Decategorization Study Of Body Part Classifiers In Xiangxi Miao And Its Comparison With Mandarin Chinese

Language is the embodiment of a people's culture and world view.Miao minority language is seen as one of the most varied languages facing an uncertain future with the predominance of Mandarin Chinese and the death of old generations.Documentation of Xiangxi Miao dialect contributes to the protection of minority languages.Human beings are familiar with their body parts and tend to recognize things through their body parts.Gao Yanan(2017)also noted that classifiers(or CL)“are reflection of mind” and “the using of CLs mirrors the ways speakers viewing the world they live in”.To better protect Xiangxi Miao Minority language,it is a worthy program of focusing on body-part terms(or BPTs),including body part nouns(or BP Ns)and CLs.There are 52 BP Ns,19 BP CLs as well as more than 45 Ns representing BPTs in “Rad Xoub”(it is a kind of lection for shaman).The 52 BP Ns are grouped as 3 categories: head related BP Ns,body trunk related BP Ns,and internal organ related BP Ns based on body parts.There are overlapping over the BPTs.Words like ‘gheb,eye',‘goul,limb','beus,shoulder',‘qib,belly' are confirmed as CLs,but they are BP Ns as well.The thesis is developed on the basis of theories of metaphor and metonymy within the framework of categorization theory,including decategorization.Through the analysis of the semantic and function features of “bleid,head” and “gheb,eye”,“doul,hand” and “goul,limb”,“qib,belly”,and “xed,intestine”,the thesis aims at answering two research questions:1)What are the differences of BPTs in Xiangxi Miao and Mandarin Chinese? 2)How many BP CLs are decategorized from BP Ns in Xiangxi Miao? The thesis proposes the following connclusions:1)BP CLs in Xiangxi Miao are less complex in form than Mandarin Chinese;2)The overlapping of BP Ns and BP CLs is the result of decategorization;3)Decategorization process of BP CLs from BP Ns proceeds with the mechanism of metaphor and metonymy in the path of “the basic meaning for BPs in human beings—the basic meaning for BPs in animals—the related part of objects—the reflection on abstract things—decategorized as CLs”;4)Degree of decategorization is different for different BP Ns and BP Ns in different languages;5)Usages of body part terms are culturally influenced.This research can enrich the documentation of Miao so as to help the Miao speakers and scholars interested in Miao to understand the language more comprehensively.It can also provide the reference basis for further comparative studies of BPTs.