A Dynamic Categorization Approach To Lexical Meaning

The dynamic nature of category has always been the focus of scholars,and the semantic change is the most fundamental manifestation of the dynamic category in language.Loss or weakening of the meaning,generalization or being empty,lexicalization or grammaticalization are all related to the dynamic nature of semantic categories.The theory of categorization in cognitive linguistics makes the study of semantics systematical,but most of the research in its prototype theory,family resemblance theory and category hierarchy theory only study semantics from the static and synchronic perspective,and ignore the dynamic nature of the semantic categories,especially the diachronic evolution and immediate change of the lexical meaning.Scholars have noticed the dynamic nature of category,while few of them described the uniform definition of the dynamic categorization theory,let alone an intensive and systematic study on its causes,working mechanisms and types.Moreover,empirical research is necessary in the study of dynamic categorization.Therefore,on the basis of the previous research of scholars at home and abroad,we adopt the introspection method commonly used in cognitive linguistics to improve the dynamic categorization theory of language firstly.Then,from the perspective of dynamic categorization,and based on the qualitative analysis of corpus,we will have a systematic research on lexical meaning.This research attempts to find answers to the following questions:1.How does dynamic categorization perform at different semantic levels? What are the working mechanisms of dynamic categorization?2.What is the process of dynamic semantic categorization of individual category?(Taking 'Da' as an example)3.What is the process of dynamic semantic categorization of composite category?(Taking 'DanShi' as an example)In order to solve these problems,we classify and summarize the phenomenon of dynamic categorization in semantics;explain the intrinsic working mechanism and motivation of dynamic categorization;and attempt to describe the dynamic categorization phenomenon in terms of lexical meaning,sentence meaning,discourse meaning and pragmatic meaning,which are different semantic level of the language.At the same time,based on the improvement of dynamic categorization theory,we will focus on the study of lexical meaning.By the analysis of a large number of linguistic Data in the corpus,we summarize the general rules of the dynamic categorization of individual categories and composite categories.Furthermore,we also conduct an empirical research of the Chinese examples 'Da' and 'DanShi' to clarify the performance of individual semantic categories and composite semantic categories in different stage of their dynamic categorization.Our findings are as follows:First,dynamic categorization refers to the immediate change or diachronic evolution of semantic categories at the level of lexical meaning,sentence meaning,pragmatic meaning and discourse meaning under the influence of metaphor,metonymy,base/profile and other working mechanisms.At the word meaning level,dynamic categorization is about the dynamic categorization of lexical features and lexical relations.At the sentence meaning level,it is mainly about the dynamic categorization of grammatical terms and the structural relationships.At the level of discourse meaning,it is mainly about the dynamic categorization of the evaluation meaning and modality.At the pragmatic meaning level,it is mainly about the dynamic categorization of pragmatic types and the dynamic categorization of utterance meaning and illocutionary force.Metonymy,metonymy and base/profile are three working mechanisms of semantic dynamic categorization.These three mechanisms play different roles at the level of lexical meaning,sentence meaning,discourse meaning and pragmatic meaningSecondly,there exists objective and subjective motivation for the dynamic categorization of lexical meaning.The dynamic nature of categorical attributes and the gradience of category are the objective motivation of dynamic semantic categorization.The dynamic nature of category attributes provides the possibility for the dynamic development of categories,especially the diachronic evolution.The gradience of categories determines the gradual change of categories.That is,the dynamic development of categories is related to a slow transition.Thirdly,the dynamic categorization of lexical meaning is divided into two types: the dynamic categorization of the individual semantic category and the dynamic categorization of the composite semantic category.In the research of the dynamic categorization of individual semantic category,we find it mainly goes through:(1)the gradual change within category: the adjustment of family members within category(2)the interaction/spanning between adjacent or similar categories.(3)The de-categorization: transferring beyond the same cluster model.Based on a large amount of corpus-based analysis,we select the individual category 'Da' in Chinese as an empirical study to explicate the dynamic categorization of the lexical meaning: The initial period of 'Da' is an absolute verb,and its original meaning is 'strike sth.