| Fan Yi Tong Gou refers to one identical language unit with two contrasting or contradicting meanings in its semantic system, which includes enantiosemy, ironical expressions and some prepositional phrases. Especially the study of enantiosemy is called Fan Xun in China. Fan Yi Tong Gou is advanced on the basis of enantiosemy and promoted into the other areas:ironical expressions and some prepositional phrases. Meanwhile, they are restricted by syntax and situational contexts for two contrasting or contradicting meanings in the semantic system of ironical expressions and some prepositional phrases. Because there is not a term that can include the linguistic phenomena, I use a term Fan Yi Tong Gou (phonetic transcriptions of Chinese characters) to describe the ambivalent phenomena in one identical linguistic unit. The unique linguistic phenomenon exists objectively, so we can't ignore it.In this paper the objective we discussed doesn't refer to antonyms which express the opposite meanings between two words. Fan Yi Tong Gou is two opposite semantic relationships within one identical language unit. Since it is within the language unit, this kind of structure should be demonstrated in words, phrases and even sentences. The connotation of Fan Yi Tong Gou we will research is broader than the previous ones in the same field. The following constituents are:1) having two opposite meanings in its semantic system.2) studied in both synchronic and diachronic aspects.3) co-existing in one linguistic unit.And we can call it the ambivalent phenomena in order to understand it easily. People use consciously or unconsciously this kind of structure in written or spoken language. Linguists have paid attention to this kind of structure and firstly studied Fan Yi Tong Gou in the field of art, such as literary and artistic works. And then linguists researched further from psychological and linguistic aspects and got a lot of achievements.This paper tries to explore the inner mechanism of one identical language unit with two contrasting or contradicting meanings in the semantic system from the cognitive perspective. The key point of exploration is the cognitive mechanism of the structure. To solve this problem, we should get answers from the following two interrelated questions.1) How does the speaker realize Fan Yi Tong Gou so as to express the intentional meaning?2) How does the listener understand the implied meaning conveyed by Fan Yi Tong Gou?The aim of my study tries to find a satisfactory explanation why a listener can understand by the use of such an unusual way and provide a convincing explanation mechanism on this unique language phenomenon. We will analyze data selected from daily conversation, social issues as well as literary works by adopting a qualitative and introspective method. The study is backed up by the theoretical framework of the conceptual integration theory which is a creative, dynamic and complex system.Guided by the conceptual integration theory, a speaker expresses himself through the use of Fan Yi Tong Gou under certain motivations and the context of situation. The listener will apply unconsciously or consciously the conceptual integration theory to understand the speaker's intention only when the listener share the speaker's culture, or knowledge. On the basis of this, we know:1) The conceptual integration theory is a cognitive medium system through which people can understand the ambivalent phenomena in the language.2) The use of the ambivalent phenomena is realized by the speaker's intention, the contextual situation and his knowledge system.3) The comprehension of the contrasting or contradicting meanings is analyzed not only from the levels of lexicon and semantic, but also from the syntax and the context.We make an effort to reveal the generation-comprehension mechanism of Fan Yi Tong Gou under the frame of conceptual integration theory. By Fan Yi Tong Gou, we couldn't simply regard it as a rhetorical device; it should be considered as a significant language phenomenon, which displays the true idea of participants and reflects cognitive laws of human thinking. The generation of Fan Yi Tong Gou has been influenced not only by the vagueness of language, but also by social, psychological, contextual situational factors. The law of unity of oppositeness is the philosophic foundation of Fan Yi Tong Gou. The conceptual integration theory is its psychological accordance. Change and compression, cross-spaces mapping are its psychological mode of operation. Fan Yi Tong Gou has arisen through the combination of cognitive laws. In return, it proves the (?)xist(?)nce of these ways of thinking. Divergences of perspective, background knowledge and functions provide the possibility of producing Fan Yi Tong Gou. Projection and structure mapping play a very important role in meaning construction.Whereas in the course of the comprehension, if people come to Fan Yi Tong Gou, the addressee sets up different mental spaces and chooses some corresponding semantic, and realizes the mapping by crossing mental spaces into the third mental space. Meanwhile, by the use of optimality principles the addressee unpacks the meaning which is conceived. To sum up, the information spreading was blocked to float between spaces because there are elements which are incompatible with each other, and the listener can inf(?)r the speaker is not expressing the literal meaning. so people can be aware of what the addresser really means.The present paper consists of six parts:Chapter one is an Introduction. This part mainly delineates a sketchy treatment of the objective-Fan Yi Tong Gou in some facets, and also introduces the background, the significance, the purpose of the study and research approaches to Fan Yi Tong Gou.There is the literature review in Chapter Two. We demonstrate influence linguistic schools'approaches to Fan Yi Tong Gou, pointing out their merits and shortcomings.After a brief introduction of the relationship between language and psychology, pragmatic presupposition, and topology linguistic from the cognitive perspective in lines, we introduce and elaborate our theoretical frameworks-the conceptual integration theory in Chapter Three.Chapter Four classifies Fan Yi Tong Gou and puts them into different categories, which sets the stage to explain elaborately the inner mechanism.Chapter Five is the analysis of how addressers and addressees generate and understand Fan Yi Tong Gou, and we finally find its inner mechanism in this chapter. After we demonstrate possibilities that generate Fan Yi Tong, people use and understand this structure on the basis of the conceptual integration theory. In the stage of the generation, motivated by some intentions, the addresser uses the ambivalent language form to make unique expressions through blended mental space. Projection and structure mapping play a very important role in meaning construction. Different choices of certain spaces will result in different interpretations. Ambiguity in meaning stems from the accessibility of different available strategies and different types. And in the stage of the comprehension, if people come to Fan Yi Tong Gou, the addressee sets up different mental spaces and chooses some corresponding semantic, and realizes the mapping by crossing mental spaces into the third mental space. The addressee unpacks the meaning which is conceived through the use of optimality principles. To sum up, the information spreading was blocked to float between spaces because there are elements which are incompatible with other spaces, so people can be aware of what the addresser really means.Chapter Six is a conclusion which includes final findings, the merit and limitations of the present study. |
PDF Full Text Request