Study Of Chinese Biejie Based On MR Model

Cognitive linguists have the claim that the application of language embodiescognitive ability. It is also the case with figurative language. Chinese Biejie as a kindof figure of speech is also the means of communication. With the aid of the similarsound and written form of the phrase, Biejie is constructed by changing the meaningof the phrase temporarily. The two meanings interfere with each other and thelistener is disturbed and evoked to reflect on the implicature, so as to achievepeculiar pragmatic and aesthetic effects. The wake of Tan Yongxiang’s study onBiejie has aroused many scholars’ attention. They have made exploration of Biejiefrom various facets including rhetoric approach (Wu Liquan,2004; Gao Yan,2007,etc.), psychological approach (Zhang Zhenhe&Liu Yingkai,1999; Li Jing&YangWenquan,2003, etc.), linguistic approach (Liu Zhengru,2008; Liu Chunhong,2008)and they have achieved the accomplishment both theoretically and practically.However, the studies on Biejie so far have limited itself to the range of its structuralfeatures, psychological foundations, and pragmatic functions. Few of the studieshave been carried out to explore the construction and understanding of its meaning,and none of the studies have elucidated the working mechanisms of its productionand interpretation from the prag-cognitive perspective.Enlightened by the previous study, this dissertation proposes MR model basedon MPRT and RT to analyze working mechanisms of three kinds of Biejierespectively. The main findings of the thesis are demonstrated as follows:First of all, in the production of Biejie, the autonomy is geared by the speaker’sintention and constrained by the context. Through the process of derivation, thespeaker manifests his intention by searching for the relevance. Along this path, bythe means of clipping and the counter-law of proximity/similarity, the speakershortens the autonomous idea and obtains one phrase (called quasi-autonomy). Then,guided by searching for the relevance, through the impartment and inherence of connotation and denotation, part of quasi-autonomy can be replaced, and then itbecomes “legal” and suitable. At last, the autonomy and the dependence areinterrelated through the law of transitivity.Secondly, in the understanding of Biejie, with the help of making use ofstereotypical relation, the listener gains the unrevealed meaning of the speakerthrough the process of searching for the relevance. Then, the implicit expression isrealized by complementing and elucidating plus with the explicit expression, whichforms the complete expression.Thirdly, this dissertation testifies the feasibility of the MR analytical modelbased on MPRT and RT as the theoretical framework to analyze the workingmechanisms of Biejie.Fourthly, the study on the working mechanisms of Biejie sheds light on theother language phenomena from prag-cognitive perspective.