The Study Of Locatives In Modern Chinese Language As "上,下,里,外"

This paper focuses on the study of such locatives in modern Chinese language as up (上), down (下), in (里) and out (外), and of the "X·上(下,里,外) "compound constructions with the locatives as constituents. In the study, relevant theories in cognitive linguistics and metaphor study are employed. This study offers a classification and an analysis of the spatial locative and temporal meanings, and the extended meanings of "上", "下", "里", and "外" so as to reveal the semantic evolution of the four locatives from their literal meanings to the extended meanings. An explanation from the perspective of cognitive linguistics and metaphor to the emergence and development of the semantic items is provided. In addition, some work has also been conducted to investigate the linguistic phenomena which cause ambiguity and are not in accordance with reality and to investigate the overlapping use of the four locatives.The paper includes three parts: the introduction, the research and the conclusion. The research covers five chapters.The first part is the Introduction which offers a brief introduction to the scope, theoretical framework, methodology and data source. It also offers a definition of the locatives studied here and the existing studies relevant to this study.The second part includes five chapters, with "shang" (上), "xia" (下), "li" (里) and "wai" (外) each being discussed in one chapter. ChapterⅠis a brief introduce for the researching situation of "shang" (上), "xia" (下), "li" (里) and "wai" (外) in modern Chinese language.ChapterⅡis a cognitive semantic analysis of"shang" (上), describing the spatial locative relationships it indicates. This chapter provides a classification of the nominal elements which can form the "X·上" construction with spatial meanings, other extended meanings and temporal meanings.ChapterⅢis a cognitive semantic analysis of "xia" (下), describing the spatial locative relationships it indicates. This chapter provides a classification of the nominal elements which can form the "X·下" construction with spatial meanings, other extended meanings and temporal meanings. Furthermore, this chapter provides a summary and an explanation to the overlapping usages of "shang" (上) and "xia" (下) indicating spatial location and other related language phenomena.ChapterⅣis a cognitive semantic analysis of "li" (里), describing the spatial locative relationships it indicates. This chapter provides a classification of the nominal elements which can form the "X·里" construction with spatial meanings, other extended meanings and temporal meanings. Furthermore, this chapter provides an explanation to the overlapping usages of"shang" (上) and "xia" (里).ChapterⅤis a cognitive semantic analysis of "外" (外), describing the spatial locative relationships it indicates. This chapter provides a classification of the nominal elements which can form the "X·外" construction with spatial meanings, other extended meanings and temporal meanings.The third part is the conclusion of this paper.