An Interpretation To The [NP+NP] Structure English Idioms From CBT Perspective

The aim of this thesis is to verify that Conceptual Blending Theory as well as Conceptual Blending Networks, which is proposed by Gilles Fauconnier and Mark Turner, is a general cognitive operation and serves a variety of cognitive purposes. By applying the blending theory to the meaning construction of the [NP+NP] structure English idioms (e.g. day and night), this thesis attempts to demonstrate that the meaning of the [NP+NP] structure English idioms can be explained through the Conceptual Blending Theory at the level of cognitive operation, and to provide an alternative perspective on the interpretation of the English idioms.This paper at first gives a review on the origins of idioms, the definition of idioms, the characteristics of idioms, the classification of idioms and researches on idioms. Then it introduces one theory of cognitive approach: Fauconnier & Turner's Conceptual Blending Theory, the Conceptual Blending Networks and its key elements. With 136 pieces of the [NP+NP] structure English idioms chosen as data in a closed corpus for analysis, the application of Conceptual Blending Theory is to be fulfilled in terms of the following aspects: Input Spaces, the Generic Space, the Blend, the Cross-space Mapping, Selective Projection and Emergent Structure. As the data analyses suggest, the meaning construction mainly involves four types of networks: Simplex Network, Mirror Network, Single-Scope Network, and Double-Scope Network. What's more, the hidden cognitive process of meaning construction of the [NP+NP] structure in English idioms, which is a kind of entrenched language phenomenon, can be revealed by those four types of networks to some extent.