些異於其它語言 成語的特性. 基本上, 一個四字成語本身的結構
為 一句子或片語, 但它很少單獨運用, 而多半形成一 個中文陳述句之一
部分. 有一些慣用的語型或特 殊結構常常運用在某些成語的形成方式
上, 例如 重疊字各式型態的對應, 以及數字的運用.此外, 根據一般四字
成語的一些文法結構上及語意上的 特性, 可以確立它身為複合字的特
質. 大部分的四 字成語呈現譬喻的語言特性 . 本論文根據成語中 不
同型式的譬喻轉換加以分析說明, 此外, 一些譬喻相關的語言技巧如意
象, 誇飾, 及擬人法亦有 所涉及. 充分的四字成語分析必須是在實際
的, 自 然的語言運用之中本文根據三個實際對話情 境, 就其中成語的運
用加以分析, 以了解成語的詮 釋, 理解,成語所達成的功用, 以及成語的
運用如 何反映出一個社會的規範及習性諸多問題. 作者 並根據以上所
有的分析得出結論, 即是四字成語的理解及習得必須是以一個字彙單位的
形式, 而這 些成語由於其特殊的語法及語意特性, 正可以反 映出中國人
的文化層面及生活方式.

Four-character proverbs, being an important part of the
linguistic competence of native Chinese speakers, are unique in
terms of their formal properties. A proverb manifests itself
either as a sentence or as a phrase while the proverb as a
whole serves merely as a component of a statement. A number of
proverbs have been observed to conform to certain formulaic
patterns or devices, including the reduplication of characters,
various forms of parallelism, and numeration. Besides, the
compound status of four-character proverbs has been verified by
the syntactic and semantic features a proverb manifests. The
metaphorical nature of four-character proverbs has been
examined and illustrated in terms of different types of
metaphorical transference that occur in such proverbs. Some
other related devices such as symbolism, hyperbole, and
personification have also been investigated with regard to
their application in proverbs. The analysis of four-character
proverbs has also been approached from a contextual
perspective, and has especially been investigated in the real-
life communicative context of three everyday conversations, in
terms of proverb interpretation, proverb comprehension, the
functions that proverbs may serve, and even how proverbs are
used to reflect or embody social norms or customs. In view of
the compound status of the four- character proverb as well as
its conventionalized and noncompositional meaning, we contend
that a four-character proverb should be accessed as a single
lexical item and, as a result, should be learned and memorized
as such. From the perspective of culture as a crucial factor
in language development, the Chinese four-character proverb,
owing to its peculiarities in some ways, serves well as a
mirror to reflect the Chinese way of perceiving the world and
their ways of life.
Four-character proverbs, being an important part of the