A Cognitive Study Of The Semantic Change Of Chinese Net Words From Japanese

In recent years, a lot of net words originated from Japanese have appeared on the Chinese Internet, such as kong(控),tongche(痛车),nixi(逆袭),and ganwunu(干物女).With the rapid development of society and Internet technology, and the enhancement of cultural exchange between China and Japan, Chinese net words from Japanese have attracted great attention from a lot of scholars in China. However, previous studies of Chinese net words have two main limitations:first, they focus on the description of the sources, word formation and characteristics from social, cultural or linguistic perspective, thus lacking the cognitive interpretation of the semantic change of those words; second, among the studies of Chinese loaned net words, most are single language study without taking the source languages into consideration and making a cross-language comparison.This thesis aims to study Chinese net words from Japanese from a cognitive perspective. It employs Conceptual Metaphor Theory and Conceptual Blending Theory in cognitive linguistics, mainly adopting a qualitative method, probing into the source of Chinese and Japanese net words, the modes of their semantic change and the cognitive mechanisms of the change. At the same time, it makes a comparison of those modes and mechanisms of Chinese and Japanese net words, attempting to enrich the study of Chinese net words, especially those loanwords from other cultures.It has answered the following four questions:(1) What is the classification of Chinese net words from Japanese and what are their main features?(2) What are the modes of the semantic change of Chinese net words from Japanese?(3) What are the cognitive mechanisms of the semantic change of those words?(4) What are the cognitive bases of Chinese net words from Japanese?The findings of the study are as follows:(1) Chinese net words from Japanese can fall into six categories:morphological translation, sound translation, free translation, morphological and free translation, sound and free translation and letter translation. They have four features:kanji words in large numbers, novelty in meaning, influence of ACG Subculture and localization tendency. The words popular in Japan, owing to the similar written systems with Chinese, social and cultural influence, and human beings’similar cognitive mechanisms, will possibly become fashionable and popular in China. Due to some difference in cognition, some words will be accepted by common people, while others still remain marginal and are used only by certain groups;(2) The modes of the semantic change of Chinese net words from Japanese contain transference of word meaning, narrowing of word meaning, extension of word meaning, degradation of word meaning and elevation of word meaning;(3) There are mainly three cognitive mechanisms of the semantic change of those words:mechanism of conceptual metaphor, mechanism of conceptual metonymy and mechanism of conceptual blending. Chinese and Japanese belong to Chinese Cultural Circle and the characters are easier to accept than culture. In the development of net words, Chinese and Japanese netizens extend the meaning of Chinese characters via mechanisms of conceptual metaphor, conceptual metonymy and conceptual blending, which is the commonness; owing to social and cultural differences, the trajectories of their semantic change are different in the context of Chinese and Japanese, as well as their prototypical meanings, which is the individuality;(4) The cognitive bases of those words are as follows:historical origins of Chinese and Japanese written systems, development and variation of Chinese, economy of language and lexicalization, social factors and psychological factors. Chinese net words from Japanese are not unidirectionally imported or exported, but operated bidirectionally and comprehensively, and they are the crystal of cultural interaction between China and Japan. Japanese net words are localized in China and may go with Chinese trajectory;The study is of some important theoretical and practical significance:(1) It has proved that Conceptual Metaphor Theory and Conceptual Blending Theory have great explanatory power in interpreting Chinese net words from Japanese;(2) It may help Chinese netizens understand those expressions better and enrich Chinese expressions;(3) It may practically give some help to Japanese learners whose mother tongue is Chinese, as well as Japanese-Chinese translators;(4) It may enrich the researches in Chinese Character Cultural Sphere, facilitate Chinese-Japanese exchange and strengthen Chinese people’s understanding of the Chinese language and culture at the same time.