A Cognitive Approach To Semantic Naturalness Degrees Of English Syntactic Constructions

This dissertation makes a relatively explorative and comprehensive study on the semantic naturalness degrees of English syntactic constructions through analysis of three explanatory devices from a cognitive perspective, namely, cognitive resemblance, categorical prototypicality and wide distribution.The aim of this dissertation is to throw a light on our comprehension and command of the nature of English syntactic constructions. The shining points of this dissertation go as follows. The author puts forward the concept of semantic naturalness degrees and sets forth the view that the semantic naturalness degrees of English syntactic constructions are closely interdependent with the way we construe the world, on the basis of which, the notion of cognitive resemblance is proposed. It is original to explore the cognitive resemblance, categorical prototypicality and wide distribution as three graded judgments for the semantic naturalness degrees of English syntactic constructions. This brand-new perspective is cognitively plausible in that it finds its motivation through the normality of our construal, (esp., figure-ground segregation), the construal saliency of prototypes, and the markedness theory respectively.The dissertation consists of six chapters. The fist chapter explains the purpose of this thesis and gives a brief introduction to the three basic approaches to semantic study. Meanwhile, this part demonstrates the necessity and superiority of the cognitive approach. The second chapter briefly introduces the cognitive capabilities, which serve as a basis of the cognitive theories applied in the subsequent chapters. Chapter Three, Chapter Four and Chapter Five are the most significant and original parts. Chapter Three focuses on the cognitive resemblance, which counts as a graded judgment for the naturalness degrees of meaning conveyed by syntactic constructions. The motivation of this consistence is found through the normality of our construal, which is embodied in the figure-ground segregation. Chapter Four argues that semantic naturalness degrees of syntactic constructions conform to the degrees of prototypicality displayed by the grammatical category concerned. In this part,...