英语字母及字母组合意义相关性的认知研究

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硕士学位论文

ABSTRACT

As is known to all, alphabet, monogram and lexicon are the foundation of

English, and current English system forms on this basis. It is not exaggerated to say

that without them, there is no English. When one symbol is coined, it is usually

monosemantic. However, language is changing through time, so the meaning of

language is changing too. During this process, one symbol gains more than one

meaning in order to make our language convenient and easy to be remembered. This

phenomenon is called polysemous phenomenon, which is in conformity with the

principle of least effort and the principle of effect. Polysemous phenomenon is the

result of language change, so although this is a synchronic phenomenon, it is a

diachronic process.

The focus of semantics is the study of meaning, thus polysemous phenomenon

certainly belongs to the field of semantics. However, some well-known semantic

theories’ explanation about polysemous phenomenon, such as semantic componential

analysis and semantic field theory, is not satisfying. Some cognitive linguists have

studied the issue of polysemy, but few have done researches on the meanings of

alphabets and monograms from the perspective of cognition. In fact, cognitive

linguistics provides us with a new angle to explain polysemous phenomenon, which is

more convincing, acceptable and effective.

Theoretically, the author gives a brief definition of monogram and defines what a

lexical symbol means to in this thesis, and introduces some important theories in

cognitive linguistics which will be adopted, respectively metaphor, metonymy and

prototypical category based on family resemblance. This thesis is going to discuss

polysemous phenomena of alphabets and monograms and tries to explore the reasons

behind it from a cognitive linguistic perspective. How different meanings of one

lexical symbol appear? Do they appear together or one by one? What is the

relationship among them? This thesis has the following aims: first, investigate how

different meanings come into being. Second, observe how cognitive linguistics exerts

its effect on this process.

The researches show that every symbol has the core meaning and other meanings.

They are not arbitrary, but related to a certain extent. There are two fundamental

硕士学位论文

processes leading the development of meanings from monosemous to polysemous:

radiation and concatenation. Multiple meanings of one symbol consist of meaning

chains, which belong to one category. The core meaning is the prototypical meaning,

which can be be maximized, minimized, ameliorated, or pejorated, and other

meanings are called the peripheral meanings. The prototype is the source of the

peripheral meanings. Metaphor and metonymy, which are no longer just two kinds of

rhetoric, but are two fundamental cognitive devices, one is based on the association,

comparison and similarity, and the other is based on contiguity. Sometimes, it is

difficult to distinguish which device is used in meaning extension, because it may be

the result of their mutual effect. With the help of metaphor and metonymy mainly, the

derived meanings ascend to the core meanings during next process of meaning

development. The direct source to establish prototypical categorization is family

resemblance. Through this thesis, the author tries to make a conclusion that

polysemous phenomenon is the mutual result of diachrony and human being’s

cognitive ability. The possible relations among the senses of a polysemous symbol,

such as alphabet or monogram, are established through the cognitive tools, such as

metaphor and metonymy.

Although there is still a long way to go in meaning research, based on authentic

evidence and some cognitive theories, this study is reliable and worthwhile. This

thesis fills in a gap of research in the field of theoretic study on multiple meanings of

alphabets and monograms, and extends the content of semantic construction from

polysemy to alphabet and monogram. The research also uncovers a fact that language

is much more non-arbitrary than people generally think. The study of alphabets and

monograms’ meanings can predict the general developmental direction of meaning,

provide us a little clue to the study of polysemy, let us see one aspect of human’s

thinking development process. In practice, this study will help language learners to

understand the interrelationship among multiple meanings of a lexical symbol, then

they can more deeply understand the lexical symbol. Consequently, one the one hand,

learners can better understand the evolution and development of the English language.

On the other hand, with the help of cognition, they learn some lexical skills, thus their

competence of remembering symbols and vocabulary is improved. This thesis can

also enlighten teachers in the future teaching or researching work.

Key Words: polysemous phenomenon; alphabet; monogram; metaphor; metonymy;

