Space Vocabulary Cognitive Semantic Analysis

Space is one of the most basic cognitive categories, because all objects in the world take their forms in space and no objects exist out of space. Space has become the most intuitive criterion to decide the existence of an object. This basic status of space justifies the amount of attention philosophers have paid to this category throughout human history. In related philosophical researches, space is generally connected to time. However, space and time don't possess the same level of basicness. Instead of time, space is the more basic one, because it is from this point that human cognition initiates.Our understanding of the lexical system of space is closely related to our philosophical knowledge of space. According to the modern philosophical view of time and space, space is a systematic concept, comprising internal space and external space. Such conception of space is reflected in human languages. Both Chinese and Russian have an inventory of words to discriminate internal space from external space. In languages, the lexical system of space can be divided into two categories: one for internal space and the other for external space.Based on an analysis of the semantics of Chinese and Russian space words, we found that in terms of the underlying mechanisms governing the semantic derivation process of space words, Chinese and Russian show some common features. This suggests that such mechanisms are not language specific, but reflect to some extent the universality of human cognition. In addition, in terms of some specific expressions, Chinese and Russian are different, which is caused by differences in ethnic cultures and peoples'understanding of the world.The thesis has seven parts, namely, Introduction, Chapters 1-4, Conclusion and Bibliography. In the introductory part, we discussed the feasibility of a systematic analysis of the cognitive meanings of space words in Chinese and Russian. Other topics covered under this title include the theoretical framework, the creative aspects, the theoretical and empirical significance, the resources, as well as the structure of the thesis.In Chapter One, we focused on a review a number of studies on space in different fields, primarily in linguistics (including both Chinese and Russian linguistics).In Chapter Two, we first elaborated on the philosophical basis for an analysis of the cognitive meanings of space words. Then, by drawing insights from the classification of space into internal space and external space in modern philosophy, we managed to structure a semantic system for space words (i.e., the internal space category and the external space category).In Chapter Three, we discussed the semantic system of internal space in languages. As a subsystem of the overall semantic system of space words, this system corresponds to the internal space in philosophy.In Chapter Four, the semantic system of external space (or the semantic system of spatial relations) in languages is explored in detail. As another subsystem of the overall semantic system of space words, this system is the linguistic equivalent of the philosophical external space.Lastly, we closed the thesis with a summary of the ideas discussed and a few important conclusions drawn from our discussion.