| Denominal verbs are words performing the syntactic function of verbs with the form of nouns during the noun-verb conversion.As a pervasive language phenomenon,noun-verb conversion plays a significant role in the application of language creativity and has always been a hot topic in linguistic studies around the world.In addition,the findings of studies on denominal verbs are able to offer more knowledge about language creativity and its cognitive mechanism.Data of this study are mainly from Eve Clark and Herbert Clark's book When Nouns Surface as Verbs(1979)as well as some English dictionaries and professional and authoritative websites,such Oxford Advanced Learner's English-Chinese Dictionary,Collins Learner's English-Chinese Dictionary,https://www.ldoceonline.com,https://dictionary.cambridge.org and https://www.dict.youdao.com.All these can make sure the richness and accuracy of the data.This thesis attempts to discuss the following three questions:(1)How many types of English denominal agent verbs are there based on the data collected?(2)What are the causes for the pervasive use of English denominal verbs?(3)What is the cognitive mechanism of English denominal agent verbs?Within the framework of conceptual metonymy and the ICM(Ideal Cognitive Model)in cognitive linguistics,this thesis attempts to study English denominal agent verbs which are the results of the language phenomenon noun-verb conversion.English denominal verbs can be divided into agent-triggered,instrument-triggered,patient-triggered,locatum-triggered,location-triggered,time-triggered and result-triggered denominal verbs.English denominal agent verbs include occupations,special roles and animals.The pervasive use of English denominal verbs is caused by linguistic,rhetorical and psychological reasons.Conceptual metonymy is the cognitive mechanism of denominal verbs.The thesis points out that English denominal verbs usually take place in Action ICM and the conceptual relationship between participants within the same framework brings about conceptual metonymy.There are many participants in the Action ICM such as agent,patient,time,place,instrument and so on.From the perspective of cognitive linguistics,the prominence among these elements and the action itself are not the same based on different contexts,so do the roles they play.In the conceptual process,the more salient one serves as the device to provide mental access to the less salient but closely related one and to stand for it.Among all these participants,agent verbs are the most frequent and play a crucial role in word expansion,thus this thesis mainly focuses on agent verbs and then analyzes them with examples.Findings of this study further support that conceptual metonymy motivates and constrains the grammar as well as give instruction for English language learners to expand vocabulary. |
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