Cognitive Analysis On The Semantic Structures Of Double-Function Terms

Double-function terms are adjectives that possess both physical and psychological meanings and belong to polysemy phenomenon. Although polysemy has been one important research focus in linguistic field, the researches on this group of polysemes are comparatively fewer both at home and abroad, so this research is of pioneering significance.This research initiates with a review of literatures concerned with prototype semantic theory, polysemous sense models, metaphor and metonymy, followed by the definition and classification of double-function terms. Three high-frequently used types of them are the subjects in this research, seven of which are elaborated on based on the synthesis of semantic description in three dictionaries and examination of their collocations in British National Corpus. Through detailed analysis on the semantic structures, the main directions of their semantic extensions, and the cognitive influence on their semantic extension, this research attempts to probe into what similarities there are in their semantic structures and their semantic extensions and what functions metaphor and metonymy have on their semantic extensions.Through detailed analysis on the semantic structures of them and the cognitive influence on their semantic extension, it is found that most semantic structures of double-function terms present combinational sense relation models, which is consistent with the research results of many other polysemes; most semantic networks of double-function terms also comply to the properties of prototype semantic categories: the multiple meanings of a double-function terms can be traced back to one same prototype meaning, namely, the physical meaning, and in the semantic structures, there are some typical meanings which have apparent connections with the physical one and atypical meanings which seem to have little connections with the physical meaning; there also exist some similarities in the semantic extension process: despite of their different physical meanings, many of them are extended to the behavior or action that arouses people of the feelings similar with the physical one, or the conditions when keeping that physical one. During the process of semantic extension from the prototypical meanings, namely the physical meanings, to its psychological meanings, metaphorical influence is more greatly found; and there exist some similarities in the metaphorical extensions, that is, we can find examples in most double-function terms the extensions from physical domains to emotion domain, character domain and inter-personal domain; when the psychological meanings become the sub-prototypes from which more psychological meanings are created, metonymical function is more obvious, and at this stage, the PART FOR WHOLE type of metonymy dominates the main position.This result may be helpful for English learners in that the meaning entries of a word are no more random as they appear, but mutually-related potentially. Recognizing this relationship, English learners can better understand and memorize the word meanings.