Self-reference Senses In English Dictionaries

The study of nominalization has been considered as a long-standing thorny problem in modern Chinese grammar studies (Mo Pengling, 2004; Xing Fuyi, 2003). Yet the study on self-reference senses has a close relationship with nominalization which is usually known as reference by Chinese grammarians, including self-reference and transferred reference. Grammarians and lexicographers all agree that transferred reference concerns a shift of word classes as well as meaning, and thus they are often treated as independent senses in dictionaries. However, regular self-reference usages from Chinese verbs and adjectives are not readily recognized as independent senses by most Chinese grammarians and lexicographers (such as Guo Rui, 1999; Mo Pengling, 2004; Su Baorong, 2007; Wang Hui, 2004; Zhang Gonggui, 1979). On the part of Chinese lexicography, there are many inconsistencies and contradictions on the treatment of self-reference senses. Wang Renqiang (2009) gives us a new insight into the study of self-reference senses in Chinese lexicography from the perspective of grammatical metaphor, but studies on English dictionaries in this realm remain a blank.On a basis of grammatical metaphor and word class categorization, this thesis selects 30 medicine-related entries at random from two English dictionaries, Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary (7th edition) (2005), Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary(11th edition) (2005) and Online Etymology Dictionary(www.etymonline.com), of which the medical self-reference usages are our focus of discussion. Through the study, this thesis finds that: (1) the 30 medicine-related usages are established as independent senses in English dictionaries; (2) the Attic usages of medicine-related entries come later than that of Doric usages; (3) grammatical metaphor could provide reasonable explanation for the entry of self-reference senses into English dictionaries.This research can not only further the studies on nominalization in modern Chinese grammar, but also has implications for Chinese lexicography.