Cognitive Analysis Of Chinese Catchwords From The Perspective Of Conceptual Blending Theory

Catchwords are words that are frequently used by a myriad of people for a certain period of time,which forms a special and no less important aspect in language and linguistic research.Most of the research is restricted to the study of its lexicology,grammar,pronunciation,rhetorical effects,pragmatics and sociology.The cognitive research on its meaning construction process is of scarcity.As a result of people's cognitive reflection on reality,to some extent,catchwords arise from the effect of cognitive mechanism on people's meaning construction process.Theories of cognitive linguistics facilitate people's better understanding of catchwords.Therefore,this study elaborates on catchwords by employing Conceptual Blending Theory(CBT)from the perspective of cognitive linguistics.As one of the most important and influential theories in cognitive linguistics,Conceptual Blending Theory(CBT)proposed by Fauconnier and Turner,was founded on mental space,which illustrates "project" and "integration" in the process of meaning construction.Its core lies in Integration Network.It has integrated theoretical framework and operation mechanism.Numerous scholars hold the view that Integration Network is a potent model to study meaning construction.The application of CBT provides solid theoretical framework for researches on various linguistic phenomenon.This study describes and explains the top ten catchwords published by Yao Wen Jizo Zi from 2010 to 2015.Catchwords with semantic changes are chosen as the main object of the research.The meaning construction process of these catchwords are illustrated from the perspective of CBT,which is arranged according to the three types of the catchwords,namely words,phrases and sentences.This study adopts qualitative approach and case study to do an elaborate research on a certain given catchwords on the basis of linguistic data,analyzing the process of meaning construction of catchwords by employing Conceptual Blending Theory,aiming to demonstrate the cognitive mechanism of meaning construction of Catchwords.Accordingly,the study of catchwords from the perspective of CBT enriches the angles of linguistic research on catchwords,on the other hand,it is an effort to further explore and illustrate CBT.This study falls into six parts.The first part introduces research background,purpose and significance of the research and the structure of the thesis.The second part deals with literature review.Related researches on catchwords and conceptual blending theory are introduced.The third part is the research design.Research methodology and data collection are presented.Data analysis is conducted in the fourth part including description and explanation of the linguistic data.The fifth part analyzes the cognitive process of meaning construction of catchwords featured by semantic change from the perspective of CBT.The last part is the conclusion of the thesis.The major findings of the research and some limitations of the study are summarized,with the purpose to offer some suggestions to later researches.