A Study Of The Explicit/Implicit Combination Of Sense-from The Perspectives Of The Interpretive Theory And Cognitive Grammar

The Interpretive Theory has been outstanding for its peculiar interpretation perspective among domestic scholars studying interpretation. There are two important concepts in the Interpretive Theory: cognitive knowledge and synecdoche, which in particular unveil the essence of this theory. Some papers have been published on the functions of cognitive complements and cognitive knowledge, among which schema theory is applied for theoretical examination. Yet few journals are found to avail themselves of achievements from the Cognitive Grammar Theory. As for the study of synecdoche as a whole of implicit/explicit combination, relevant papers are rarely known.Therefore, the author intends to combine the studying results of cognitive grammar for providing theoretical support to explain how explicit and implicit part of meaning impact on interpretation. The research begins with a detailed introduction to the development and three key groups of concepts of the Interpretive Theory, and then continues to cognitive domains defined by the Cognitive Grammar Theory as well as cognitive analysis of semantic meaning. The two theories serve as a theoretical foundation for cognitive analysis in following chapters. Synecdoche has its rhetoric definition of putting a part for the whole and vice versa. It is borrowed by the Interpretive Theory to refer to language as the explicit part of the sense, the understanding of which requires cognitive complements that serve as the implicit part.Based on cognitive grammar analysis, Langacker proposes that sense refers to the process of conceptualization with cognitive domains as the background. Most concepts are abstract domains, which are defined by referring to basic domains (primitive representational conceptions). Therefore each concept is defined as a figure against its background, and is understood by motivating relevant concepts in cognitive knowledge. Concepts comprise phrases which further form a discourse, thus the discourse too exists against its background and should be understood with cognitive complements.This thesis examines the working mechanism of synecdoche and metaphor from the perspective of the Cognitive Grammar Theory. It concludes that synecdoche concerns the expanding and narrowing down of basic cognitive domains while metaphor refers to the projection from one cognitive domain to another. They are ubiquitous in all languages and mostly used as a combination. This phenomenon implies that when the speaker is unable to refer to the entire body due to limited usage of words in communication, cognitive domains will play the role to create optimal-context and achieve effective communication, and motivation of these domains are played by wordings. This studying result is in consistent with the opinion of the Interpretive Theory: sense is a combination of explicit and implicit meanings, and explicitly worded ideas must be complemented with implicit parts to make the whole of sense.