An Analysis Of Polysemy From Prototype

Polysemy is defined as a single linguistic unit containing two or more related meanings. The main feature of polysemy is that new meanings can be extended based on the existing words to express the concepts of new things. The main function of the polysemous words is to maintain the forms of the words while to add new meanings to the words. With the development of the world, a large number of ideas and things come into being each day. We would carry the unbearable burden by challenging our memory if we had to invent new word for the every new thing. In order to tackle such common challenge, polysemous words play an important part in stating an effective way to make one word bearing a variety of meanings. In the cognition of the society, polysemy meets the requirements of social development, furthermore, cognitive linguistics provide the polysemy with a new cognitive perspective. As an important linguistic phenomenon, linguists in different schools have paid much attention on the polysemy. The linguists took account of the external changes of the meanings of polysemous words from different perspectives, rather than underlying polysemy on basis of cognitive linguistics. Consequently, they can not understand the real reason for the formation of polysemy. With the development of cognitive linguistics, cognitive linguists analyze the polysemy from a more convincing and systematic viewpoints. They provide a satisfying explanation to the following questions:what is the relationship between the meanings of polysemy? How the meanings are connected by main cognitive mechanisms?Cognitive linguistics came into existence in1970s and it belongs to a modem school of linguistic thought because of dissatisfaction with formal approaches of linguistics. Cognitive linguists treat polysemy as a result of core or basic meaning extension within a word by the cognitive tools such as metonymy and metaphor. In this thesis, the cognitive viewpoint on polysemy and its inner structure are discussed on the theoretical foundation of Prototype Model of Categorization and Idealized Cognitive Models. The prototype model of category and family resemblance of all members explain the relationship between the meanings of a polysemous word. This thesis consists of six chapters.Chapter One is a brief introduction concerning the study, including the research background and purposes, the significance of the study, methodology and the outline of this thesis.Chapter Two is literature review, which involves the previous study of polysemy and their limitations. This chapter gives a systematic account of the formal school, but the viewpoint can not explain the difference between polysemy and homonymy. They regard polysemy as complicated and complex, and people should avoid using it.Chapter Three serves as the theoretical framework, which presents a detailed introduction to cognitive linguistics, including Prototype Model of Categorization and Idealized Cognitive Models. Categorization is defined as the mental process of classification when people refer to a type of thing, although the world is composed of various objects with different essences, shapes and colors. In cognitive linguistics, all the members of a category are similar to the prototypes and have a prototypical member with other members around it. Idealized Cognitive Models consist of propositional models, image schema models, metonymy models and metaphor models.Chapter Four exemplifies polysemous words according to Prototypical Model of Categorization Theory to display the features of prototype structure. Then image schema, metaphor and metonymy motivation of polysemy are discussed in detail. Image schema is central in the organization of meaning and in the formation of inferences on basis of meaning. Metaphor is a powerful cognitive instrument to conceptualize abstract categories as a way of thinking and it maps from source domain to target domain. Like metaphor, metonymy is one of the most fundamental mechanisms of meaning extension.Chapter Five is the conclusion, summarizing the whole thesis and pointing out the implications for language learning, limitations and suggestions for future study.In a word, the analysis of polysemy from the cognitive viewpoint has exerted significant influence on language teaching and vocabulary teaching. Moreover, as important cognitive tools, metaphor and metonymy are appropriate to conceptualize the world. Consequently, it is necessary for learners to study metaphor and metonymy which are essential in meaning extension of a polysemous categorization. Meanwhile, the polysemous words economize the burden of memorizing new words which appear with the development of the society.