A Study On Metaphorical Mechanisms Of The Size Noun Construction From The Perspective Of Embodied-Cognitive Linguistics

In English,the binominal structure that expresses a collective quantity of entities,such as a pile of paper,is called the size noun construction（henceforth the SN-construction）.These constructions take the form of“a+N₁+of+N₂”,where N₁is a size noun,while N₂is a collocated noun that can be realized by plural count nouns,mass nouns or abstract nouns.Numerous scholars have analyzed and contributed to the SN-construction studies,but most focus on the static description of the classification,pragmatic function and formal features of the structure.Although some researchers have analyzed the structure from the perspective of cognitive grammar,few have explored the constructional mechanism and cognitive motivation of such structures guided by embodied-cognitive theory from a conceptual metaphorical perspective.Therefore,this thesis,guided by embodied-cognitive theory,taking the COCA as the data source,seeks to systematically explore the metaphorical motivation through the cognitive processing and corresponding embodied bases of the SN-construction.This study adopts a qualitative research method that combines description and interpretation,based on the corpus and previous studies,the semantic and syntactic features and the classification of the SN-construction are described.The cognitive mechanisms,such as primary metaphor and complex metaphor,are employed to explain the form construction of the SN-construction in terms of mapping across domains and conceptual blending.After that,the embodied bases are explored in the SN-construction to reveal their conceptualization concerning mapping relation and prototypical extension.Three conclusions are drawn as follows.Firstly,the semantic features of the SN-construction include collective integrality and vague quantity,while the syntactic features involve multiple collocations and headed floatation.SN-constructions are classified as prototypical and non-prototypical.Non-prototypical SN-construction can be divided into two categories.Secondly,each collocation reflects different metaphorical constructional mechanisms.In typeⅠ,N₁projects its implied semantic futures,such as strength,directly to N₂through the primary metaphorical mapping,which not only expresses the quantity of N₂but also denotes some salient characteristics of N_2.In typeⅡ,through complex metaphorical mapping with conceptual blending,N₁and N₂are blended into a shared mental space based on the psychological or physical similarity between N₂and the original collocation noun of N₁,forming TypeⅡSN-construction.Furthermore,the prototypical SN-construction witnesses a demetaphorizing process.Thirdly,the formal features of the SN-construction result from cognitive processing.Through semantic mapping,implicit semantics features such as collective integrity and quantitative vagueness of N₁are projected to N₂,aggregating N₂into a bounded whole and highlighting the central position of N₂.Based on projection and conceptual blending,various unconventional N₁and N₂enter the construction,resulting in its multiple collocation and vigorous productivity.The conceptualization process of the SN-construction is revealed through embodied bases,including prototypical and non-prototypical categories extension and quantifying collocation of abstract concepts in the SN-construction.This study helps to elucidate metaphorical constructional mechanisms of the SN-construction.Simultaneously,it offers insights for the acquisition and teaching of the construction.