Metaphorical & Metonymical Approach To Modern Chinese Cognitive Appellation Nouns

The present study investigates into a linguistic phenomenon which is a frequent concern of sociolinguistics—Chinese cognitive appellation nouns in the light of metaphor and metonymy theory on the basis of cognitive linguistics. Social linguists attribute the origin of cognitive appellation to historical and social factors. Significant as such factors are, they are mere external causes, and the internal causes originate from the cognitive reflection of the language users. Cognitive appellation nouns undergo a metaphorical or metonymic process.The thesis is to prove the metaphorical features of abstract reflection involved in describing human beings themselves by Chinese language material. Metaphorical thinking is an indispensable cognitive capability for people to perceive the world, especially the abstract concepts. The source domain of metaphorical structure originates from people's basic experience. In the long process of the cognition of various characteristics of the human beings themselves, new words were not coined endlessly; instead, the abstract concept which has yet been perceived is associated with the concrete thing which has already been perceived, by means of which, the purpose of reflecting on and expressing various characteristics of human beings can be reached. Cognitive appellation nouns are lexicalized and included in the dictionary as part of the language, Such lexicalized cognitive appellation nouns have been left the mark of metaphorical process, and they have found their way into the dictionary with a second and separate conventional meaning. As is illustrated by Goatly (1997:31), "dictionaries are certainly the cemeteries and the mortuaries, definitely the dormitories, and generally the resting place for the populations of metaphors", therefore, the dictionary-based approach is a major method of data collection in the study.To be specific, this thesis can be divided into four parts besides a conclusion. In Chapter One, the author defines Chinese cognitive appellation nouns and put forward the research method—observation plus introspection. The significance is also pointed out. Chapter Two introduces the cognitive views on conceptual metaphor and metonymy, as well as a few important concepts. Chapter Three investigates into conceptual metaphors in Chinese cognitive appellation nouns. There are two types:structural metaphor and orientational metaphor. Then Chapter Four probes into conceptual metonymy in the material, which includes metonymies between whole ICM and its parts, and metonymies between parts in a whole ICM.Based on the study, it can be concluded that:[1] the structural metaphor in the working data is based on experiential similarity; the conceptualization of "human" is in accordance with "The Great Chain of Being", a hierarchy of things structured from the top to the bottom. [2] Orientational metaphor follows the inherent logic in image schema metaphor, the experiential basis of which is experiential cooccurence. [3] In addition, there exists a considerable number of appellation nouns consisting of metonymy, which prove that metonymy contributes significantly to cognitive activities. What is mainly concerned in the working data is metonymical relationship of whole-part and part-part in a ICM. Contiguity is the basis of metonymical relationship. [4] The cognitive appellation nouns using a proper name to refer to another person justifies that name can stand for the role, which is a counterevidence of Fauconnier's claim that name cannot stand for the role. To be brief, it offers a systematic analysis of Chinese cognitive appellation within a conceptual metaphorical framework.In a Chinese cognitive appellation noun, the whole word, or at least the core word has both the literal meaning and deviant or different meanings from their literal ones, which is metaphorical or metonymical. The literal meaning is as the source domain, and the extension of the meaning of the word derives from the metaphor or metonymy included in it, therefore, the metaphor or metonymy concerned has become a cognitive link to literal meaning and deviant meaning in a cognitive appellation noun. The present thesis merely focuses on a patch of this fertile land of cognitive linguistics and attempts to prove people's metaphorical and metonymical thinking when they conceptualize various people with distinct characteristics and qualities.