Realization Of Figure-Ground Theory In Chinese Idioms

Figure-ground theory is originally a basic cognitive or perceptual principle in describing spatial organization by psychologists, especially gestalt psychologists. According to gestalt psychologists, every perception domain is composed of figure and ground, in which the part we have perceived is usually conceptualized as "figure", while the neglected rest "ground". Nevertheless, both parts can't be perceived simultaneously by the viewer, which is called Figure-ground Segregation.Establishedin the 1970s as an approach to the analysis of linguistic meaning and grammatical form from cognitive perspective, cognitive linguistics adopted Figure-ground Segregation principle as its one basic principle, after Talmy first introduced this principle to cognitive linguistics. Upon that, numerous researches of figure-ground theory into language by cognitive linguists have been carried out. And it's used to describe language organizations, in particular the spatial and temporal relations in language. As is concluded, spatial prepositions and also temporal events can express figure-ground relation. And further, figure-ground relation can be rendered in syntactic structures and in discourses or literary works from the viewpoint of Langacker, Ungerer and Stockwell et al respectively. Based on the theoretical foundation of figure-ground principle, Chinese researchers have investigated into its application on both English and Chinese corpora, yet from which the current paper finds that scarcely has this cognitive principle been applied to the research of Chinese idioms.In this study, a first brief introduction is given to the origin and development of figure-ground theory and then reviews the application research related to this theory in the West and beyond. Meanwhile, short introduction is also made to Chinese idioms and artistic conception of idioms. Since figure-ground relation can be understood as and realized by spatial prepositions mostly, the paper begins with analyzing the idioms having localizers from the dictionary and then to other means. Chinese Idiom Dictionary--new edition 2007,《中国成语大辞典》(新一版2007)is selected as the research text. Through examination, the author finds the realization of figure-ground theory is available in Chinese idioms. In total, there are 2218 idioms expressing figure-ground relation, which are realized in the following ways as by localizers (248 pieces), verbs (845 pieces), noun juxtapositions (818 pieces), temporal events (145 pieces), and structure of Chinese character zhi"之"(162 pieces). A fter having analyed these idioms with the aid of figure ground principle, the author also explores its contribution to the construction of artistic conception in Chinese idioms. By bridging this cognitive principle, readers can appreciate artistic conception hidden in Chinese idioms and well understand the in-depth meaning the idioms intend to voice. In doing so, the paper hopes on one hand to illustrate the explanatory power of figure-ground theory and on the other hand to unfold the beauty of Chinese idioms from a new angle.