Lexicalization Analysis Of English Compound Nouns

In the English lexicological field, plenty of study has been made of English compounds from various aspects but not as much of research on English compound nouns,especially on the lexicalization of compound nouns from the cognitive perspective. Therefore, this thesis attempts to make an analysis of the lexicalization of English compound nouns from the perspective of the Conceptual Integration Theory, aiming at interpreting systematically how English compound nouns become lexicalized.This thesis consists of six chapters. Chapter One presents an introduction. It introduces the significance of the research and describes the research methodology and the organization. Chapter Two reviews the previous studies of English compound nouns at home and abroad. Chapter Three introduces the relevant theories, including the Conceptual Integration Theory and the Lexicalization Theory. Chapter Four analyzes the lexicalization process of English compound nouns. First, a distinction is made between noun phrases and compound nouns. Then, the thesis tries to investigate the lexicalization of English compound nouns in terms of semantics. Chapter Five, the core of this thesis, endeavors to interpret the lexicalization of English compound nouns within the framework of the Conceptual Integration Theory. Chapter Six concludes this thesis with major findings and suggestions for further study.Based on the discussion and analysis above, the thesis comes to the following conclusions. Firstly, three kinds of semantic changes, namely, null semantic shift, partial semantic shift and whole semantic shift, are found through the contrast of the semantic changes of lexicalization of the English compound nouns. Secondly, we look into the lexicalization process of English compound nouns from the perspective of the Conceptual Integration Theory. On the ground of the investigation of the lexicalization process of English compound nouns, it is observed that there are two kinds of conceptual integration in general: the overall integration process and the partial integration process. In the blended space, three processes are involved: composition, composition→completion, composition→completion→elaboration. Thirdly, it is noticed that during lexicalization, the blended spaces of English compound nouns with null semantic shift often have simplex blends such as composition, while the compound nouns with partial or whole semantic shift have complex blends such as composition→completion and composition→completion→elaboration.An analysis of the lexicalization of English compound nouns from the viewpoint of the Conceptual Integration Theory offers us a new perspective for the interpretation of the lexicalization of English compound nouns. We hope that this thesis can provide a reference to English teaching, and can be of some value for the future lexical study of English compound nouns.