A Corpus-based Cognitive Study On Denominal Verbs

The study aims to prove the rationality and display the using trend and genres ofdenominal verbs and explore the generation and deduction of the meaning of denominalverbs by corpus searching and cognitive analysis, which will be conductive to theacquisition and utilization of denominal verbs among English learners. The subjects in thisessay are twenty denominal verbs selected from Clark&Clark’s classification. Themethodology of this essay is qualitative plus quantitative study. The quantitative study iscarried out in the way of keyword searching in COCA, the result of which shows thefrequency distributions of denominal verbs in the whole COCA and in different years anddifferent genres. Based on the theory of ICM, the qualitative study shows the generativeprocess of denominal verbs by analyzing the occurring context of denominal verbscollected from COCA. The conclusions are as follows: Firstly, denominal verbs indeed arein wide existence in American English, most of which are used in magazines and fictionsbut barely seen in academics. What’s more, the use of denominal verbs is on the rise astime goes by. Secondly, N-V conversion fits into the four principles of ICM, whichincludes propositional model, image-schematic model, metaphoric model and metonymicmodel. The propositional model of the parent noun is firstly formed and stored in mind inthe form of propositions, which includes the features of the parent noun gaining fromhuman’s perception of the real world; then with constant interaction with outside world, abriefer and more abstract image-schematic model comes into be in human’s mind; at last,when there is a need for a not readily-used verb, people will turn to denominal verbs.While trying to understand denominal verbs, people will activate the stored propositionaland image-schematic models in mind. With the help of the context, the metaphoric andmetonymic projections are realized, which shows the converted meaning of denominalverbs.