Study On Chinese Present Time Words In The Perspective Of Iconicity

The main focus of this work is to find out the motivations behind the relations between Chinese present time words and present time in nature from the perspective of iconicity.This paper drew on the linguistic concept of iconicity,Chinese time words that express present meaning were studied step by step.Firstly,Chinese time words that express present meaning were collected and then divided into three classifications: words referring to time point,words referring to time interval and words that can refer to both time point and time interval.In addition,the concept of time has been compared between natural time and the time indicated in time words.This paper showed out that the present time in nature is a dot,while the present time expressed in time words that refer to time interval is a line and the time that the words refer to time point are trying to convey is a dot coinciding with the natural time.Therefore words that refer to time interval reflect natural present time in some degree,while the length is quite different because present time in nature is a dot on the line represented by time words.Words that refer to time point are exact resemblance of natural time.As for words that can refer to both time point and time interval,specific context plays a key role.Secondly,the investigation has revealed that iconicity is revealed in Chinese present time words in different levels.The angles of how people look at objects affect the way iconicity is revealed in each category.Chinese time words that refer to time point is highly iconic and show the salient features of the entity---natural time being completely replicated.Time words that refer to time interval reflect the natural time present as a line.So iconicity is revealed in this category of Chinese time words that refer to time interval,though they are partly and minimally iconic and they represent just a portion or a part of the entity being replicated.As for words that can refer to both time point and time interval,context plays a key role.Finally,with full consideration of the relations between natural time and Chinese present time words,the motivations behind the relations are analyzed in detail in the perspective of iconicity especially from people's visual experience.Then two main motivations for iconicity in Chinese time words that express present meaning were shown out and analyzed in detail: visual experience and displacement.