The Memetic Transmission of Chinese yi-item Idioms

Simple as it is, the numeral yi (one), an indispensable constituent element in Chinese idioms, demonstrates many meanings. Taking memetics into consideration, this paper studies the transmission mechanism of Chinese idioms whose initial character are yi from linguistic memetic perspective. It is found that Chinese yi-item idioms can be classified into strong linguistic memes and weak linguistic memes. Furthermore, Chinese yi-item idioms have their transmission mechanism. Specifically speaking, their meanings can be divided into two groups, that is, one group with the same content being inherited in various forms and the other group with the same content being inherited directly, while their forms pertain to the mode of the identical set pattern being followed by different contents. The findings are expected to help people explore forms and meanings of Chinese yi-item idioms from different perspectives.