A Cognitive Study Of Words With Old Forms But New Meanings In Network Chinese

In the previous researches on words with old forms but new meanings (WOFNMs), we find that few scholars have done a monographic study of WOFNMs in network Chinese, and even fewer have looked into it from a cognitive point of view.Depending on lexical concept frame, this thesis tries to describe, analyze and explain 270 representative WOFNMs in network Chinese from three aspects, i.e. origin, formal structure and semantic meaning. These words are mainly collected from chat room, BBS and Google. By adopting both methods of qualitative and quantitative analysis, this thesis aims to discover the cognitive laws by which WOFNMs in network Chinese are formed and their meanings are shifted and transformed. WOFNMs in network Chinese refer to words which are given new meanings on the basis of their original meanings, or independent of their original meanings.The major findings of this thesis lie in four points:firstly, netizens make use of material object or action words whose referents are familiar to them to express new things based upon their general or special experiences in ordinary life, such as verbal communication, food, clothing, shelter, means of transportation, interaction with nature, TV programs, entertainment, sports, etc. Secondly, in respect of syllable number, most of WOFNMs in network Chinese are disyllables. Nouns take up the largest percent in all the word classes of WOFNMs, with verbs ranking the second place. In light of word formation, quite a lot of WOFNMs in network Chinese are compounds. The ways of word formation mainly include compounding, abbreviation, conversion and commonization. Thirdly, by semantic analysis, we come to such a conclusion:based on encyclopaedic knowledge structure, netizens profile certain elements and meanwhile hide other elements depending on THING concept frame or ACTION EVENT frame, thus, word meaning is shifted or transformed. The cognitive ways of meaning shift or transformation of WOFNMs in network Chinese mainly include conceptual metaphor, conceptual metonymy and conceptual blending. Netizens give new meanings to old words by means of six kinds of mediums, i.e. meaning extension, similar pronunciation, combination of meaning extension and similar pronunciation, changes in form, creative use of reduplication, and convenience in keyboard entry, among which the medium of meaning extension is the most popular one. Finally, we draw a conclusion that the results of meaning shift or transformation of WOFNMs in network Chinese are reflected in two aspects:(1) widening, narrowing and transformation of central meaning; (2) accompanying changes of grammatical function and emotional sense.