A Study On The Semantic Evolution Of Chinese "HELP" Verbs

Since the 1980 s,the academic community has used semantic field theory to analyze the relationship between sememes and sememes,and the sememe analysis method to analyze the structure of word meanings,promoting the study of Chinese word meanings.In the 21 st century,Mr.Jiang Shaoyu took the concept field as the background,applied the concept element analysis method,and took "Tou" as an example to study the relationship between the meanings of words and historical context,which was innovative and breakthrough.However,Mr.Jiang’s regret is that this example alone cannot summarize the law of the evolution of word meanings.This article uses conceptual field theory and conceptual element analysis to analyze the semantic system and historical evolution of Chinese "help" verbs.Summarizing the motivation mechanism and laws of the semantic evolution of verbs such as "help" has certain value and significance in both theory and practice.The article is divided into four parts: The first part is introduction.Explain the research object and significance of the topic,introduce the current situation of word meaning research,and elaborate the theoretical basis and research methods.The second part is an overview of typical members of the "help" concept field.The first part is the source of the meaning of "help" for typical members.Secondly,analyze the meaning of words from the perspective of conceptual field and conceptual elements.The third part examines the diachronic development and evolution of the typical members of the verb "help" category: "save","help","help","aid","help",and "assist".Conduct a diachronic comparative study of the three periods of ancient,medieval,and modern Chinese,examining the corpus of each period as comprehensively and in detail as possible,and describing in detail the evolution of typical members of each conceptual field.The fourth part discusses the motivations,mechanisms,and laws of the evolution of word meanings.Research has found that contextual motivation is the main motivation for the semantic evolution of "help" verbs.The combination of three aspects in context,namely,the agent,the object of relationship,and the outcome of the patient,has led to changes in the meaning of words.These three main motivations do not exist independently,but are interrelated,interacting,and jointly influencing the evolution process and results of word meaning development.The evolution of word meaning follows a certain evolutionary mechanism,which is mainly constrained by two cognitive mechanisms:metaphor and metonymy.The law of semantic evolution of verbs of the "help" category is manifested in: first,the increase and decrease of conceptual elements;Second,changes in the content of the conceptual elements of "way","situation",and "outcome";Third,changes in the conceptual domain,from the conceptual domain of "helping people in distress" to the four conceptual domains of "correcting adverse situations," "giving," "changing interpersonal relationships," and "making someone or something harmless.";Fourth,the comprehensive meaning of the conceptual element "result" has evolved into an analytical meaning.