(an object)with(hand or utensil)',which becomes the most basic semantic item of 'Da' in the dictionary.The dynamic categorization of 'Da' begins with the Tang Dynasty,and this change is not accomplished by itself,but gradually realized in some composite category or constructions:(1)The meaning of 'Da' got a conservative gradual change in the structure 'Da + noun',and its semantic family members gradually enriched.(2)The interaction/spanning between the semantic categories of 'Da' and its adjacent / similar categories are mainly achieved in three kinds of constructions: the structure of 'Da + abstract noun',the structure of 'Da+ from + locative words',and the structure of 'Da + verb'.At this stage,the lexical meaning of 'Da'tends to generalization,and some semantic items tends to get the prepositional meanings.(3)De-categorization of 'Da': in the structure of 'Da + from + locative words',the semantic property of 'Da' de-categorize from a verb category to a preposition category;and in the structure of 'Da + verb';the semantic property of 'Da' de-categorize from a verb category to an affix category.So far,the lexical meaning of 'Da' has become completely empty.By the analysis of the dynamic categorization of 'Da',we also find that the dynamic categorization of the individual semantic category cannot be done independently,but accomplished in some constructions or structures.Moreover,the transfer and addition of constructive meaning often promote the dynamic semantic categorization of ingredientsFourthly,in the study of the dynamic semantic categorization of the composite categories,we find that the dynamic semantic categorization of the composite category experiences:(1)the gradual change within category: the composition of semantic categories;(2)the interaction/spanning between the adjacent / similar semantic categories: the partial confusion of semantic categories;(3)de-categorization: the complete confusion of semantic categories.Based on a large amount of corpus,we try to analyze the process of the dynamic categorization of composite semantic categories.In general,the composition of semantic categories is the first stage of the dynamic semantic categorization,which is also the conservative graduation within the category.The partial confusion of semantic categories is the second stage,which is also the interaction/spanning between the adjacent /similar categories,and metaphor,metonymy and grammaticalization play significant roles in this stage.The complete confusion of semantic categories is the third stage.This stage is mainly accomplished by subjectification,which is the complete de-categorization stage of the composite semantic categories and also the top level of semantic confusion.We choose the compound category 'DanShi' in Chinese as a case for empirical study of the dynamic categorization of composite categories.At the beginning of the word formation,it is a composite word of attributive structure.The development of 'DanShi' has undergone several stages: lexicalization(composition of semantic categories),grammaticalization(partial confusion of semantic categories)and subjectification(complete confusion of categories of semantic categories).We describe the dynamic categorization process as follows:(1)the gradual change of 'DanShi' within semantic category.At the lexicalization stage,'DanShi' is an adverb and means 'only/all,that is,a word of restriction.However,as the grammaticalization of the morpheme 'Shi",the semantic category of 'DanShi' begins to undergo a gradual change within category.(2)The meaning interaction/spanning between adjacent / similar categories: due to the co-occurrence of 'Xi','Dou' and 'Jie','DanShi' tends to grammaticalization.Reanalysis promotes a partial confusion of composite semantic categories 'Dan' and 'Shi',therefore,'DanShi' acquires a slight adversative meaning but still remains some adverb properties.This stage is a necessary transition to transfer the adverb 'DanShi' to the conjunction.'DanShi'.(3)De-categorization of 'DanShi': Because of subjectification,'DanShi'completely De-categorizes from the adverb category and accomplishes the semantic confusion of the component categories.At the same time,it realizes the de-categorization of the overall semantic category and transfer the adverb 'DanShi'(slight adversative meaning)to the conjunction 'DanShi'(absolute adversative meaning).From the dynamic semantic categorization of 'DanShi',we can discover that the process of dynamic categorization of the composite semantic categories also accompanies with the dynamic development of individual semantic categories(component categories).Taking the word 'DanShi' as an example,we try to deeply explore the relationship between lexicalization and grammaticalization by the approach of the dynamic categorization.We can describe their relationship as follows: lexicalization,grammaticalization and subjectification are the continuum in the process of dynamic categorization.Lexicalization is the preparatory stage of grammaticalization,that is,the first stage of the dynamic categorization(and it also involves the grammaticalization of the single morpheme);grammaticalization is the interim period,that is,the second stage of the dynamic categorization;and subjectification is the deepening of grammaticalization,therefore it is the third stage of dynamic categorization.