Meaning Construction Mechanism Ofmandatory Subjunctive Based Onthe CBT

Subjunctive mood,one of the three moods in English,is an important and rather difficult part in English grammar.Many English learners find it hard to master its meaning construction mechanism and usage.Many scholars have done researches on the subjunctive mood from the perspective of the conceptual blending theory(CBT).However,most of their studies focus on the subjunctive mood in “If +Conditional clause” and “wish+ Object Clause”.This thesis studies the meaning construction mechanism of mandatory subjunctive,which has some personal views.This thesis studies the meaning construction mechanism of mandatory subjunctive based on the CBT,and is expected to provide some implications for teaching subjunctive mood in the future.The study materials are mandatory subjunctive sentences taken from A Comprehensive Grammar of the English Language by Quirk,A Practical English Grammar by Zhang Daozhen.This thesis makes use of Fauconnier's CBT especially with the aid of the integration networks to explicate the meaning construction mechanism of it in different Noun Clauses(the Subject Clause,the Object Clause,the Predicative Clause and the Appositive Clause).The study first reviews the present researches on subjunctive mood and the conceptual blending theory.And then,based on the framework of CBT,this thesis regards the main clause and the subordinate clause as two input spaces;through crossing-mapping and selective projection,a counter-factual blend space is established,indicating a future event.The research findings are as follows: firstly,the meaning of mandatory subjunctive is to explicate the speaker's mandatory order,demand or request and the construction mechanism is generated by using putative “should”;and secondly,through a series of cognitive processes like crossing-mapping,selective projection,composition,completion and elaboration,the emergent structure is established in the blend space,serving as a counter-factual event space in the future.Whether the event in the blend space will take place or not is largely determined by the position and status of the speaker in the input space.This thesis studies the meaning construction mechanism based on the CBT and its findings have both theoretic and practical significance.As far as its theoretic significance isconcerned,this research shows the explanatory force of the CBT on mandatory subjunctive to some degree,and helps to further apply and develop the conceptual blending theory.As for its practical significance,the study can provide some implications for teaching subjunctive mood and help learners understand its meaning better rather than simply remembering its rules.It can provide a new research perspective for subjunctive mood teaching studies.