硕士学位论文

III

categorization

摘要

众所周知，字母、字母组合和词汇是英语的根基，在此基础上，形成了当今

的英语系统。毫不夸张地说，没有它们，就没有英语。当一个符号生成时，它常

常是单义的。然而，语言随着时间的流逝而变化，语言的意义也随之变化。为了

使语言更加方便和易记，一个符号获得了更多意义，这种现象称为多义现象，这

与最省力原则和效果原则相符。一词多义现象是语言变化的结果，所以虽然这是

一种共时现象，却是一个历时过程。

语义学研究的重点就是意义，因此一词多义现象属于语义学研究领域，但是

一些著名的语义学理论，例如语义成分分析理论和语义场论，对这一现象所做出

的解释并不令人满意。有部分认知语言学家研究了多义性的问题，但很少有人从

认知的角度研究字母和字母组合的多义性现象。事实上，认知语言学的发展为字

母和字母组合的多义性的研究提供了更为合理和可信的解释。

作者给字母组合下了定义，规定了文中词法符号的所指，并且介绍了一些文

中会使用到的认知语言学理论，分别是隐喻、转喻及基于家族相似性的原型范畴。

文章要讨论的是字母和字母组合的多义现象，并试图从认知语言学角度探讨其背

后的原因。一个符号的不同含义是如何出现的？他们是一起出现还是出现的时间

有先后？它们之间的关系是什么？此文有以下目标：第一，研究不同的含义如何

应运而生，即基本意义是怎样拓展成其他意义的。第二，观察认知语言学如何在

这个过程中施加影响。

研究表明：每个词法符号都有核心意义和其他意义。它们之间的关系不是任

意的，而在一定程度上相联系的。有两个过程导致了符号的意义由单义向多义发

展，即辐射和连锁。这些意义构成了一个由语义链条连接的范畴。其中，核心意

义是该范畴的类典型，它可以扩大、缩小、变褒或者变贬，而其他意义被称为边

缘意义。类典型是边缘意义的来源。隐喻和转喻，不再仅仅是修辞方法，而是两

种重要的认知机制，前者建立在关联性、比较性和相似性的基础上，而后者建立

在邻近性的基础上。有时很难区分在意义派生过程中，哪种机制起了作用，有可

能是两种机制共同作用的结果。在隐喻、转喻等认知机制作用下，原本的派生意

义在下一个意义演化过程中也可能成为下一个阶段的核心意义。此外，在语义构

建中家族相似性起了不可忽视的作用。本文作者试图得到这样的结论：一词多义

现象是历时和人类认知能力共同作用的结果。多义符号的意义扩展，例如字母或

硕士学位论文

字母组合，是通过隐喻和转喻来实现的。

虽然语义研究还可以更深入，本文的研究把真实的材料和理论结合起来，是

有一定价值的和可信度的。本研究填补了字母和字母组合多义性理论研究领域的

空白，把语义建构内容从一词多义扩展到了字母和字母组合。在语言的任意性和

理据性问题上，此研究也揭示了语言比人们通常认为的要更非任意性这一事实。

字母和字母组合的意义相关性研究可以为预知一个符号的下一个意义提供了大

致思索方向，为一词多义研究提供了一点线索，让我们看到人类思维发展过程的

一方面。在实践中，本文的研究结果还可以帮助语言学习者明白一个词法符号的

多个含义的内在关系，加深他们对词法符号的了解。因此，一方面学习者更好地

了解了英语语言的形成和演变过程，另一方面，有了认知力的帮助，学习者掌握

了一定的词汇技巧，因而他们记忆符号和单词的能力大大提高。同时，本文的研

究可以启发教师未来的教学和研究工作。

关键词：一词多义现象；字母；字母组合；隐喻；转喻；范畴化

硕士学位论文

Contents

Introduction......................................................................................................................1

Chapter 1 Literature Review..........................................................................................5

1.1 Previous Studies about Polysemous Phenomenon...............................................5

1.2 Previous Studies about Alphabets and Monograms.............................................6

Chapter 2 Theoretical Foundation...............................................................................11

2.1 The Relation between Form and Meaning......................................................... 11

2.2 The Relation between Multiple Meanings of One Symbol................................12

2.3 Cognitive Semantics...........................................................................................16

Chapter 3 Meaning to Meaning Extension..................................................................21

3.1 Polysemous Phenomena of Alphabets and Monograms.................................... 21

3.2 The Stages of Meaning Evolution......................................................................24

3.3 Meaning Chain and Radial Networks................................................................25

Chapter 4 A Cognitive Understanding of Alphabets and Monograms..................... 31

4.1 Polysemization and Prototypical Categorization............................................... 31

4.2 Metaphor and Metonymy: Two Processes of Polysemization........................... 33

4.3 Cognitive Model in Alphabets' and Monograms' Original Meanings................38

Conclusion......................................................................................................................41

Bibliography...................................................................................................................43

硕士学位论文

Introduction

1. Subject of the Research

Modern linguistics holds that morphemes are the smallest semantic units. But some

scholars both home and abroad think that letters, as the basic elements of words, have

their meanings, at least at their initial stage. For example, Phoenicians used letters to do

business. This fact is generally accepted and used to support the argument that letters

have their meanings. Not only letters, the combinations of letters also have their

meanings. Most scholars do agree that letters have their original meanings, but some

hold that letters have already lost their original meanings. Believing that letters and the

combinations of letters still keep their original meanings, this thesis tries to study the

polysemous features of letters and monograms by cognitive means of metaphor and

metonymy. Then, what is monogram? The traditional definition of monogram is the

writing emblem or code sign consisting of two or more letters, usually stands for a name

or part of a subject. In this thesis, it mainly refers to two letters combined to express a

definite meaning or several meanings. It is a little different from diagraph, which also

consists of two letters, but usually have a single sound such as: “ea” in “meat” and “th”

in “path”. The term “monogram” we use in this thesis mainly refers to the two letters

that stand at the first and second position in a word, or initiate a word. It may have one

sound or two sounds. It has its own semantic meanings. Generally, the meanings it

carries have close connection with the original meanings of the single letters from its

component, more often, the combination of the separate letter meanings. For example,

in the monogram “sn”, “s” stand for “tooth” in Hebrew language, “n” is the imitation of

nasal sound, so the combination of these two letters dominates several dozens of words

dealing with the actions and functions of our noses. Another example is the monogram

“br”, in which “b” stands for “two”, and “r” stands for “head”. When put together, the

combined meaning is “two heads”, this gives hints and enlightment to such words as

“brace, branch, bracelet, brachiate, branks, brass, brawn, braza, breast, brogan, brogue,

brood, brig, break, brick etc.. ”All of them have some connections with “two heads”. It

should be pointed out that some of these monograms are well accepted as mature

prefixes, having definite and fixed meanings, and others are still on their ways of

evolution, waiting to be accepted. This statement of ours can be tested and proved with

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摘要：

硕士学位论文IABSTRACTAsisknowntoall,alphabet,monogramandlexiconarethefoundationofEnglish,andcurrentEnglishsystemformsonthisbasis.Itisnotexaggeratedtosaythatwithoutthem,thereisnoEnglish.Whenonesymboliscoined,itisusuallymonosemantic.However,languageischangingthroughtime,sothemeaningoflanguageischangingtoo.D...

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