Metalinguistic Negation In Modern Chinese:A Cognitive Linguistic Approach

This dissertation is concerned with "metalinguistic negation"（MN）in Modern Chinese.Contrary to ordinary descriptive negation（DN）,MN is characterized as a marked,non-truth-functional use of negation.In recent years,several accounts have been proposed by researchers working within both Pragmatics and Cognitive Semantics to characterize the nature of MN,i.e.,whether it is a matter of semantic ambiguity or pragmatic ambiguity,and where the alleged ambiguity resides.Undoubtedly,these studies shed valuable insights into many respects of the phenomenon.However,restricted by theoretical frameworks and the intuitive approach,they fail to provide a sufficient explanation of the cognitive motivations and conceptual mechanisms underlying the meaning representations of MN.This study is intended to develop a new theoretical model（i.e.,the Intersubjective Construal Adjustment model;the ICA model）based on Verhagen’s model of intersubjectivity and Langacker’s model of construal,with an aim to present an alternative account of MN in Mandarin Chinese.It is argued that the "ambiguity"of negation in natural language does not purely reside at the semantic level,nor does it purely reside at the pragmatic level.Rather,it resides at the conceptual level.This can be termed as the "conceptual ambiguity" position.A distinction is made between"intrasubjective construal adjustment" and "intersubjective construal adjustment".We propose that MN expressions are the linguistic manifestations of the adjustment of alternate construals of the same state of affairs between different conceptualizers.Specifically,the speaker invites the addressee to consider-and-abandon a particular way of construal,and to update the common ground by suggesting another way of construing the same situation.As for the methodology,this study adopts a usage-based approach,focusing on the real use of MN in Mandarin Chinese.The corpus of BLCU Corpus Center（BCC）and the Internet are two major data resources.In terms of the representational effects it normally produces,a comprehensive classification of MN in Modern Chinese is proposed.Four major types of MN are identified,namely strengthening denials,identifying denials,positioning denials,and formal denials.An in-depth description is also provided for the variety of semantic patterns each of them subsumes.Based on the ICA model,we give a systematic analysis of the cognitive mechanisms underlying the meaning representation of each type of MN.It is argued that（1）strengthening denials are generated through intersubjective adjustment of alternate construals based on parameters of construal such as scale,specificity,scopes of attention,modal ground,and action chain schema;（2）identifying denials are derived from intersubjective construal adjustment concerning parameters of construal such as prototypicality,domains,"trajector/landmark" alignment,identity ground,and mental scanning;（3）positioning denials are manifestations of similar adjustment processes concerning parameters of construal such as viewing arrangement,profiling,deixis,individuation,and relationality,and frames;（4）formal denials involve intersubjective adjustment of different sanctioning relations arising from alternate ways of categorization.This study adds further evidence that cognitive linguistic theories can provide useful perspectives for the studies of some traditional research topics in pragmatics.Langacker’s model of construal and Verhagen’s model of intersubjectivity focus on different aspects of "cognition"（i.e.,intrasubjective and intersubjective）and different types of meaning representations（i.e.,constructional and non-constructional）.Therefore,they can be fruitfully integrated,yielding new explanatory power that founders of both models may have not anticipated.The ICA model proposed here not only incorporates the explanatory power of previous cognitive semantic accounts but also allows us to account for a wide variety of MN phenomena in Mandarin Chinese.At the methodological level,this study shows that the usage-based approach help to reveal the diversity of semantic patterns of MN in Modern Chinese systematically,and overcome the limitation of the intuition-based approach,endowing the linguistic account with a higher level of descriptive and explanatory adequacy than previous attempts.Therefore,this approach deserves more attention in its own right in the further research of MN.