Research And Categorization Of Pairing Measure Words In Chinese And English

No matter Chinese or English, the selection of those measure words showing pairing meanings or the selection of nominal ingredient by words of unit is a course of categorization. There necessarily exists a categorization center which becomes the basic selection of this measure word or this word of unit. And the other selections extend from this categorization centre, which including short-range extension and distance extension. The course of categorization can get the supports of linguistic diachronic development and linguistic typology.Categorization shows us the course of Chinese paring measure words and the course of the selection of nominal ingredient by paring words of unit in English. In the course of realizing the world, people are bound to express those things or concepts that they have never seen. The solution of this is to make a displacement by borrowing the things or concepts that are already existed. This analogy causes the coincidences between norm and Chinese measure word or the coincidence of selection of nominal ingredient in words of unit in English. We also call it"Huyi".Besides, people are bound to have cognitive difference for the same thing for the reason of different society they lived. The difference of language communication range and communication frequency of agricultural people-based language and herders-based language will make the difference of world-realizing and expression. The wholeness-praise of Chinese language community treats diverse things as a whole, emphasizing harmony between man and nature. On the contrary, English language community emphasizing functionality and exactness. And the similarity and lack between these two cultures also exist.The selection of norms and measure words is open. With the developing of society and language, the selection of norm by measure is changing too, especially in modern society, for the deepening and frequency of communication between the East and the West, the interpenetration of language is undergoing. Therefore, it will form the same cognition for the things between people of different areas in some extend. The general cognitive style of human beings is from concrete to abstract. This cognitive course coincides with categorizing course.The cause of categorization is metonymy or metaphor. Rhetoric rules exist everywhere in our daily life, metonymy and metaphor appear frequently. This phenomenon exists both in Chinese and English society. The main rhetoric function of Chinese and English pair word is metaphor. Cognitive linguistics considers that metaphor gnosia is a thinking ability of human being. It is the advanced stage of cognitive development. And it is the necessary cognitive ability of realizing the world, especially realizing the abstract things.The cognition of things of things of human being is from objective to subjective in our daily communication. And we use concrete and familiar concepts to express and depict those concepts are hard to describe. This method, which utilizes the connection between things to project one concept to the other, is metaphor. Cognitive linguistics Lakoff and Johnson conclude that metaphor is not only language but also a thinking, behavior and activity. It is a projection from one concept to the other. For this reason, we can understand that there is coincidence of selection of nominal ingredient between Chinese and English in pairing meaning.Besides, it is no surprise that there exists different cognitive course and result of the same thing by different people for different culture, society, way of working, way of observation and thinking perspective etc.. Special language background will form a special language habit.Through comparing of different languages, we have deeper understanding of the different culture which imbeds in words. This will give advantage to language teaching and language research that extend to extra-linguistic level which is the exploration of material and spiritual life, including history of society, society life, way of thinking, thinking perspective and so on besides teaching research of language itself.