A CBCR Approach To Allegorical Chinese Four-character Idioms

By means of the analysis of allegorical Chinese four-character idioms in thispaper, we discover that the metaphorical mapping between the idioms and discourseonly takes the actual discourse into the semantic framework constructed by the idiom;however, the real semantic extension more relies on the semantic frameworkconstructed by the idiom and the metonymic inference based on the framework. Thisleaves enough space for the research of this paper.In this thesis, we not only study the construction of the metonymic inference toactual discourse meaning, but also analyze the interaction of metaphor and metonymy.By this way, it is clearly exhibited how the components of the allegorical idioms andthe idioms as a whole participate in the construction of actual discourse meaning.Based on the limitations of previous studies, we propose a new model-CBCR modelto analyze the interactive mechanism and construal mechanism of allegorical Chinesefour-character idioms.CBCR model is illustrated in detail in this thesis. The model is realized byintegrating Conceptual Blending Theory and Cognitive Reference Point theory. Basedon the interactive ways of metaphor and metonymy, as well as the metonymicinference, we classify allegorical Chinese four-character idioms into three categories,namely, metonymy within metaphor allegorical Chinese four-character idioms;metaphor within metonymy allegorical Chinese four-character idioms; and multipleinteraction of metaphor and metonymy allegorical Chinese four-character idioms.After the classification, CBCR model is applied to analyzing the construalmechanism of the different kinds of allegorical idioms. In the end, we discuss thesemantic construal mechanism of allegorical Chinese four-character idioms,andemphatically analyze the interactive ways of metaphor and metonymy in the processof semantic understanding.This thesis consists of five chapters.Chapter One is the introduction part of this thesis. It consists of the rationale, theobjectives, methodology and data collection, and the layout of this thesis.Chapter Two is the literature review. It consists of the background of allegory, the previous studies on allegory, the previous studies on Chinese four-character idioms,and their gaps.Chapter Three is the theoretical framework of the thesis. Firstly, ConceptualMetaphor Theory and Conceptual Metonymy Theory are introduced briefly. Secondly,Conceptual Blending Theory and Cognitive Reference Point model are introduced andcommented on respectively, their merits and demerits are discussed. Lastly, the CBCRmodel is proposed by combining Conceptual Blending Theory (CBT) and CognitiveReference Point (CRP) model in cognitive linguistics, which is considered to be amodel better than either of the original two.Chapter Four is the application of the integrated model, namely the CBCR model,to the analysis of the different kinds of allegorical Chinese four-character idioms.Chapter Five is the conclusion part of this thesis. In this part, major findings aresummarized, the limitations are listed out and some suggestions for future research inallegory are proposed.