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A Cognitive Study Of Diplomatic Language Based On Conceptual Integration Theory

Posted on:2009-10-24Degree:MasterType:Thesis
Country:ChinaCandidate:H Y ZhangFull Text:PDF
GTID:2155360242494855Subject:English Language and Literature
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This paper is a tentative study of diplomatic language from the cognitive perspective based on Conceptual Integration Theory. By analyzing some samples of diplomatic language which are selected randomly from the internet, news media and literature, the author tries to find out Conceptual Integration Theory can be used to explain the dynamic process of diplomatic language meaning construction.The language used to conduct diplomatic affairs is called diplomatic language. As one of the major carriers of diplomatic activities, it inevitably plays a vital role in diplomacy: the skills, tactics and appropriateness of language used in diplomatic communication contribute a lot to diplomatic success. Thus the study of diplomatic language has been a heated subject both at home and abroad, not merely in the linguistic field, but also in the non-linguistic field such as the philosophical, anthropological and psychological field from a myriad of perspectives. However, it is noted that although some papers try to discuss diplomatic language from a cognitive view, Relevance Theory is most often their first choice for the theoretical background.While Conceptual Integration Theory, a salient theory in Western cognitive linguistic field, was brought forward by Fauconnier in the 1990s. In his opinion, our conceptual networks are intricately structured by mental-space mappings, which play a key role in meaning construction. Usually, a prototypical integration network is composed of four mental spaces: two for each of input domains; a generic space that contains abstract properties which apply to structures in all the spaces; and a fourth space, called the blend, arising by selective projection from the inputs, develops an emergent structure in various ways.It is believed that Conceptual Integration Theory can be used to analyze meaning construction and reasoning mechanism of diplomatic language in a deep meticulous way. The central concepts such as mental space, cross-space mapping and integration network are introduced in this thesis to account for the phenomenon of diplomatic language. In the framework of this theory, meaning construction is regarded as a cognitive process, and comprehension of utterance as a cognitive activity. During the course of diplomatic language comprehension, a mental space is built up in part by recruiting structures from (possibly many) conceptual domains and from local context—we can build different and incompatible spaces by recruiting structures from the same conceptual domain. A fundamental motivating factor for blending is the integration of several events into a single unit. Inputs will have internal connections that are motivated conceptually and experientially. Like other forms of thought and action, blending can be either entrenched or novel. It can fuse counterparts in input spaces, but it need not fuse all counterparts in input spaces; besides, it can combine non-counterpart elements that come from different inputs.Scholars have proved its explanatory power from various angles, but few of them have applied this theory to diplomatic language analysis. We maintain that the process of generating and understanding diplomatic language is actually the cognitive process of meaning construction, which is dynamic in nature. Clearly, the previous studies have some limitations. Nevertheless, it is undeniable that those studies have won remarkable achievements on which the present thesis is based.This thesis, supported by Conceptual Integration Theory, holds that the processes of interpreting and generating diplomatic language involves communicators'activities that occur in mental spaces, and thus suggests that we consider the blended space as the site for constructing diplomatic language. In order to take a further step to the depth of this field, the author tries to probe into the cognitive mechanism of this language phenomenon under the guide of Conceptual Integration Theory, which is something new, compared with the previous studies, and more difficult.
Keywords/Search Tags:diplomatic language, Conceptual Integration Theory, mental space
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