A Study Of Space-time Interaction

Space-time interaction is a central issue in cognitive linguistics,according to which linguistic structures reflect general cognitive capacities and processing.Since the spatial metaphorization of time is treated as a general cognitive process,it should also be reflected in all languages worldwide.However,according to the latest evidence on this topic,there exist specific languages which do not show this conceptual metaphor.In addition,the mapping from spatial orientations to temporal relations demonstrates cross-language variation.In some languages,the past is in front of the ego,whereas in others,it is behind the ego.As for Chinese,there is no agreement on this topic.Evidence from different disciplines suggests that at the cognitive level,space and time relate to each other not asymmetrically,but symmetrically.In terms of interdisciplinary studies,the competition between asymmetrical and symmetrical hypotheses on space-time interaction has been widely discussed.Further converging evidence shows that the representation of space-time interaction in language deviates from that in cognition,and it is very plausible that the expression of time does not resort to space.These results suggest that it is necessary to make a thorough exploration of the conventionalization of space and time in language.This dissertation focuses on linguistic manifestations of space-time interaction in Chinese doubling constructions.Considering previous usages of space and time,the two are used in a broad sense as two domains in which space involves objects,relations among objects and motions of objects,and time involves events,temporal relations among events and the abstract notion of time.In principle,motion is shared by both space and time.In this regard,mainly exemplified by Chinese doubling constructions,we have divided space-time interactions into the following types,correlation,analogy,dependence,metonymy,metaphor and integration:"correlation" refers to the fact that space is correlated with time in terms of basic experiences;"dependence" refers to the phenomenon that an event conceptually presupposes the participation of one object;"analogy" points to common features shared by space and time;"metonymy" is a reference to the fact that temporal expressions can be used to get access to spatial content,or vice versa;"metaphor" calls attention to the manner in which time is conceived of or talked about or structured in terms of space,but not vice versa;"integration" refers to the phenomenon that two actual spatial-temporal input events are blended into one non-actual spatial-temporal event.The primary reason for this diversity of space-time interaction is that at different levels,space is interlaced with time,and time is not monolithic.In fact,space can merely be applied to the description of time abstracted from change or motion.In addition to this abstract notion of time,the spatial metaphorization of time still requires processing load.Hence,the spatialization of time is restricted to abstract time,but not to processing time.These findings on space-time interaction do not result from one method,but from diverse methods.This converging evidence appears to be a mainstream attitude towards cognitive linguistics grounded in the debate between the supporters of introspection and the proponents of quantitative methods.The stance represented in this dissertation is that diverse methods can play a complementary role in revealing different aspects of space-time interaction.The spatial metaphor of time has been proposed based on introspection,and then empirical methods have been used to test the degree to which this hypothesis is valid;the results challenge the validity of the asymmetrical spatial-temporal metaphor.In this dissertation,this spatial-temporal asymmetry in terms of metaphorization is explored in Chinese doubling constructions through the initial combination of introspection and analysis of corpus data.Specifically,the match or mismatch between introspection and corpus data is used to address the conventionalization of space-time interaction in Chinese doubling constructions.Through introspection,it becomes evident that space-time interaction is manifest in a symmetrical doubling construction(simplified as CACB)in which the frame slot C-C can structure the content slot A-B,or vice versa."Frame" here refers to a schematic structure that does not include a reference to the substantial conceptual entity and is instantiated by a pair of highly conventional and fixed co-occurrences."Content",by contrast,indicates a non-schematic concept that refers to a substantial conceptual unit and is instantiated by a pair of variable co-occurrences.When the frame slot is filled by a spatial co-occurrence and the content slot by a temporal co-occurrence,the whole structure shows time in terms of space frames,exemplified by bian zou bian chi 'side walk side eat',in which the spatial pair bian-bian structures a pair of simultaneous events zou-chi.When the frame slot is filled by a temporal co-occurrence and the content slot by a spatial co-occurrence,the whole structure shows space in terms of time frames,exemplified by shi gdo shi di 'moment high moment low',in which the temporal doubling shi-shi is used to structure the spatial configuration gao-di.The expression of time in terms of space frames suggests that the spatial metaphor involves unidirectional mapping between space and time.Another expression of space in terms of time frames nonetheless indicates that the structural mapping between space and time is bidirectional.The space-time interaction is also manifest in another type of Chinese doubling construction in which the frame co-occurrence slot is filled by a general category and the content slot by a spatial or temporal co-occurrence.This is exemplified by yi tui yi dang 'one push one parry' and yi zhud yi yi 'one table one chair'.In the former case,the numerical pair structures two temporal actions while in the latter case,the numerical pair structures two spatial objects.In this type of Chinese doubling construction,space and time are portrayed as analogical and correlative contents.To examine the interactions of space and time in Chinese,spatial doubling constructions are explored in detail here,their frames instantiated by spatial pairs such as C qian/shang/zuo-C hou/xia/you 'C front/up/left-C back/down/right',C ldi C qu'C come C go' and bian A bian B 'side A side B',temporal doubling constructions such as you A you B 'again A again B',shi A shi B 'moment A moment B',hu A hu B 'suddenly A suddenly B',and domain-general doubling constructions such as yI A yi B 'one A one B',huo A huo B 'or A or B',you A you B 'have A have B',mei A mei B 'never A never B',and bu A bu B 'not A not B'.The results show that the frame slots in these constructions are so conventional that the whole structure demonstrates an integration trend,based on which,analogy,correlation,metonymy and metaphor between space and time are expressed in a continuum.Furthermore,from these spatial doubling constructions emerge an interval effect,i.e.,the fewer the number of characters between the frame co-occurrence,the more instances of the spatial doubling constructions in the corpus.This interval effect in spatial doubling constructions is not fully congruent with temporal doubling constructions,despite both of them showing the highest frequencies in the shortest interval.This contrast in frequency suggests that in terms of conventionalization,the space-time interaction is asymmetrical.The following conclusions are reached.In Chinese doubling constructions,space and time are mutually structured,motivated by the space-time interactions mentioned,i.e.correlation,analogy,dependence,metonymy,metaphor and integration.Special features in terms of linguistic forms play a role in regulating how space and time are manifest in Chinese doubling constructions.Although the spatial metaphorization of time is to some degree valid in accounting for the manifestations of space-time interaction in some doubling constructions,it is not sufficient for those in other doubling constructions,including those cases in which spatial-temporal metaphors merely appear in content slots.This situation does not necessitate the rejection of the claim that the spatialization of time in cognition or language is absolute,but it does suggest that the manifestations of space-time interaction in linguistic structures are diverse.