On Meaning Construction Of Puns Under The Perspective Of Conceptual Blending Theory

As one of the most common mind works of human, Conceptual Blending Theory has been widely used to interpret language phenomenon such as metaphor, metonymy, demonstrative pronoun, pragmatic presupposition etc. since officially put forward by Fauconnier in 1997. Restaurant name is a special kind of name. In order to attract consumers'attention to the restaurants, restaurant owners use novel and vivid restaurant names to stimulate consumers'strong will of walking into the restaurants. In the naming process of restaurants, the owners use a variety of rhetorical devices to enhance the language artistry of restaurant names and to improve the effect of expression. During the naming process of restaurants in Changsha, pun is widely used. Currently there are enormous study on restaurant name, but most of them just analyze it from a linguistic point of view, failing to further study its meaning construction process from cognitive perspective.This thesis, based on conceptual blending theory, classifies the types of meaning construction of pus in Changsha restaurant names further analyzes their ways of meaning construction from the perspective of cognitive. It includes six chapters. In the first chapter, an overview of the whole thesis is presented first. It demonstrates the background, the purpose and significance of the study, gives a literature review of conceptual blending theory and makes an introduction to the general structure of this thesis. Chapter Two mainly constructs a theoretical framework of conceptual blending theory. It introduces mental space theory and conceptual integration network, giving a detailed presentation of the four types of conceptual integration network. Chapter Three is an overview of pun. In this chapter, the dual meaning of pun and their current classifications are illustrated. Both Chapter Four and Chapter Five are principal parts of this whole thesis. In Chapter Four, according to the different level of extracted information from two input spaces during the process of concept integration, pun is divided into two types:equal-stressed pun and biased-positive pun. Chapter Five deals with the application of conceptual blending theory. Through choosing some specific instances, it analyzes the meaning construction ways of equal-stressed pun and biased-positive pun with the guidance of the four sub-frameworks of conceptual blending network. Chapter Six is the conclusion, containing the main findings, limitation of the thesis and some suggestions for further study.This study has certain significance in both theory and application. In theory, it has broadened the application scope and research field of conceptual blending theory, providing the cognitive study of pun with a feasible psychological way. In application, this paper has made a detailed description and interpretation of the meaning construction of pun in Changsha restaurant names under the guide of conceptual blending theory, which will help people better understand the forming process of pun' dual meaning from the perspective of cognitive and enable people to have an essential comprehension of pun in Changsha restaurant names. In addition, it will to some extent promote the application of pun.