Cognitive Analysis Of Spatial Prepositions Above And Over

The present study aims to analyze the two synonymous prepositions above and over from the perspective of cognitive linguistics. Three research questions are addressed in this study.1. What are the prototypical meanings of above and over and how do the meanings distribute in the domain of space?2. What are the target domains involved in the metaphorical extensions of above and over?3. In what way are the spatial concepts of above and over mapped onto the non-spatial domains?The present study was a corpus-based study, and all the data are selected from BNC (British National Corpus) randomly. The author retrieved data from the BNC, tagged them, and then analyzed the data. The major findings of this study are presented as follows:First, the prototype for above is that the TR (trajector) is higher than LM (landmark) along the vertical axis, and this is the basic meaning of above as a spatial preposition. Over's prototype is that the TR is vertically higher than LM, and over takes a motion sense. So, both above and over can indicate a vertical relation between TR and LM. But along the horizontal axis, there exists minute difference between above and over. For above, there exists horizontal distance between TR and LM, while for over, generally speaking, the TR and LM related are on the same vertical line, and their horizontal projections coincide. And over has richer spatial meanings which can be categorized into three domains, they are relative vertical position, pervasive meaning and passage of a motion.Second, the spatial concepts of above and over can be mapped onto the non-spatial domains. Spatial above is mapped onto the domain of quantity, the domain of power and society and idiom. Over is more dynamic, it is used in the following target domains: the domain of time, the domain of quantity, the domain of power and society, the domain of manner, and also the special use. Among the several domains, the domain of quantity and the domain of power and society are used as the target domains for both above and over. And both above and over have some special uses. When we discussed the metaphorical extensions of above, we found that many sentences use the idiom"above all", which is frequently used in English. And for over, it can also be used to refer to the sense"because of or concerning (sth)".Third, the metaphorical extensions of both above and over are determined by our bodily and physical experience, and the transference from the spatial concepts to non-spatial concepts is quite conformity with the process of human cognition, that is human knowledge is organized from the concrete to the abstract. The study thus supports the argument of Lakoff&Jonson that our knowledge is organized metaphorically.The present study has the following pedagogical implications:First, the present study of the two prepositions above and over gives us a deeper insight into their meanings by their semantic differences. The two prepositions studied in this research are two synonyms, and English learners always misuse them. This study compared their similarities and differences from the perspective of cognitive linguistics, which will help English learners understand their meanings deeply and use them correctly.Second, the present study facilitates the teaching and learning of English prepositions. From the views of cognitive linguists, the various meanings of a preposition are not arbitrary, but relevant to each other. The metaphorical extensions of prepositions are based on their spatial meanings. So, the teacher should explain the relationship between various senses of a preposition to students in order to help them master the preposition.Third, in language teaching and learning, authentic native language data is also very important. Some usages of a particular word or expression are not often used, so it is difficult for students to learn them. The teacher should provide students some model texts written by native speakers on how native speakers use these special expressions. When the data is offered, the context of the expressions is also provided. All these will benefit students in learning the special uses of prepositions.