The Comparative Study On The Word Order Hierarchy And Cognitive Hierarchy Between Chinese And English Spatial Dimensional Adjectives

Under the guidance of the construal theory and from the perspective of comparative study between Chinese and English,this thesis takes seven spatial dimensional adjective(abbreviated to "ASD)pairs of modern Chinese and English as the research object,by means of quantification and qualification,and mainly probes into three questions in six chapters:the word order hierarchy of Chinese and English "ASD";the cognitive hierarchy of Chinese and English "ASD";similarities and differences of word order hierarchy and cognitive hierarchy between Chinese and English "ASD" as well as the cognitive interpretation of them.The goal of the study is to disclose the word order and cognitive hierarchy rules of Chinese and English "ASD".It comes to find that there are similarities and differences:First of all,differences lie in:(1)Apparently the word order and cognitive hierarchy of modern Chinese and English "ASD" seem to be totally different in form.For Chinese"ASD",the word order hierarchy is "cu-xi(?-?)>gao-di(?-?)>gao-ai(?-?)>shen-qian(?-?)>chang-duan(?-?)>kuan-zhai(?-?)>hou-bo(?-?)>da-xiao(?-?)”,and cognitive hierarchy is "cudu(??)(+)(-)>gaodidu(???)(+)(-)>gaoaidu(???)(+)(-)>shendu(??)(+)(-)>changdu(??)(+)(-)>kuandu(??)(+)(-)>houdu(??)(+)(-)>daxiao(??)(+)/(-)".For English "ASD",the word order hierarchy is "big-small>long-short2>tall-short1>wide-narrow>high-low>deep-shallow>thick1-thin1/thick2-thin2 ",and cognitive hierarchy is "size(+)(-)>length(+)(-)>(tall)height(+)(-)>width(+)(-)>(high)height(+)(-)>depth(+)(-)>thickness1(+)(-)/thickness2(+)(-)".(2)The word order and cognitive hierarchy of Chinese "ASD" are positively correlated with construal specificity.Reversely,the word order and cognitive hierarchy of English "ASD" are negatively correlated with construal specificity.Secondly,similarities lie in:(1)In terms of the word order and cognitive hierarchy,both in Chinese and English,all positive "ASD" are prioritized over their corresponding negative "ASD" without exception.(2)Secondly,the word order and cognitive hierarchy of Chinese and English "ASD" share the same construal specificity rules,that is,“daxiao(??)(?)/(-)/size(+)(-)>gaoaidu(???)(+)(-)/(tall)height(+)(-),changdu(??)(+)(-)/length(+)(-)>gaodidu(???)(+)(-)/(high)height(+)(-),shendu(??)(+)(-)/depth(+)(-),kuandu(??)(+)(-)/width(+)(-),cudu(??)(+)(-)/thickness1(+)(-),houdu(??)(+)(-)/thickness2(+)(-)".In the sequence of construal specificity rules,from left to right,the semantics range from simple to complex and the specificity of construal increases by layers.Thirdly,the difference of word order and cognitive hierarchy between Chinese and English "ASD" is due to different constraints of construal specificity rules and sequence of cognitive configuration.The word order and cognitive hierarchy of Chinese "ASD" are firstly constrained by the sequence of cognitive configuration which is "{ undirected<directed[linear(level<vertical)<planar]}",then subject to construal specificity rules.In contrast,the word order and cognitive hierarchy of English "ASD" are primarily constricted by construal specificity rules,then by the sequence of cognitive configuration which is "{ undirected>directed[linear(level>vertical)>planar]}".