Functions Of The Cognitive Context In English Idioms Semantic Processing

The understanding of language is inseparable from the context, and the existence of the context serves the language. With the development of the cognitive science, linguists point out that the understanding of language is a cognitive process. Thus, the context becomes an indispensable part of the cognitive processes in the way of the language understanding. We consider the notion of the cognitive context as the context manifesting in the cognitive process. Cognitive context is a psychological construct which differs from the traditional concepts of the context. Cognitive context is not the physical material factors that can be found everywhere, but exists in the human brain. In cognitive linguists’ opinion, our human’s brain deals with all the factors from the outside world and turns to the result by the process of internalization and cognition. The traditional context may turn to the cognitive context by the process of abstraction and internalization. Cognitive context has the static nature, dynamic nature, cultural nature and the characters of individuality and network distribution. Its semantic processing function has become one of the prevailing concerns in cognitive linguistics.When recognizing the existence, features and functions of the cognitive context, we can apply them to facilitate the acquisition of the English idioms study. As the colorful side of languages, idioms are one of the symbols used when people are communicating their thoughts and feelings. But to understand and make correct use of English idioms is not an easy task. The view that the meaning of the idioms are non-compositional is widely shared in the traditional studies on the idioms. Yet the cognitive linguists suggests that the semantic of the English idioms can be analyzed. On the basis of the cognitive perspective, the thesis states that in the study of English idioms, cognitive context plays an important role in the process of the human brain for obtaining the meaning of the sentences or a set of phrases. With the character of structural stability and semantic unity, English idioms are a special English language form and also the essence of the English vocabulary. This thesis tries to make the classification of English idioms on their rhetorical devices and intends to provide the readers a better and effective way for the English idioms semantic comprehension. On the basis of the association theory and the spreading activation theory, the thesis presents three kinds of processing modes when the cognitive context decoding the meaning of the English idioms. They are the semantic projection, semantic linking and semantic blending. They can be regarded as the reflection of the cognitive semantic integration mechanism. These three kinds of processing modes are the characteristics of the cognitive law when people in the face to the English idioms. This thesis is devoted to showing the functions of cognitive context in English idiom semantic decoding and intended to provide more effective processing strategies and a more clear way of thinking when English idiom learners process this kind of language form.