A Cognitive Analysis Of Polysemantic Verbs Based On The Prototypical Category Theoiy

Compared with the semantic study of the nouns and prepositions, thepolysemous verb is far from enough due to their semantic instability. This thesis aimsto analyze the polysemous verb TAKE based on the prototypical categorizationtheory.The purpose of this thesis is to analyze how the non-prototypical meanings ofTAKE construct from the prototypical meaning and how the meanings of the phrasalverbs TAKE AWAY, TAKE OFF and TAKE UP develop.The different meanings of polysemous verbs belong to a category by means offamily resemblance theory, in which members have an unequal status with one morerepresentative of the whole meanings. Therefore, it becomes the prototypical meaning,and then the non-prototypical meanings are extended by means of the three cognitivemechanisms from the prototypical meaning.With regard to the meanings of the polysemous verb TAKE, all the meanings ofit are listed via the data collected from the two authoritative dictionaries, and then areclassified into different categories. Finally all the meanings of TAKE are set up ameaning network. The non-prototypical meanings of TAKE are illustrated fromdifferent domains via image schema, metaphor, and metonymy.In terms of the meanings of the phrasal verb TAKE, they are constructed fromthe combination of the respective meanings of TAKE and the preposition AWAY, OFFand UP based on the prototypical category theory. In addition, some examples are cited from the dictionary to interpret the meanings of the phrasal verbs TAKE AWAY,TAKE OFF and TAKE UP.Polysemous verbs play an essential role in English learning. Due to thevariability of the meanings of TAKE, the language learners have difficulties ingrasping the exact meanings of it; therefore, a new method of rememberingpolysemous verbs is desperately needed. This thesis is to analyze the polysemanticverb of TAKE based on the prototypical category theory. The significance of thisthesis is that it not only enables people to figure out how the meanings of TAKE aregenerated, but is helpful for the English learners to study polysemies and grasp theirmeanings and their related phrases effectively.