A Study On Metonymy In300Song Lyrics From The Perspective Of Cognitive Linguistics

Song lyrics are not only the essence of splendid literary heritage in China, but also the treasure of world literature. The poets present people with beautiful and vivid pictures by means of Song lyrics so that successors can learn about and appreciate the unique beauty of classical Chinese language. Nowadays, Song lyrics have received much attention from the literary level, including the content, imagery, writing style or feeling. However, researches on Song lyrics from the perspective of cognitive metonymy are rare. Thus, this dissertation attempts to study metonymic phenomena contained in300Song Lyrics under current cognitive metonymy theory so as to reach a new understanding of Song lyrics as well as explore the prospect of applying cognitive metonymy theory to the study of other classical Chinese poetry. According to the cognitive linguistics, metonymy is not only a rhetorical device, but also a cognitive process in which one conceptual entity, the vehicle, provides mental access to another conceptual entity, the target, within the same Idealized Cognitive Model (ICM).This dissertation adopts quantitative and qualitative approaches, taking metonymic phenomena in300Song Lyrics as the object of study and making a detailed study of them from the perspective of cognitive linguistics. Based on the300Song Lyrics, this research makes an exhaustive analysis of the application and function of metonymies in these lyrics. Through the study, the dissertation concludes that metonymies are pervasive in Song lyrics, totally276metonymies in300Song Lyrics, and these metonymies can be classified into six fields: Thing-and-Part metonymy, Category-and-Property metonymy, Category-and-Member metonymy, Location metonymy, Event metonymy and Containment metonymy. Among these six kinds of metonymies, Thing-and-Part metonymy, Category-and-Property metonymy and Category-and-Member metonymy are frequently used in300Song Lyrics.The analysis shows:(i) Metonymies are pervasive in Song lyrics and people express their emotions by means of metonymy based on their bodily experiences, daily life and the unique cultural background in ancient society.(ii) By activating a salient part or easily perceived aspect to refer to the whole or vice verse, metonymy forms a concise and refined expression in poetic language which is easy to be understood.(iii) Metonymic mapping can activate and extend readers’ imagination in appreciating classical poetry. The metonymic phenomena are just the salient part of things but not all the information related, which requires the reader fill up other information room. That’s why excellent classical Chinese poetry leaves successors a space for forever imagination and tasting.In a word, this research makes readers recognize the pervasiveness of metonymy in Song lyrics and makes people recognize the importance of cognitive metonymy theory in understanding and analyzing classical Chinese poetry. This dissertation enriches the studies of the metonymies in the fields of cognitive linguistics to some extent, and at the same time provides another perspective to the study of classical Chinese poetry.