To the people, food is foremost: Cultural conceptualizations of Cantonese food-related idioms

Food and eating are culturally significant to the Cantonese people, resulting in abundant food-related idioms in the Cantonese language. This Cultural Linguistics project investigates the cultural conceptualizations underlying Cantonese rice-related and eating-related idioms, so as to understand how the Cantonese perceive the world and how their cultural cognition motivates and guides their behavior. It also explores the underpinning ideologies that shape and reshape the cultural conceptualizations, and the impact of the (re)shaping process on the vitality of Cantonese food-related idioms. This project contributes to the study of language and culture, and has implications for World Englishes research and translanguaging practice.